THE Experience of Religion: Reported By: Angelica A. Cuario

THE
EXPERIENCE
OF RELIGION
Reported by:
Angelica A. Cuario
For the study of religion can be:
– A rational examinations of the various doctrines that particular religious teach.

– A consideration of the symbols, rituals and places of worship
– A study of the history of various religions and personalities that have been
identified with them.
– An examination of the sacred writings in which the faith of each religion is
expressed.
We have many types of human
experience:
– Beauty
– Morality
– Practicality
– Abstract truth
– Human relationship
Examples of Religious
Experience
– WORSHIP
– CEMETERY VISIT
– ENCOUNTER WITH DEATH
– A MOTHER’S DEEP CONCERN FOR HER FAMILY
DESCRIPTIONS OF
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
– 1. RUDOLPH OTTO
– A german thinker, for him religious experience is found in an encounter with a

sacred mysterium tremendum et fascinosum, a mystery that is both awe-inspiring
and attractive. It is based on experiences found in many religions.
– First of all, Otto will describe the experience of the holy as an encounter with a
“tremendum”, it is an encounter with something weird and unapproachable,
something which inspires fear and dread in us, pushing us away. Encountering the
Holy is meeting something high above us, something that makes us feel small and
almost nothing in its presence.
– Secondly, Otto describes the experience of the Holy as an encounter with a
“mysterium”. It is a largely non-rational encounter with a reality that is totally
different from our normal world and life. The Holy is not merely problematic,
something which is a little strange and puzzling but which can eventually be
explained.
– Lastly, the sacred reality is “fascinosum” because we are drawn toward it. It
attracts us. This characteristic of being “fascinating” is the opposite of the
dreadfulness or unapproachableness that was there in the “tremendum” of the
Holy.
– 2.MIRCEA ELIADE
– Has attempted to describe the experience that primitive people have of the
sacred. He contrast this experience with the secular, non-religious experience
which modern people have.
– In the life of a primitive person there is an experience of two very different
worlds:
– Profane world (the ordinary)
– Sacred world
– SACRED WORLD
– Is special and possesses distinctive qualities,
being more real, more powerful and more
enduring.
– RELIGIOUS PERSONS ALSO LIVE IN TWO
TYPES OF SPACE:
– Sacred space
– Profane space
– Religious people experience two types of time:
– Profane time
– Which is the ordinary and regular time of the calendar
– Special time
– Religious time
– 3. JOHN SMITH
– An American philosopher, defends the position that religious experience is
somehow part of the life of every human being, whether that person is
primitive or modern, whether they practice religion or not.
– He affirms that all human beings encounter religion in certain powerful
experiences at “crucial” moments in life.
– For at such times a person is confronted by life in its totality, life with all of its
profound mystery, power and value.
– This description of religion as presented by Smith
focuses on a basic experience that is found in
every human life. It is his contention that all
human persons have this experience not to
because they have religious faith but because
they are human.
Religious Experience and the
argument
– There are really actually a number of different types of argument. For instance,
some argue from ‘direct awareness’ – the view that God can be known
intuitively (directly) by the person perceiving him. This is very personal however,
and has limited capacity to persuade others.
A summary of the Inductive
Argument
– 1. If an entity is experienced, it must exist.
– 2. God is the sort of being that is possible to experience.
– 3. People claim to have experienced God directly.
– CONCLUSION: GOD EXISTS

Developing the argument:
RICHARD SWINBURNE
– He claims that it is reasonable to suppose that God would seek to engage and
interact with his creation.
– Swinburne defends the idea that those experiencing God should believe
intuitively what their senses tell them. He calls this the Principle of Credulity.
– He also argues that we should trust those who give accounts of religious
experiences, if there is no reason to doubt them. He calls this the Principle of
Testimony.
WILLIAM ALSTON
– If such experiences are genuine, it is reasonable to

conclude that God or some higher power probably exists.
This line of argument is similar tot the one developed by
William Alston in Perceiving God – he claims that all
beliefs based on perception are prima facie justified:
“they are innocent until proven guilty”.
Weaknesses of the Argument
– The problem with an inductive argument is that it only ever gives

probable explanations for states of affairs. This can lead to
questionable ‘leaps’ in the evidence.
– Claims to experience God can never amount to proof as there are
many alternative explanations.
A.J Ayer
– The argument from religious experience is also challenged by the

“verification principle’, supported by the British Philosopher and
atheist.
– This is the principle that a proposition can only be meaningful if it
could be verified analytically or synthetically.
Richard Dawkins
– In his book The God Delusion, he tells a story from his student
days. He recalls that a fellow undergraduate was camping in
Scotland and claimed to have heard “the voice of the evil - Satan
himself”.
– In fact, it was just the call of the Manx Shearwater ( or devil bird),
which has an evil sounding voice.
– For Dawkins, this highlights the key problems with personal
experiences.
Other forms of Argument
– Historical argument states that the experiences of key individuals

have been so great and impressive that they must be true. Such
individuals had enormous influence after receiving religious
experiences.
– Cumulative argument states that so many people had a religious
experiences in the past that they simply cannot all be making it up.
God must be the cause of (at least some of) this.

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THE

– A rational examinations of the various doctrines that particular religious teach.

– A german thinker, for him religious experience is found in an encounter with a

– CONCLUSION: GOD EXISTS

– If such experiences are genuine, it is reasonable to

– The problem with an inductive argument is that it only ever gives

– The argument from religious experience is also challenged by the

– Historical argument states that the experiences of key individuals

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