Religious Experience Research Paper

Religious Experience Research Paper
The term 'religious experience' can come up with a wide range and diverse series of images. We
might assume that it can include anything from a prayer, to attending a service at a place of worship,
to even 'hearing the voice of God'. The argument for the existence of God based on religious
experience is in fact a posteriori as it is based on people's encounters with God. Unlike other
arguments, the argument is based on a direct link to God – if we are able to show that God is
experienced then we therefore cannot deny his existence. Many people are more likely to believe
something if it has been experienced. Our experience of God is the best evidence we have that God
exists.
There are many definitions of religious experience which include one from Rudolph Otto who stated
the term "numinous" for the feeling of the presence of a greater being, which is with you but yet
somehow ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This feeling is termed "mysterium tremendum et fascinans", whereby there is a fear of the
fascinating. Other than this the psychologist William James does also study a lot of religious
experiences, and in his lectures entitled On the Varieties of Religious Experience he clearly outlines
four key characteristics which go on to define a religious experience. First there's a sense of noetic
quality, which means that by virtue of the experience the subject becomes aware of some revelation.
Also Religious experiences tend to be transient, so that whilst the experience may have a profound
effect upon the subject, it lasts a relatively short period of time, and often the details are forgotten
afterwards. The experiences are usually ineffable, so this makes it particularly
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Sigmund Freud Essay
Sigmund Freud is known to be one of the most prominent scholars on research and thoughts
regarding human nature. Freud is acknowledged for establishing out of the box theories with
dominant concepts that are backed up by good evidence. Freud's arguments are quite convincing,
but very controversial. When thoughts get controversial, a loss of strength for an argument occurs.
Freud feels that religion is a psychological anguish and suffering. (Webster, 2003) For Freud,
religion attempts to influence individuals psychologically in order to enhance wish fulfillment,
infantile sexuality, Oedipal Complex, and dominating humanity all over the world. (Webster, 2003)
Sigmund Freud referred himself as a scientist, his main work surrounded psychology. ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
(Freud, 1917) I completely disagree with what Freud is saying, just because our ancestors believed
in religion and it was passed down, we are in a day and age where we are all very open. More and
more atheist is present and religion is not imposed on individuals. Freud claims that theories need to
be supported with proof to be valid and religion cannot do that. I disagree even though prophets and
God has not written themselves; the scriptures are in fact overlapping in material about incidences
and events that had occurred. For instance, in Christianity the Gospels within the bible there are
three synoptic Gospels that every much touch upon the same incidences, they were all written at
different times. If these scriptures were not accurate then why are there so many overlaps amongst
them. Freud states that religion pressures and suppresses people. (Freud, 1917) I think that religion
is a personal choice if you believe in a religion that's good and if you do not that's good to. It is an
individual's choice to make and no one can affect that decision. Religious ideas have the strongest
influence and impact on humanity till today, stated Freud. (Freud, 1917) Humans are very intelligent
creatures, if religion has such a strong hold on us, there has to be some truth behind it. Freud
believes that religious ideas, teaching, and experiences are all

The Atlantic By Simon Cottee: A Critical Analysis
The war on terror is not a cosmic war. A cosmic war is about religion; evidence shows that despite
these extremists claiming that their sole cause is to establish a worldwide Islamic state, the ulterior
reason behind their actions isn't purely religious.
In an article from The Atlantic, the author, Simon Cottee argues that the actions of ISIS retain no
correlation with radical Islam. Cottee utilizes various analyses and readings from experienced
scholars to reach a conclusion. Cottee states from one reading that the reason why ISIS gains power
easily is because of the failing Iraqi government. He also summarizes the view of American–
Egyptian scholar Dalia Mogahed, that the ideology of Islam seemingly justifies the violence ISIS
has caused. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Juergensmeyer has also won two awards, and was elected as the president of the American Academy
of Religion. This information provides evidence that he has a reliable reputation and experience in
religious studies. Juergensmeyer is also religious himself, and despite that, he was able to criticize a
subject that he himself is involved with, proving his

Donovan Implications
We laugh about the person who says, 'I know I'm right; don't confuse me with arguments'. And yet
there are times when we find ourselves wanting to say that too. For there are situations in which we
feel sure that we know something, even though if asked to give a good argument to back up our
claim we are at a loss to know quite how to do so. 'I know you're the person I spoke to on the bus
yesterday.' 'I know I have two hands.' 'I know it is wrong to let that child starve.' 'I know that six
minus four leaves two.' Our experience of being confident that we are right in cases like those is
often called intuition. Intuitive knowing seems to be a direct, convincing way of knowing, which
needs no further argument. And it is a perfectly ordinary, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
He is keen to point out that it is not a type of argument ('direct') and that it is very hard to doubt it
('convincing'). By defining intuition in this way Donovan is treating it as a possibly genuine way to
gain knowledge, distinct from intellectual argument.
Finally, Donovan asks the question, 'are there such things as intuitions in religious matters too?' This
is his key question. Given that he accepts that intuition works on some level he wants to know
whether it can be extended to also work on matters of religion, such as whether God exists and if so,
what he is like. Donovan wants to explore whether religious experience can be a basis for intuitive
knowledge of God. This is unlike Swinburne's argument from religious experience where the
conclusion 'God exists' is deduced from premises. Instead it is not an argument at all, but an
immediate apprehension of knowledge of God from experience of God.
These are the three key aspects of Donovan's argument in the above passage. Whilst there are no
secondary points to explain the section does link to several key debates in the philosophy of
religion. Firstly, in discussing whether religious intuition exists Donovan is contributing to the
debate over whether God exists. In addition to philosophers such as Swinburne and Paley, Donovan
is offering the possibility of an alternative way to gain objective knowledge of God/that he exists –

