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
Premium God
principles of the argument for the existence of God based upon religious experiences Religious experiences are experiences we have of the divine or God. These experiences may be Mystical experiences‚ conversion experiences or revelatory experiences. Paul Tillich states that religious experience is a feeling of ‘ultimate concern’‚ a feeling that demands a decisive decision from the one receiving it. He describes it as an encounter followed by a special understanding of its religious significance.
Premium God Existence Argument
Religious experiences cannot be explained empirically and tend to take place within a context of religious expectancy. Such experiences may be individual‚ in which a person becomes aware of the presence of the divine; or corporate‚ in which a gathering of people experiences feelings beyond expression – the ineffable. St Teresa of Avila described her experiences as: “God established himself in the interior of this soul in such a way‚ that when I return to myself‚ it is wholly impossible for me to
Premium God Philosophy of religion Existence
God by experience?” - Donovan 2 In ‘Can we know God by experience?’ Peter Donovan questions whether it is possible to have direct‚ intuitive knowledge of God. Intuition is an experiential belief characterized by its immediacy. It is direct perception or insight without any need for evidence or argument. Intuition or intuitive knowledge is the main theme of Donovan. He suggested that knowledge can be attained through intuition. Especially the claim that people who have religious experiences can gain
Premium God Religious experience Religion
‘Arguments from religious experience are never convincing.’ (35 marks) Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud present challenges to religious experiences. Marx’s challenges to religious experience arguments are sociological; he suggested that the origins of religious experience are to be found in society. He states religion is about mythological beliefs and an unreal god that distracted people from the real world‚ religion is ‘the opium of the people’‚ religious experiences create alienation and a religious
Premium Religion God Mysticism
Religious Experience Religious experience is seen as a non-empirical occurrence which means it does not depend or can be verified through observation or examination. Majority of people believe it’s supernatural. It is also seen as an experience to make a person aware. Certain religious people believe who have had the experience has drawn them into a deeper knowledge/ awareness of god. Most importantly it is seen as the experience itself is not a substitute for the divine but a vehicle that is
Free God Religion Spirituality
Arguments from religious experience are never convincing. When people say that they have experienced God or the divine in some way; they are not saying that it ‘seemed like’ God but was something else. The issue for many philosophers is: are religious experiences veridical? By this is meant can we actually demonstrate that the religious experiences of people are what they seem to be‚ i.e. experiences of God‚ rather than delusions‚ products of the mind or of some other source such as LSD? Can
Free God Religion Philosophy of religion
’Argument’s from religious experience are never convincing’ discuss (35 Marks) A religious Experience is an experience of the divine . Religious experience can be divided into many categories and it depends on what philosopher you agree with as to what categories you would decide on. But the main undisputed categories are; corporal experiences‚ which are experienced by a mass audience‚ vision experiences‚ which are when people see God‚ Hell or Heaven in some sort of semi-conscious state like
Premium
“Explain the argument from religious experience for the existence of God.”30 marks Expect different forms of the argument from religious experience‚ e.g. inductive argument‚ direct awareness‚ cumulative argument. Also expect reference to Swinburne’s principle of credulity and principle of testimony. Maximum Level 2 if summary of types of religious experience with no reference to argument for God. ------------------------------------------------- Level 7 for one fully developed argument‚ or two that
Premium Existence Logic Philosophy of religion
The qualities of religious experience are of great debate today hand have been of great debate for several centuries. This is because of the inability for philosophers to “explain away” the cause or source of such experiences by the way of the epistemological methods available. Furthermore‚ in his essay “the Varieties of Religious Experience”‚ William James makes the claim that religious experiences can be explained away by the way of referring their cause to the subconscious aspects of the brain
Premium Religion God Faith