1.6.1

Introduction to Religious Experience

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Introduction to Religious Experience

Many people claim to have directly or indirectly experienced God in some way. Research by Alister Hardy has shown that between 25-45% of adults have had an experience of a presence or power beyond themselves.

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Perceiving God publicly

  • Richard Swinburne has given a schema to fit the different kinds of religious experience into (they vary considerably). A person can seem to perceive God publicly:
    • In experiencing a normal non-religious object (eg. a sunset).
    • In experiencing an unusual public object (eg. Jesus’ resurrection appearances).
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Perceiving God privately

  • A person can seem to perceive God privately:
    • In private sensations describable in normal language (eg. Jacob’s ladder dream).
    • In private sensations not describable in normal language (eg. mystical experiences).
    • Without any sensations, but seeing the whole course of experience in the light of God or being unable to point to any particular thing that made them seem to be experiencing God.

Jump to other topics

1Philosophy of Religion

1.1Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato

1.2Ancient Philosophical Influences: Aristotle

1.3Ancient Philosophical Influences: Soul, Mind, Body

1.4The Existence of God - Arguments from Observation

1.5The Existence of God - Arguments from Reason

1.6Religious Experience

1.7The Problem of Evil

1.8The Nature & Attributes of God

1.9Religious Language: Negative, Analogical, Symbolic

1.10Religious Language: 20th Century Perspective

2Religion & Ethics

3Developments in Christian Thought

3.1Saint Augustine's Teachings

3.2Death & the Afterlife

3.3Knowledge of God's Existence

3.4The Person of Jesus Christ

3.5Christian Moral Principles

3.6Christian Moral Action

3.7Development - Pluralism & Theology

3.8Development - Pluralism & Society

3.9Gender & Society

3.10Gender & Theology

3.11Challenges

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