Religious Experience: An Argument Analysis
The argument from religious experience is the argument about the experiences of God to the
existence of God. This argument is not an argument of if God exists or not. Instead, it is an argument
that whether or not religious experiences prove that God exists. The argument expresses the fact that
only religious experiences clearly shows the evidence for God's existence. Do people claiming to
have experienced God mean there must be a God?
There are things mentioned that improve the quality of the argument. The argument expressed that
there is an enormous number of such claims and that either they are true or not. Are the claims self–
consistent as well as consistent with what we know to be true? Does the person making the claim
seem honest, trustworthy, decent, etc? Has the person become more loving as a result of their
religious experience? These are very strong argumentative questions that could be asked to argue
against religious experiences (Kreeft & Tacelli, 1994). ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I have identified two weaknesses within the argument of religious experience. It is stated that most
of their readers have very likely had such an experience. If so, it's realized in a way that no one else
can, its central importance in life (Kreeft & Tacelli, 1994). Since I am a reader I would like to know
how is it justified if I have had such an experience or not. This statement isn't supported by any
proof, details, or statistics. It is also stated that some sort of experience lies at the very core of most
people's religious faith. I decided to research further on religious experiences. I found out that there
are also cases where religious experience just is an ordinary perception, but the object is itself the
object of religious significance (Webb,

The Problem Of Evil And Atheism
owe to prove his thesis about the problems of evil and atheism, Rowe asks three fundamental
questions. The first question, "is there an argument for atheism based on the problem of evil that
could rationally justify atheism?" Supporting his question, Rowe by uses the idea of human and
animal suffering.is it reasonable for omnipotent, omniscient being(s) to permits its creation to suffer
by extinguish each other for their own personal benefits. If there is such a thing as an
omnibenevolent, omnipotent holy being how come the ultimate and unescapable suffering is this
world has no vanish. How good is a god(s) that permits humanity to suffer greatly? In religious
Christian Bible study, Jesus, many times referred to as god, vanish evil from ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Another view on suffering brought by theist is the suffering can lead to a greater spiritual good. In
order to gain spiritual guidance, there has to be suffering involved. The agonizing struggle brought
by human's free choice is debated since it can only be prevented by an individual's free choice. But
not all suffering is created by human's free choice. Individuals have no control over the amount of
sorrow that is brought upon them. Without warning, natural disaster brings suffering even if people
are trying their best in order to prevent any kind of unhappiness. How could theist know the
meaning of such suffering and its purpose? By trusting that the meaning of suffering is only known
after death, how can theist surely agree if none of them have experienced the afterlife?
Last, "what position should the informed atheist take concerning the rationality of religious beliefs?"
After giving a response to theist's argument against atheist, both are to believe that the other is
believing a false belief. There are many types of atheist with different thoughts on religious beliefs.
There are three different types of atheism discussed in Rowe's theory. Unfriendly atheism, there is
no such thing as a god(s). Indifferent atheism, has no concern in believing that a theist god(s) exists.
And friendly atheism is certain that there is a reason theist to have faith in god. Defending his
argument about friendly atheism,

Studying Apologetics
It has been such a pleasure taking your class and getting to know you this year. Your sense of
sarcasm and easy–going nature always made class so enjoyable and fun! My faith has never been
seriously questioned so studying apologetics this year really changed my point of view concerning
atheists and why they believe there is no god. Thanks to you, I feel like I can more adequately
defend my faith in my next step in life. I feel like the most appropriate way to write this essay is to
highlight a few arguments and ideas that have stuck with me the most. Before this however, I would
like to define apologetics and why we study it. Apologetics is the intellectual argument for a belief
such as the existence of God. We are studying apologetics not to make others believe in God, but to
be able to defend our own belief in Him so that others arguments against his ... Show more content
Many of the arguments that the authors deal with are arguments because of a lack of clear research
about the facts. One of these is the claim that the Jews were very hellenized due to astrological texts
which were forbidden by Jewish texts or zodiac symbols found in synagogues. While these things
might have been found, it does not mean that first century Palestinian Jews participated with these
things. In my opinion, there is no question that the Jesus story is historically accurate because all
evidence presented against this view is lacking. Living in my Christian bubble, personally, I have
had no one question my faith, but I'm sure that will change once I go to college. I feel like
apologetics has helped me become more confident in why I am a Christian. Before, my Christian
faith was purely faith based. Now I can definitively say that I can look at in detail the difficult texts
in the Bible, and not just accept it because it is in the Bible, but because I know the background and
the reasons for what is

Rahauv Meeir Lecture On Secular Religion
Rahav–Meir lecture, 'secular, religious and the unholy trinity', discussed on one of the major splits in
Israel society – the sectors–religious conflict. Rahav–Meir described ten central points that, by her
opinion, responsible for the existence of this conflict that matter. These points presents the media
responsibility in creating the conflict by herself, and how the media does nothing to repair it. She
began this part of the lecture by saying that the media is not objective whatsoever. For emphasizing
her statement, she even examples her argument by explaining how even the weather forecast is
"educating" the audience from a particular perspective, without remaining objective. Later she
described another nine arguments about the responsibility

Karen Armstrong The Will To Believe Essay
Experiences, religious or otherwise, possess and exude a subjective nature in and of itself–– it is
with this in consideration that one must realize the difficulty of analyzing a personal experience
"cognitively," objectively, or literally. Particularly, religious experiences symbolically bring forth
ideals and values commonly seen in theistic beliefs and "moral" values, such as a strong urge to do
good deeds unto others, advocating peace and love, and feelings characteristic of humanity. To its
fullest extent, a religious experience occurs as a result of letting go of egotistical thoughts in order to
truly appreciate the "universe," or a higher force not necessarily seen in theistic religions such as
Christianity and Islam. In abandoning the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
On a similar note, by dissociating oneself from the literality, one finds in symbolic expressions, such
as those of poetry and biblical stories, important truths that help humanity be aware of instances
whose circumstances prevent the literality from being considered, such as in the case of moral
arguments and moral relationships, as suggested in William James' essay, "The Will to Believe."
James repudiates "solutions without sensible proof" in moral arguments. Arguably, religious
experiences themselves are of moral nature, as they ultimately dictate which values and morals one
depicts in everyday life. William James furthermore repudiates Pascal's attempt at rationalizing
belief in a theistic God–– he discourages thinking of religious experience theistically, claiming it is a
misinterpretation. To emphasize, religious experiences must be seen in a spiritual light, as religious
experiences are often too mundane and earthly to be used as rationalization for God's existence.
Henceforth in religious experiences, passional tendencies and personal proof factor into a belief like
theistic or nontheistic religion. When faced with a genuine option–– one that is live, forced, and
momentous–– one must allow passional tendencies to rule due to the subjective nature of the
context. There are multiple solutions to one

