What do you need to know before the exam about Religious Experiences?
The arguments from
William James for
Religious Experiences
Critical analysis with
strngths and
weaknesses
The concept of
revelation through
sacred scripture
Aims and main
conclusions of
William James from
his book 'The
Varieties of Rel
Experience
Knowledge and
understanding of
visions, voices,
numinous,
conversion and
corporate
experiences
Key Terms
Direct Religious Experience
Indirect Religious Experience
God is revealed directly to the person
having the experience. EG-Paul on the
road to Damascus
Experiences, feelings or thoughts are
prompted by events in daily life. EGObserving the starts and having
thoughts about the greatness of God’s
creation
Richard Swinburne
Key ideas
 His book was ‘The existence of God’
 He suggested there were 5 recognisable types of Religious Experience
 These were split into 2 categories
PUBLIC EXPERIENCES
 Ordinary experiences – interpreting a natural event
 Extraordinary experiences – Breaking the normal understanding of
nature
PRIVATE EXPERIENCES
 Describable in ordinary language – Such as dreams
 Non-describable experiences – Events going beyond the human powers
of description
 Non-specific experiences – looking at the world for a religious
perspective
William James’ Argument from Religious Experience
****Very Important****
Background information
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He was a philosopher and psychologist
His most famous book was ‘The varieties of Religious Experience’
He investigated a number of accounts of religious experience
He thought that religious experiences were ‘solitary’ and were where
the individual experienced the divine
He thought religious experiences had a marked effect on a persons life
Classic example is St Paul on the road to Damascus and the change in his
life
One of his achievements was to identify the characteristics of religious
experiences
He identified 4 main characteristics that were prominent in mystical
experiences
I,N,T,P (In Teepee) Imagine William James inside.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ineffable
Noetic
Transcient
Passive
William James’ 4 Characteristics of Mystical Experiences
Ineffable – The experience goes beyond human experience (I can’t
explain it!)
Noetic – Mystics receive knowledge of God that is otherwise not
available. (No-ledge)
Transcient – Short term experiences and not permanent. They may feel
like they have been a long time. The effects are long lasting and may
involve a changed view of the Universe. (Transformers – quick changing)
Passive – Experiences were not under control of the mystic. They were
being acted upon. James saw this as evidence against those who say
people ‘will’ events to happen to them. (Like passive smoking – I am not
doing anything, it is acting on me).
William James’ main conclusions
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The only possible sign that religious experiences are from God is a ‘good
disposition’ that is the result of the experience (James, Varieties of
Religious Experience)
Religious Experiences only have authority and meaning for the individual
who has the experience
He did NOT deny the reality of the mystical experience and suggested
that individuals could gain knowledge of God
He examined the parallels and similarities between religious experiences
and dreams and hallucinations
He suggested that religious experiences could be linked to our
‘subconscious ideas’ (James, Varieties of Religious Experience)
He claimed that religious experiences were ‘ psychological phenomena’
Experiences could be explained by a person’s psychological make-up
He made it clear that he did not believe this was an argument against
belief in God
He meant that religious experiences were natural to a person, like selfawareness or thinking.
Key conclusion
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Religious experiences on their own do not demonstrate God’s existence,
although they can suggest the existence of ‘something larger’.
“The only thing it unequivocally testifies to is that we can experience
union with something larger than ourselves and in that union find the
greatest peace” (William James, Varieties of Religious Experience).
Responses to James’ Ideas
1. Some people have suggested that religious experiences are similar
experiences to hallucinations or drugs such as LSD. Having said this,
there is no evidence that every person who has a religious experience
is a user of LSD.
2. James claimed that religious experiences were the primary cause of
religious belief. However, many psychologists and sociologists claim
that religious experiences only happen to people who are already
member of a religious tradition. Although sometimes they do happen
to people that have no connection to a religious tradition.
3. JL Mackie argued that is religious experiences are explainable
psychologically I(which James does say) then they can carry no
authority. Mackie claims that those who believe mystical experiences
are authoritative are ‘insufficiently critical’ (Mackie, The miracle of
Theism).