Religious experience

Religious experience

The proof we rely on most of all in the 21 century is our own experience, if we have seen, heard or experienced something, we accpet the 'truth' of whaetver that may be. 

What is a religious experience?:

• A RE is a non-empirical occurance, and may be percieved as supernatural
• It can be described as a 'mental event' which is undergone by an individual, and of which that person is aware.
• Such an experience can be spontaneous, or it may be brought about as a result of intensive training and self-discipline
• Recipients of REs usually say that what has happened to them has 'drawn them int' a deeper knowledge or awareness of God
• The experience itself is not a substitute for the the Divine but a vehicle that is used to bring people closer to the Divine
• The exeperience that each individual has is absolutely unique and cannot be shared with anyone
• Genuine RE seem to be enouraging, they do nit condemn the individualm but help them to live a better life, or help others 

There are an inifinite number of diff REs, as each one is unique, but there have been attempts to classify them based largely upon the results of the experience, the main classifications of REs are:

-Visions
-Conversion
-Mystical experiences

Visions

A religious vision occurs when an individual believes that they have seen or heard something supernatural or a supernatual being. There are three ways in which the individual may experience a vision:

1) an intellectual vision brings knowledge and understanding such as a revelation of God

2) an imaginary vision where something that strengthens faith is seen with the mind's eye such as Jacob's vision of a ladder to heaven

3) a cororeal vision is where the figure is externally present such as St Bernadette's visions of the Virgin Mary

An example of visionary experience is St Bernadette, when she was 14 years old, Bernadette had visions of the Virgin Mary over several months.

Sometimes dreams are considered by individuals to have been visions. 

Numinosity

Numinous= the feeling of the 'holy' and includes awe, fascination, religious awareness and the smallness of self.

Many testimonies from those claiming to have had a RE refer to a sense of being in the presence of a great power, yet feeling distinctly seperate from it. This is described as a numinous feeling. Many regard numinosity as a feature of RE, some classify it as a 'type' in its own right and contrast it with mystical experience

Rudolph Otto used the term 'numinous' in referring to being in the presence of an awesome power. He suggested that religion must derive from a being that is totally seperate from this world, it is in the presence of such a being that numinosity is experienced. He claimed that many of the visions in the Bible such as Moses' vision of the burning bush, are experiences of the numinous.

However, other scholars argue that Otto is wrong in describing visions as…