Saint Thomas Five Arguments For The Existence Of God
Since as long as I can remember, God has been real to me. Granted, that does not mean I never
doubt Him; I am simply stating that I believe God exists. My parents chose for me to believe in God
before I even had a say in it. This happened at my Baptism, when I was not even a year old and far
from the age of reason. Yet now that I am older and possess the ability to logically reason and make
choices for myself, I choose God for myself. I have seen proof of God's existence in my own life,
but many may consider me bias because I am a born and raised Catholic. What about those who
were not born into this faith? How will they ever believe in the existence of God? They cannot be
open to Someone who they believe does not exist. That is where Saint Thomas ... Show more
This world is incredible. Just look at the intricate fibers that a dandelion consists of, the unique
configurations of each and every snowflake, or the way in which innumerable different organisms
coexist in relative harmony on earth. This world, with all its elaborate details, could not have just
"happened." It is so well organized, so masterfully designed, that everyone, religious or not, cannot
help but conclude that there must be a designer: God. Furthermore, why do all of us, religious or
not, possess this intrinsic desire for something more of which we do not know? We are all moving
towards an end, whether we like it or not, and this cannot be by sheer "chance." "Some intelligent
being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end" (Gracyk

Three Properties Associated With God In Western Religion
1. Theology is the study of the nature of God and religious belief. Using reason, religious texts,
history, revelation, and science as evidence. Philosophy of Religion grounds human knowledge and
synthesizes.
2. The questions Philosophy of Religion deals with are: Existence of God, what is Religion? Faith
vs. Reason, Faith vs. Reason, are there any rational reasons to believe? the Problem of Evil,
Characteristics of Religion, and Problem with the Attributes of deity.
3. Misconceptions think that religion has to do with God and God is Supernatural Beings, greater
reality or spiritual dimension. None of that is necessary because there are some religions who think
without those elements.
4. The Ideas on the supernatural of human beings. . ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Theodicies of Augustine believed that humans are free but fallen because humanity started
disobedience in the Garden of Eden and mankind is to blame for evil. Iraneus viewed this with a
teleological and developmental view that God is making a soul. He believed that evil has a purpose
and thinks that evil mean end if evil didn't exist, spiritual development wouldn't be created so God
made evil and the purpose was to have evidence if God is all good. John Hick argument is that the
relationship between humankind and God is a parent/ child relationship because parents birth child,
teach their child the difference between good and bad. They much learn how to live a good life as
God sees fit but John Hick argues that if we try creating a perfect image then God will create a man
in a

Contact: The Battle Between Science And Religion
Contact explores the ideology of belief and the trustworthiness of pure faith, even without solid
evidence. Within both scientific discoveries and religious theories, explanations and proof are vital
to convert the skeptical mindset of the nonbelievers. Moreover, this truth is not always discovered
and therefore, these concepts are only withheld by belief. While this movie mainly focuses on the
battle between science and religion, it continues to further provoke questions of faith. Faith is
typically given a religious connotation, as in the faith in God's (or a higher power's) existence.
Science is an analytic field full of data and realistic concepts. However, Contact suggests that
scientists also need faith with their research. But when the absolute truth is not ... Show more
Ironically, both sides of this war face the same issue: Assuming no obtainable truth, both sides have
"believers" and "nonbelievers." A concept can either be accepted with no evidence of existence or
can be denied entirely. Religion is based on beliefs, as there are no answers to humanities' spiritual
questions. Science is factual; although mostly theories, science eventually determines the real from
the imaginary. In Contact, the scientists were questioned by religious persons about their
undefinable breakthroughs. The religious interrogators scoffed at the concept of belief in something
that has no proof. But much like religion, personal experiences– like that of Ellie Arroway– grant
indescribable insight. Is this newfound knowledge false because there is no evidence? There is no
confirmation or denial, only faith in a possibility. Following the film, Occam's Razor proposes that
the simplest answer is usually a correct answer. Since both alien experience and general religion
require multiple assumptions, neither side can be deemed correct. But, no side can be considered
incorrect. Science and religion surround a mirrored

Charles Colson
The everlasting tension between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of men draws Charles
Colson, the author of God and Government, to offer seasoned reflection from his experience. Colson
was a well known author, radio commentator, and a former presidential aide to Richard Nixon. As a
former atheist worker in the white house and a converted Christian, he highlights the concerns of the
involvement of religion in politics. Colson understands the possible dilemma of an individual in
trying to keep the Christian conscience while also following a politician's mandate. Unlike other
Christian conservatives, Colson has achieved strong political power in the past. It ruined his
reputation, and he is inoculated against it so he claims, "It is power that ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
A personal anecdote regarding his experiences builds credibility and draws in interest since a former
politician, Colson, advises people to not be seduced by political powers. Colson's supposed focus of
the book seems to be that a country has an apparent need of biblical Christian values, but people
should not seek to impose them through political legislation; People can, however, seek to define
their rationality in a non–biblical sense, and influence society to adopt them. Although the motive of
the book was to explore both sides of the dilemma in a neutral manner, Colson fails to offer an
equally balanced content. His usage of extreme evidence, events that are very rare, does not support
his main point as much. Colson illustrates the danger of media by stating that it turns every
uncertified fact as the truth, but that is not true in my opinion. Media gives an opportunity for people
to build their own opinions regardless of whether an incident is true or not, so criticizing the media
weakens his argument. Colson argues Christians are commanded to try to influence the "kingdom of
man" by bringing the values of "the Kingdom of God" to the political arena but in the beginning he
claims that Christians should not express their political stance as a group. As a reader, it is confusing
to understand the main

