The argument from religious experience states that if we can experience God, then surely God must exist because what we experience must be real. There are many philosophers that try to explain this but the one I am going to focus on in this essay is William James. James defines religious experience as though it should be the primary topic in the study if religion rather than religious institutions, since institutions are merely the social descendent of genius. He also defines a religious experience as, 'The feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatsoever they may consider divine.’ To James a prominent feature of religious experience is mysticism. He says, '...propose to you four marks which, when an experience has them, may justify us in calling it mystical...' The marks to which he is referring to are inefficiently, notices quality, transiency and passivity.
Critically assess with reference to William James, the argument from religious experience. The argument from religious experience seems to state that we can experience God and therefore God must exist, for surely what we experience must be real. William James, American psychologist and philosopher, worked to expand on and validate this topic. James defined religious experience as ‘The feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatsoever they may consider divine.’ He then identified the four types of mystical experiences: ineffable, noetic, transient, passive. An ineffable experience is one that cannot easily be articulated.
Critically assess with reference to William James the arguments from religious experience. William James, in his book ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience: a study in human nature’ concludes that religious experiences are at the heart of religions whereas religious teachings, practices and attitudes are ‘second hand’ religion, and develop later as individuals reflect on their common experience. The experiences are true religion. William James aims to show that religious experiences are telling of some kind of divine order which transcends normal reality. James analysed a range of religious experiences, though in particular mystical experiences.
8. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of using faith as a basis for knowledge in religion and in one area of knowledge from the TOK diagram. ------------------------------------------------- Knowledge Issue: To what extent is faith a justifiable basis for knowledge, in religion and another Area of Knowledge – natural science. Knowledge is often described as justified true belief. This indicates that a belief can be called knowledge if it has undergone sufficient justification.
Swinburne would argue that St. Theresa’s character would not lie about a supposed religious experience due to her deep faith in God and morals suggesting that her visions must have been from an external agent. On the other hand, it could be heavily argued that scientific advances could prove otherwise and expose the visions of Christ as an act of the mind ‘playing tricks’. Science has shown that the temporal lobe when stimulated through seizures can produce an altered perception such as religious experiences of this variety. St. Theresa had these visions in the 1500’s when science was in its earliest stages and religion was an answer for everything; these factors appear to support Richard Swinburne’s defence of certain types of characters not lying in support of
Is Religion and Theology Scientific? Religion and Theology are two terms that are often confused when it comes to their study. Religion is based on faiths and beliefs when it comes to the acceptance of superhuman powers in the form of God or gods. On the other hand theology is the study of God thought. This is especially true of Christianity.
Overall the Puritans were a religious group with a core of specific beliefs that are at the essence of the Puritan Faith. Those two beliefs are the belief that man is predestined or divided into two groups, the damned and the elect. The second core belief is that of free grace versus a doctrine of works. This means that man cannot save himself by changing his ways and doing good deeds. Instead it means than humanity is only saved by the free grace and mere good will of God and that whosoever believes in Christ and has faith may escape Hell.
The ethical issues that are at the discretion of the statistician can thus be addressed from a Christian worldview. For instance, one of the ethical issues is the ownership of data and the disclosure of private information regarding the client and the data collected. This ethical issue can be approached using the golden rule of “do unto others as you would have done to you” or loving ones neighbor as yourself (Moreland and Craig, 2003). Another ethical issue that arises with the practice of statistics is the concept of chance and probability. This can be addressed with the Christian worldview that scientific truth is not something that is predetermined and instead adapts itself to interpretation and human requirements (Geertsema,
2 EXPERIENTIAL APOLOGETICS One form of apologetics is called “Experiential Apologetics”. This method of apologetics asks “Have we experienced God?” We know God exists because we have been able to 3experience His being around us. This is very much the same as fideism, which is reliance on faith rather than reason in the pursuit for religious truth (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Experiential apologists could use their personal testimony, which is a vital
There Are No Such Things as Miracles The subject about miracles is strongly opinionated, there are a lot of assumptions, theories and happenings that can lead a person to believing whether miracles do or don’t happen. It all relies on the person’s belief and what they follow. A miracle is usually defined by ‘unexplainable events that break the laws of nature’. There are different types of miracles that most of us have probably heard about, for example, miracles of healing, exorcism, resurrection and nature. The belief in a miracle can come from either experiencing them or religious reasons and explanations.