The Argument from Religious Experience The argument from religious experience is the argument that personal religious experiences can prove God’s existence to those that have them. One can only perceive that which exists, and so God must exist because there are those that have experienced him. While religious experiences themselves can only constitute direct evidence of God’s existence for those fortunate enough to have them, the fact that there are many people who testify to having had such experiences
The Argument for the Existence of God It is an undisputed fact that some people claim to have experienced God. It is these religious experiences that have been used by philosophers to argue for the existence of God. The main way of expressing the argument from religious experience is as follows: P1 Someone experiences an entity C1 The entity exists P2 Someone has experienced God C2 God exists Those who champion the argument seek to differentiate ordinary experiences and religious
A religious experience is an event which brings about an encounter between God and the experient. It is a communication between God and the individual which brings about an overwhelming awareness of God. As a result, the experient may undergo a conversion, may believe they have received a revelation or feel called to fulfil a divine commission or spiritual responsibility. But a question that would arise is whether there are strong grounds that suggest that such experiences prove the existence of
True Epistemic Value of Religious Experiences For many years, the idea of what it means to have a “religious experience” has been greatly debated. Philosophers and great thinkers alike have grappled with many questions, such as what constituted a “religious experience” and the difference between that and a mystical experience. Part of this great debate involves two philosophers from a similar time period, William James and C.D Broad, who each saw these experiences, despite some similarities, as having
Many arguments to prove the existence of God involve philosophical, logical, arguments. However, not all arguments to prove the existence of God relate to such abstract arguments, and one such argument involves religious experiences which many people around the world experience. This paper will critically evaluate the philosophical understanding of the essence and variations of religious experiences and its consequences for the argument from religious experience for the existence of God. The first
his creation is through religious experiences. There are accounts throughout history of people such as Paul, or Saul (Acts 9), Joan of Arc and Teresa of Avila (P&R 220) being privy to these types of experience. Over time these religious experiences have been used as evidence for the argument for the existence of God. In this paper I will address this argument originally defined by C.D. Broad as well as the objections raised against it showing that these religious experiences are indeed sufficient
“Perceiving God” the sense of perception: “the experience, or… the perception, of God plays an epistemic role with respect to beliefs about the physical world” (Alston 431). Alston continues to justify his position “that the very considerable incidence of putative perception of God creates a certain initial presumption that these experiences are what they seem to be and that something can thereby be learned about God” (Alston 432). Alston’s argument is that the perception of God is enough to justify
Neglected Argument for the Reality of God ABSTRACT: Charles S. Peirce sketches "a nest of three arguments for the Reality of God" in his article "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God." I provide careful analysis and explication of Peirce's argument, along with consideration of some objections. I argue that (1) there are significant differences between Peirce's neglected argument and the traditional arguments for God's existence; (2) Peirce's analysis of the neglected argument into three
Bell also only limits his argument to human-made objects and does not address naturally made objects. Another problem is that there is a strict contrast between aesthetic and other emotions. Critics argue if “aesthetic emotion” is even real. If Bell could have explained, in detail
Religious Experiences are in the Mind of the Believer “A religious experience is a spontaneous or induced mental event over which the recipient has relatively little control. It is often accompanied with the gaining of certain knowledge and the experience is always unique.”[1] Elton Trueblood’s definition of a religious experience is very broad, including any experience of feelings of ‘love, power, glory or strength from God.’ This differs from a simple experience which can
to learning more about other religious beliefs that people feel as deeply about as I do with my own beliefs. 2 - I do understand and respect Bethels late policy. 3 - An academic argument is based on facts from reliable sources, not opinions or theories. The writer needs to avoid inflicting their personal opinion in their writing. A writer will write with directives to initiate a response from readers when it is a personal opinion and when it is an academic argument, the writer will write with firmness
the Will to Believe, and the Role of Rationality and Evidence in Religious Experience Explain the principle of credulity, the will to believe and the role of rationality and evidence in religious experience The principle of credulity, the will to believe and the role of rationality and evidence all play crucial roles while attempting to explain religious experience. The principle of credulity states that religious experiences should be taken at their face value when we have no positive reason
Various controversies have arisen from the LGBT community since it stepped into the limelight during the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the events known as the beginning of the LGBT movement. One of these dilemmas is the faith identity of LGBT youth and how their sexuality might be handled as teenagers. Reparative therapies, also known as conversion therapies, have become popular ideas on how to fix teenagers’ sexual orientations. “My Take: Let’s Protect Religious Counselors Amid ‘Conversion Therapy’ Dance-Off”
undertakings while submerged in the religious practices of Appalachia, Covington incites anxiety within the reader when discussing worship services involving snakes, and inquisitorial thought when revealing the number of casualties involved, in turn showcasing his own passions and morality. Covington’s rectitude, goodwill, and intelligence all play important roles in revealing his ethos. Subsequently, they also exemplify his argument: No obstacle can conquer one’s religious devotion. Covington’s intellect
Philosophy may literally mean the ‘love of wisdom’ as it is deprived from two Greek words (Hales, 2012, p. vii), but as a whole is much more than the love of wisdom and critical reflection; it is more about “giving good reasons for one’s non-empirical beliefs…[and] to give arguments for believing claims about nature of the self, or the existence of God, or moral duty, or the value of knowledge” (Hales, 2012, p. vii). Therefore, I agree that philosophy also sheds light on many disciplines centrally
idea in the first chapter “The Great Questions” is that how important of religious, and the author use two sample experiences, which ordinary and extraordinary human experiences are. Portier pointed out four main aspects for extraordinary experiences, those are Birth, Death, Love, and Evil. Because of these four parts, the god creates human being and religious becomes meaning to us. In this chapter, we can learn that religious have power, and they will develop sustainably in the future. Portier still
John Locke sets out the arguments as to why it is irrational to force someone to become Christian against their will and whilst Locke writes as a Christian it acknowledged that it is true for all religious beliefs. As a whole his letter makes a case for the toleration of other religious beliefs. The main argument within the letter is the irrationality argument but it also included others such as the unchristian argument and the inconsistency argument. The irrationality argument begins with the following
host to many large religions and religious groups including Catholicism, Protestantism, and even Islam in small numbers. There were many changes occurring in regards to religious toleration between the 16th and 18th centuries. Monarchs, intellectuals, and various councils alike had differing arguments and practices on whether or not it was ok to tolerate other religions. Monarchs and similar leaders of kingdoms made arguments supporting their views on religious tolerance, but more often than not
was born on October 22, 1954 in Chicago Illinois. After receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton University in New Jersey, Balmer was a professor of American Religious History at Columbia University. Later, he became an Arts and Sciences professor at Dartmouth College, and he currently holds the John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth College. Along with being a professor, Balmer is also a prize-winning American religious author. One of his most famous works was published in 1989 and his titled Mine
Religion itself has been around for many centuries, dictating and giving meaning to the life of mortals. With religion comes religious experiences, which has been around just as long with the experiences themselves being vast in terms of differences. There are two texts that explore religious experiences: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu and The Rumi Collection edited by Kabir Helminski. Being abstract and impersonal in nature, the Tao Te Ching offers the ultimate goal of finding simple oneness with the Tao