Examine some of the key principles of the argument for the...
Examine some of the key principles of the argument for the existence of God based upon religious
experiences
Religious experiences are experiences we have of the divine or God. These experiences may be
Mystical experiences, conversion experiences or revelatory experiences. Paul Tillich states that
religious experience is a feeling of 'ultimate concern', a feeling that demands a decisive decision
from the one receiving it. He describes it as an encounter followed by a special understanding of its
religious significance.
The argument for religious experiences is based on 3 premises. Premise one states that the
experience of X indicates the reality of X. One problem with this premise is that the experience of X
does not always indicate ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The problems with premise three can also be highlighted by looking at the religious experience of
Mosses when he saw God in the burning bush. When God came to him, Mosses had just killed a
man and run away into the desert. Therefore he could be experiencing extreme guilt which could
cause him to have an illusion. Also if he is in the desert then he was most likely dehydrated which
again could cause an illusion. Therefore other factors may be used to explain religious experiences.
Another example to support premise three, and one that addresses the problem of the subjective
nature of religious experiences, is corporate religious experiences. This is when large numbers of
people all have the same religious experience at the same time. The fact that they are experienced by
many leads to the fact that they can be objectively tested and the accounts validated adding further
support for the argument.
Those that argue that religious experiences are proof of the existence of God usually argue
inductively. This means that they look at the subjective testimonies of individuals who claim to have
had religious experiences in order to find similar characteristics and then draw the general
conclusion that the experiences can only be explained in terms of the existence of God. For example
Swinburne argued inductively supporting

Analysis Of When You See One By Stanley Fish
Interpretive Communities What is an interpretive community? An interpretive community is a
theoretical concept created by professor and author Stanley Fish, he explores this theory throughout
his essay "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One" from his book Is There a Text in This
Class? Fish identifies an interpretive community as a group of individuals who interpret texts
similarly because of shared social experiences and positions. He further explains how interpretive
communities function and why interpretive communities are vital in creating meaning. Fish's main
argument is that "interpretation is not the art of construing but the art of constructing" (Fish 327).
Fish portrays this argument by asserting three main claims: that interpreters ... Show more content
This interpretive strategy is available because interpretive communities have background knowledge
on what they're giving meaning to. The background knowledge can be as simple as knowing how a
classroom setting works, Fish demonstrates. Fish's argument that in order to use interpretive
strategies a certain amount of background knowledge is required is portrayed with another effective
anecdote, he references the action of raising your hand while in a classroom. Of course to those
who've had classroom experiences and understand the norms of a classroom setting understand that
this gesture is used when a student wants to speak or ask a question during class, but to someone
who has never once been in a classroom setting would have absolutely no idea what this gesture
implies. The person without classroom experience could presume that the student in the back of the
classroom flailing his arm in the air is simply trying to swat a fly or point to the fluorescent ceiling
lights. Without that cultural background knowledge it's hard to interpret what it is that the students
who's raising his hand is doing, the same goes with interpretive communities. An interpretive
community has the ability to give meaning and purpose to a situation, text, poem, etc. because they
have required previous knowledge and experiences that have allowed them to do such. Referencing
back to the

Does God Exist?
In the art piece The Sacrament of the Last Supper, by surreal artist Salvador Dali, he shows the
image of the famous "Last supper" shared between Jesus and his disciples before Jesus was betrayed
by Judas Iscariot. The main philosophical question that arose to me when I saw this painting was if
God exists. Depicted in the painting there is a higher being or God watching over Jesus and his
disciples. There are many arguments and ideas for the existence of a higher being or God, some of
the main ones are; Pascal's Wager, the Ontological argument, the Cosmological argument, the
Teleological argument, the Moral argument, and the argument from religious experience. A classic
argument that is used a lot is the first cause that states "all events in the natural world must have a
cause therefore God must be the initiator of all events." So my question is; is there a higher being or
God?
Pascal's Wager which, is an idea that was established by a man named Blaise Pascal. This idea says
that there is a 50 percent chance that God exists and a 50 percent chance that God does not exist. If
you believe in god it brings the chance of eternal life in heaven, and if there is no God then we lose
or gain nothing, so it makes no sense to take a chance on belief. Pascal's Wager is not a belief based
on an appeal to evidence that God exists but rather based on an appeal to self–interest. I believe it is
better to just believe in God because if he does exist then we get eternal life in heaven. If

Critically Asses, with Reference to William James, the...
In the book 'the varieties of religious experience', James concluded that religious experience testifies
that "we can experience union with something larger than ourselves and in that union find our
greatest peace". He defined such experiences as "experiences of the divine" and believed that
religious experience was at the heart of religion. For James, religious teachings, practices and
attitudes are second hand religion, which later develop as individuals reflect on their common
experience. It is the actual experiences that directly point to God. However this theory does little to
prove religious experiences simply because many of his claims do not stand up to critical analysis.
James looked at a variety of religious experiences, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Secondly, James believed that the religious experiences from the different faiths were similar. They
were experiences of the same ultimate reality which is then interpreted into the 'second hand'
religious structure of that person. A Christian might interpret an experience as the presence of the
Holy Spirit, whereas a Hindu might interpret it differently.
James also argued that despite the wide variety of religious experiences there is a common core to
all of them, they will normally include similar elements, like the sense of being in the presence of a
greater power or the recipient has relatively little control over the experience. Also includes an
insight into "usually unseen dimensions of existence which are of intrinsic value and fundamental
importance". For some they may consist of a direct experience of the divine or may be a gradual
realisation that there is more to life than the world around us and it often leads to a greater
understanding of God. James claimed that this common core pointed to a single objective source of
all religious experiences.
In response, many critics claim that it is difficult to even define or interpret what a genuine religious
experience is let alone decide if they have a common core. Many scholars claim a common core is
simply not true and the sheer variety of religious experiences suggest they have a human rather than
a divine origin. Critics further point out, that it is

William James The Varieties Of Religious Experience
"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James is the first record of the use of the term
religious experience/ mysticism. In his book he defined religious experience in four parts: they
cannot be accurately described (ineffable), you cannot will them to occur (passive), they only occur
for a short period of time (transitive) and they convey insights into deep truths (noetic). We could
say that, religious experiences are unexpected experiences with a " divine" (the Christian God, the
Islamic god (Allah), Judaism god etc.) that are caused by the divine. They can be in the form of
seeing or hearing experiences, which are not brought about by the ordinary human senses. There
have been several arguments on religious experience as to whether it provides justification for
religious belief. Most critics concentrate more on science for the explanations of religious
experiences. They say such experiences are not of any higher " divine" like the Christian God, etc.
since it is not the only way that can lead to feeling ineffable, passive, transitive and noetic as defined
by William James. They argue that some known drugs are examples of other ways that can lead to
one having experiences similar to the characteristics of religious experiences. ... Show more content
During the last 22 years of his life, he reported of having revelations (religious experiences) that he
believed to be from God. The content of these revelations is what we know as the Qur'an on which
the Islamic religion is formed. Qur'an 96:3–5, says "Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous,
who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not". This shows that Prophet Mohammed
had religious experiences that lead to the formation of Islamic religion (Qur'an 96). Not only Islamic
religion but also Sikhism was found based on religious experience experienced by the founder, Guru
Nanak, when he was bathing in a river (Guru Granth

Steven Katz Essay
The debate in the academic study of mysticism between Steven Katz and Robert Forman primarily
refers to the origins and essence of mystical experiences. Katz's argues that, "There are NO pure (i.e.
unmediated) mystical experiences" (Katz, 26). Additionally, Katz articulates the problem of
interpreting and verifying mystical experiences, thus alluding to the issue of whether or not mystical
experiences can be classified. Comparatively, Robert Forman argues for the existence of what he
refers to as Pure Consciousness Events (PCEs), whereby mystical experiences extend beyond
language and culture. Each argument has its merits, however, I contend that Forman's argument is
the most articulate and accurate. Katz asserts that the major problem of ... Show more content on
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Although Katz does not deny the existence of mystical experiences, he suggests that there is no
scientific evidence upon which to classify and categorize experiences. Katz uses constructivism to
argue his analyses. The concept of constructivism maintains, "people construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those
experiences" (Educational Broadcasting Corporation). Moreover, Katz suggests, "all experience is
processed through, organized by and makes itself available to us in extremely complex
epistemological ways" (Katz, 26). Essentially, Katz insists that people do not have mystical
experiences that differ from their spiritual or religious beliefs and practices. Katz states, "...in order
to understand mysticism it is not just a question of studying the reports of the mystics after the
experimental event but of acknowledging that the experience itself as well as the form in which it is
reported is shaped by the concepts which the mystic brings to, and which shape his experience"
(Katz, 26). For Katz, this argument denies claims of mystical experiences any reliability. Therefore,
one may question how

Ontological Argument: Defining The True Meaning Of God
I was exposed to religion as a child but it didn't really truly connect with me at first. I have grown up
catholic because that is the way my family preaches. I was taught to know to always go to church on
Sunday's and holy days of obligation, if you sin deeply you need to go to confess and the list goes
on. Although, as I got older I began the true meaning of God being the greatest being and I started to
have my very own religious experiences which raised a lot of questions in me. This now brings me
to the argument that I'm going to talk about, The ontological argument.
In the bible, it says that "Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God" (Psalms 14:1). Anselm's
reflection to this has become known as the Ontological Argument. Anselm defines God by saying
God is that "which nothing greater can be conceived." One way to interpret this phrase is to define
"God" as maximal perfection, i.e. the greatest possible being. Anselm justifies his argument by using
the idea of a painter. When a painter first knows of what it is he or she wants to accomplish, they
have it in their understanding but does not yet understand it to exist. They don't understand it to exist
because they have yet to construct their painting. He is trying to say that there is a difference
between saying that something actually exists in my mind and saying that I believe that something
actually exists. when you hear the word square, you picture a square, or when you hear the word
circle, you picture a circle. Anselm argued when humans hear the word God, they think Supreme
Being. When I hear the word "God," I recognize a God that I know from my personal experiences,
but I also know that this God of mine is also working through the lives of everyone, not just mine.
He has an intimate oneness with all of us, even if we don't recognize or know it. I don't think the
God I know of is worried about whether people are religious or not. I think this God is interested in
exploring experience, through us.
What I found in the literature was that, so–called spiritual experiences are part of every culture and
have shaped spiritual and religious traditions. It is clear to me that "I" am not the physical body, but
"I/God" is a consciousness in eternity,

The Argument From Religious Experience
The Argument from Religious Experience
The argument for God, based on personal Religious experiences, is an argument that cannot be
refuted by others. While others may not have the ability to prove the existence of God, through
another's experiences, they also cannot disprove this existence. A person's personal experiences are
something that no other person can determine, nor argue. My experiences are my interpretations for
the occurrences within my life, therefore, another person cannot determine what my true
experiences are, or how they make me feel or believe. Kreeft points out that there really is no need
for an argument for the existence of God, based on these personal experiences, since another person
cannot determine another's ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These experiences cannot be argued by anyone, since the person in which it occurred, is the only
one with the ability to provide the reality to others.
While a person may not have the ability to argue the experiences of another person, one can
certainly argue the differences in these reported experiences. Accounts from different people, who
cite various experiences, creates an argument against the existence of God, based on religious
experiences. Utilizing these inconsistencies, people attempt to refute the existence of God by
outlining these inconsistencies with various reports of the people claiming to have received these
experiences (Holt, 2008). Persons who are skeptical of the religious experiences to support God will
look to find inconsistencies within the stories of those reporting these experiences. However, to the
believer, variances are a way of action for God. None of the miracles performed within the Bible
were performed in the same manner. While the overall miracle may have been the same, the manner
in which it was performed may vary. As an example, Jesus healed two blind men in vastly differing
ways. One man, Jesus spat in the dirt to create mud, then rubbed the mud on the man's eyes and
instructed him to wash in the pool of Siloam, to which the man

Paley's Argument For The Existence Of God
The traditional God in the Judeo–Christian tradition is known to be as an "Omni–God" possessing
particular divine attributes such as omniscient, which means he knows everything he is also
omnipotent, or all powerful. God has also been said to be also he is omnipresence which means he
exists in all places and present everywhere, however there are many philosophical arguments on
whether if any of that is actually true or if there is a God at all. This paper argues that it is not
possible to know whether the traditional God exists or not. While there have been philosophers such
as Aquinas, Anselm, Paley and Kierkegaard who are for god and present strong argument, likewise
philosopher like Nietzsche and arguments like the problem of evil both make valid point on why
God isn't real.
Aquinas Argument of Efficient Cause states In our ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Paley's made his argument using an analogy to prove the existence of god, using a watchmaker
analogy and to image if we found a watch on the ground and could it have been possible for the
watch to simply appear randomly, spontaneously on its own. Paley was arguing that the teleology
demonstrated by a watch would conclude that it was designed by an intelligent creator with a
particular end in mind. While Aquinas has a design argument of his own ,the Teleological argument
focuses on the condition that allows for life in the universe to only occur when certain fundamental
physical constants are within a very narrow range if one of many fundamental constant are off
slightly, then the universe would be unfit for the development of matter and life. Since these things
are so finely tuned it appears an intelligent designer may have been involved in making sure these
things happened so life could occur that designer Aquinas believes to be

Religious Experiences are in the Mind of the Believer Essays
Religious Experiences are in the Mind of the Believer
"A religious experience is a spontaneous or induced mental event over which the
recipient has relatively little control. It is often accompanied with the gaining of
certain knowledge and the experience is always unique."[1] Elton Trueblood's
definition of a religious experience is very broad, including any experience of feelings
of 'love, power, glory or strength from God.' This differs from a simple experience
which can be defined as "an event or series of events participated in or lived through,
especially one that makes a powerful impression on the mind and sense."[2]
It is obvious that religious experiences ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
When people try to describe an experience
of God they tend to make comparisons which raises problems philosophically, and
many argue that the analogies have weaknesses.
The definitions of mystical experience used by researchers and clinicians vary
considerably, ranging from Neumann's (1964) "upheaval of the total personality" to
Greesley's (1974) "spiritual force that seems to lift you out of yourself" to
Scharfstein's (1973) "everyday mysticism." William James created four
characteristics which he believed will enable people to identify mystical experiences,
a term that is used in a vast variety of contexts. These include ineffability, noetic

quality, transciency and passivity. From James' four characteristics, mystical
experiences are concerned with noetic quality and transciency. Noetic quality refers
to knowledge that is gained through intuition and perception however not in the
conventional manner, whilst transciency refers to the duration of the experience; it
appears that most religious experiences last between a few minutes and two hours.
However the effect and the significance are out of proportion to its physical duration.
The fact they can last up to several

The Partition Of Indi A New Understanding Of Partition
In 1947, the partition of India on the departure of British colonial power laid the seed for widespread
bloodshed, Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin pioneer a new understanding of partition through the
voices of affected women for the first time, whose stories were buried under the dust of time and the
blankets of the patriarch. Authors, Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin both have strong roots in women's
studies. Menon as an independent scholar and publisher focused on violence against women, and
Bhasin for her work with South Asian women's movements for the United Nations. As feminist
scholars and activists, Menon and Bhasin's Borders and Boundaries expands from their previous
scholarly publications. Menon and Bhasin argue the importance of a feminist approach to studying
India's partition against the backdrop of an overwhelming wealth of political and communal
histories, the gruesome reality that Partition was distant from the smooth process written on paper.
They also argue the objectification of women, whose bodies became symbolic territories to 'claimed,
conquered and marked, as "women became the respective countries, indelibly imprinted by the
other."
Encapsulating feminist history, Menon and Bhasin chronologically ordered their argument, outlining
the phases of partition from a woman's perspective. The first chapter, speaking for themselves,
addresses the challenges faced in the research phase of the book and the historiographical
importance for giving silenced partitioned

Rhetorical Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail
In the midst of the Civil Rights movement, Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. found himself in a jail
cell in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the most segregated cities in the United States at the time.
While in that jail cell, King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to the city's religious
leaders. Through his use of ethos, pathos, and logos, King made a thought–provoking and powerful
argument for the Civil Rights movement which continues to inspire change in the hearts of his
audience, both implied and actual. An effective strategy used by King was his careful placement and
articulation of each paragraph in the letter. Had King decided to go straight into defending his
actions, the letter would not have been well regarded. He used ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
While the powerful personal experiences that King shares in the letter serve as emotional appeals,
they also serve as a type of evidence through personal experience. King has the gift of story–telling
in a way that makes a person feel all of the same emotions that must have been felt during those
hard times. King makes the reader feel the frustration of those moments when his community was
told to wait for a better, more convenient time. He makes the reader feel the sorrow of the moments
when his daughter asks to go to a park but they are not allowed because it is for whites only, or
when his son asks why they are treated different for their skin color. He makes a person feel the
horror that must have been felt watching families get hurt or killed by angry mobs or policemen. It
is through this use of pathos that King continues to inspire humanity to do better. Interwoven within
the web of powerful emotion is an eye–opening amount of logic. King used pathos to open minds to
the idea of change. Between the use of pathos, the logic starts to flow in. He connected with the
religious leaders through his chosen evidence. Each of King's claims are carefully supported by
examples that he drew from Christianity or through historical evidence that he ties to Christian
values. He brought it all together through connecting it with something he knew his implied
audience would be able to understand. The overall success of the

Borderland
SOC 248T: Post–Soviet Paradoxes Ryan Kelley Professor Shevchenko November 16, 2016
Response to "The Bulgarian Borderland" by L. Melishkevich SUMMARY Main Claim of Paper:
Religious divisions in Madan (and other Bulgarian towns in the Rhodope region) are produced by a
religious borderland in which individuals grapple with ideological conflict and tension,
characterized by Eastern vs. Western influences. Support: Factual information and quotes from
Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe; Supportive information (for comparisons) from other books/places
examined this semester. CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK (with some complimentary questions)
Argument: Pushing back against Ghodsee's notion that Madan is unique due to the combination of
its large Muslim populations and the collapse of GORUBSO, the paper builds off past discussions of
borderland (with Where the World Ended and Consecution and Social Change) to argue that a
religious borderland is responsible for divisions in the Bulgarian Muslim population. I have little
critique of the broad argument (I think it's rather brilliant!) BUT I think it suffers from
organizational and evidence deficiencies. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Is this borderland signifiant for the rest of Bulgaria? How? I admire how you took your paper road
the road that Ghodsee appears hesitant to travel: You focus on the religious experience itself as
significant rather than drawing connections to economic and political life. Why do you think
Ghodsee expands her argument to include gender and ethnicity? How could your argument benefit
from these other lines of

Benjamin Banneker Rhetorical Analysis
Benjamin Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson Rhetorical Analysis Being respectful and
thoughtful, Benjamin Banneker addresses the issue of slavery. Throughout the letter, where the son
of former slaves writes to Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Banneker reasons African Americans are
equal to white men, and refers to the mistreatment of slaves by Americans in order to argue that
slavery is morally wrong. First, Benjamin Banneker reasons African Americans are equal to white
men in order to argue that slavery is morally wrong. For example, through the repetition of the word
the 'Sir', Banneker not only shows respect towards Thomas Jefferson, but portrays himself as
someone knowledgeable. This helps Banneker argue that is slavery is morally wrong because it
shatters the notion of African Americans being inferior to white people due to Banneker, who is an
African American, writing a letter in a dignified manner. Also, it helps the argument by appealing to
Thomas Jefferson's ego and sense of worth. The repetition of 'sir' makes it more difficult for
Jefferson to become angry at Banneker for being insolent because it doesn't antagonize Jefferson,
but recognizes the difference in authority and position between Banneker and Jefferson while
showing that Banneker himself, who is an African American, is capable and educated. Through
sentences "... you have mercifully received and that is the peculiar blessing of heaven", "blessings to
which you were entitled by nature", and "... benevolence of the Father of mankind and of equal and
impartial distribution of those right..." Mr. Banneker appeals to Jefferson through religion. This
religious appeal aids the argument that slavery is wrong because it works as the premise to a
syllogism; God has made all men equal, African Americans and white people are men, so they are
equal. For Jefferson to dispute this argument, he would have to defy the premise of his own
Declaration of Independence ("We hold these truths to be self–evident: that all men are create
equal...") which would mean the loss of the justification Americans had to declare independence
from Great Britain. Also, Banneker speaks to Jefferson's own values as a religious man by arguing
that he is opposing God's goodwill in the

There Be Dragons : Effects Of Unexplored Religion On...
Rhetoric in scientific writing is most often associated with the use of logos. Readers of scientific
articles want to see evidence and research to support the conclusions within the paper. In her article
"There be dragons: effects of unexplored religion on nurses' competence in spiritual care," Barbara
Pesut proves that strong emotional appeals are just as important in developing the ideas within
scientific writing to create a persuasive argument. Pesut uses an appeal to intellect through diction,
and deductive reasoning, as well as several strong appeals to emotion to create an effectively
convincing argument; however, an account of her own experiences would have strengthened her
argument further through ethos and pathos. First, Pesut uses the arrangement of her ideas to appeal
to the audience's intellect. The article is arranged through deductive reasoning from broad to more
specific, as she first describes the religious cultural context and finishes by suggesting ways to
improve individual spiritual care in practice. Pesut states that she will arrange her ideas this way in
her article: "I will begin by discussing the context that has created barriers to nursing theorizing
about religious care. I will then suggest that this neglect of religious theory has produced a
spirituality theory–religious theory gap (...) I will then conclude with three recommendations for
integrating theory about religious care into nursing education which complements the teaching of

Objections to Charles Peirce's Article, A Neglected...
Objections to Charles Peirce's Article, A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God
ABSTRACT: Charles S. Peirce sketches "a nest of three arguments for the Reality of God" in his
article "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God." I provide careful analysis and explication of
Peirce's argument, along with consideration of some objections. I argue that (1) there are significant
differences between Peirce's neglected argument and the traditional arguments for God's existence;
(2) Peirce's analysis of the neglected argument into three arguments is misleading; (3) there are two
distinct levels of argument that Peirce does not recognize; and (4) it is doubtful whether the
argument meets all the criteria set by Peirce himself. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
First, Peirce distinguishes between an argument and argumentation. An argument is "any process of
thought reasonably tending to produce a definite belief" while argumentation refers to an argument
that proceeds "upon definitely formulated premisses" (6.456). We must note that Peirce's Neglected
Argument (hereafter referred to as NA) is an argument, but not argumentation.
Second, we must distinguish between reality and existence. Reality is a broader term that
encompasses what exists but is not synonymous with it. (3) For something to be real it must have
properties sufficient to identify it whether anyone attributes those properties to it or not. The
existent, strictly speaking, is what interacts with things in a spatio–temporal environment (6.454).
Since God is not another spatio–temporal object, it amounts to fetishism, Peirce remarks, to say that
God exists (6.495). Hence his argument, strictly speaking, is not an argument for God's existence,
but for God's reality.
If we compare Peirce's NA with the traditional arguments for God's existence that philosophers
know and love to criticize, we are immediately struck with a major difference. Peirce's argument is
not argumentation, but the traditional arguments (ontological, cosmological, teleological) are
argumentation. Peirce is not offering yet another bit of argumentation that concludes with a
proposition of metaphysical theology about the existence or reality of some being

The Religion And Its Origins
This chapter was exactly like Vavova's chapter as it was defending morals from debunkers. The
author merely formed a defense for keeping his religious beliefs.
The author had four parts of his argument. He introduces the arguments and claims that he can
defend religion. In the introduction, the author puts out a hypothetical situation where a person,
Fred, believes in evolution and God. Fred can see that evolution does not include whether not God is
involved. The author claims that this is similar to a debunking argument, but he can defend a
religious belief. The author then goes over the structure of his argument and requests patience from
the reader on the matter.
In the second part of his argument, the author explains religion and its origins. According to
psychologists, folk theories are universal processes of human thought and we have found a lot of
them. However the fact that we have folk theories does not explain why we have them. Debunking
does not argue about whether cognitive evolution is true, it argues around the implications if it were
true. Belief forming processes must be truth tracking. However, does that meant that evolution
forces us into skepticism? The author doesn't believe so, because of the possibility of a Milvian
Bridge. Natural selection would help if it selected for the truth. Targets of beliefs should be causes
of beliefs, making them remote and proximate. This is his detailed account of a Milvian Bridge. The
author then goes on to define reason

Religious Experience As An Argument For The Existence Of God
Key Concepts of Religious Experience as an Argument for the Existence of God
The argument is of an 'a posterioi' nature, therefore it is inductive. This means the argument uses
data and evidence from which conclusions are drawn. The argument of experience must involve a
sense of encounter, the experience of the encounter therefore has been seen, felt and sensed and
therefore making the experience exist to us (Hume). These experiences seem to be widespread
throughout society and therefore can be claimed to be a normal occurrence. David Hay in his book
"The Spiritual Experience of the British" in 1979 his findings are counter–intuitive, his findings
show that roughly 50% of the sample reported having ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The religious experiences have to be interpreted, this gives the possibility that interpretations will be
different and that these interpretations will be personal. The interpretations result in the reliability of
the experiences to be questioned, also it can be argued that the experience is just an interpretation,
and that this interpretation can change. We could argue that some people are justified in interpreting
their experiences religiously whilst others are justified in presenting alternative explanations for the
same phenomenon. Another problem is that we know our senses can be deceived, for example
Optical Illusions, this implies that perhaps religious experiences are just illusions. There are 2
possible outcomes, one is that the interpretation is of Reality "I think therefore I am" (Descartes) or
it is of an opposite nature "When a man tells me God has spoken to him in a dream... it is no more
than to say he dreamed God spoke to him".
Richard Swinburne's principle of Credulity and Testimony, help to support peoples' interpretations
of experiences by stating that people who make such claims have a right to be taken seriously. If a
recipient of such an experience is normally a person who is sincere and trustworthy, the likelihood is
that their testimony has strong credibility. Religious experiences are rational proof of a belief in
religion/God's existence.

Philosophy Of Religion : The Existence Of The Almighty...
There is an ordinary drive to be curious and skeptical about almost everything. The very dubious
minds will always find themselves asking why. One of the greatest unknown wonders reputes the
existence of the almighty being, God. There have been millions of reports by people claiming they
have had religious experiences with God. The question is whether this reckons as sufficient evidence
to interactions with God, and whether it should be justifiably accepted as knowledge. Philosopher,
William P. Alston, recorded his findings and beliefs regarding this matter in his publication,
Perceiving God, in 1991. Conversely, philosopher, William L. Rowe, refuted Alston's findings in his
book, Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction, in 2007. Rowe ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
It is bigoted to assume that all experiences must be perceived through the obvious senses.
Accordingly, God is a spiritual being and therefore must be explored through a spiritual light. A
mystical experience is form of perception. This raises the question of what example perception is.
Alston elucidates that perception is termed by presentation, appearance and givenness. However,
perception is all–together "independent of conceptualization, belief, or judgment" (Alston, 1991, p.
187). When perceiving, one can either see or think. Through the action of seeing one is strictly
perceiving, however when thinking, one is applying concepts, beliefs or judgments to sway the end
perception. A perception must be a constant, it must appear one way. With such beliefs, a skeptical
thinker will argue that one's conceptualization, belief or judgment will still sway how something is
perceived. Alston rebuts by illuminating the point that although humans have their own conceptual
beliefs and judgments altering how something is understood, it does not interfere with the
perception of what is. In order to form a perception of, for example X, there are conditions
necessary for it's appearance. X must exist, X must have a significant casual contribution to a
current experience, and the perception of X results in beliefs about X (Alston, 1991, p. 188).
Alston moves on to state that he will argue that mystical experiences are right

Analysis Of Saint Teresa
In "Religious Experiences", Saint Teresa argued that her two experiences were valid because she
was conscious of the lord's presence. In this paper, I will be exploring the two religious experiences
Saint Teresa encountered while analyzing the argument about the epistemic value the experiences
could possibly have. The first religious experience Saint Teresa had, she did not see Jesus, but was
only conscious of Christ's presence. Saint Teresa was petrified at first. All she could do was cry with
fear; when the lord spoke one word to her she was filled with feelings of happiness and was free
from fear. She later went to her confessor to tell him about the incident that had occurred. Saint
Teresa stated,
"I told him that I did not ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The second religious experience Saint Teresa had differed from the first one. When God revealed
himself to her it was not just a feeling of his presence. She claimed to have seen him with the eyes
of the soul and body. When Jesus revealed himself to Saint Teresa, it was quite gradual. It started
with his hands. A few days later he revealed his face, then later revealed his entire body to her. She
was again fearful at first, but the indescribable beauty took her fear away.
"Your Reverence may suppose that it would have needed no great effort to behold those hands and
that beauteous face.... I began to feel such certainty and security that my fear was soon lost," (St.
Teresa 42).
By physically seeing Jesus, it gave her an even stronger conformation that the experiences were
valid and not from her imagination. The beauty was too indescribable not to be genuine. When she
was questioned, she defended herself by saying,
"If the devil were doing this to delude me and drag me down to hell, he would make use of means
which so completely defeated their own ends by taking away my vices...making me virtuous and
strong; for it was quite clear to me that these experiences had immediately made me a different
person," (St. Teresa 43).
She truly believed that these experiences were unquestionable. She explained how she had changed
her for the better and became a stronger individual, and that her prayers were being answered
differently from

The Challenges Posed For Religious Believers By Religious
The challenges posed for religious believers by Religious diversity will be discussed in this paper.
First, one must understand what Religious diversity is. Religious Diversity refers to religions
making mutually exclusive claims that contradict one another. For this discussion, Religious
Diversity will focus on contradictory claims on reaching salvation and connecting with god
depending upon ones personal religion. This discussion pertains to all major western religions like
Judaism, Islam, and Christianity especially, but other religions as well that claim to be the one
absolute religion. These contradictions leave a religious individual with the dilemma of constructing
an argument that rationally explains how there can be multiple ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
For example, numerous religions like Hinduism or Judaism were being practiced thousands of years
prior to Christianity's founding. How can one understand all those peoples existences? It does not
seem plausible to believe that their lives were pointless and they had no connection to god, or no
chance of reaching salvation due to their time of birth. To be punished for something that is out of
ones control is not plausible for an all powerful and merciful god to do. Another problem with
religious exclusivism is how to understand pious people from various religions and cultures. It is not
plausible that there are some individuals, from all different backgrounds, that in every sense of the
word are exceptional humans whether it be through charity, generosity, kindness, or just being a
moral person. Some of these concepts like being a good person or being a moral person are
subjective, but the basic foundation of being a moral person, at least from a western monotheistic
perspective, appears to be do unto others as you would want done unto yourself, also known as the
"golden rule." If one is aware that these pious people exist as followers of all religions, then one has
to conclude that it is a flawed argument to suggest that these individuals would not achieve salvation
simply due to which god they pray to. Other questions that arise when discussing Religious
Exclusivism are; If Christianity is the

Analyse the Argument of the Existence of God from...
i) Analyse the Argument for the Existence of God from Religious Experience (18)
The argument for the existence of God from Religious Experience is a simple one, with only two
premises. The first being that some people have, or have had a religious experience, the second
premise is that these are only explicable though God, thus leading to the conclusion that God exists.
This leads us to question, what exactly are religious experiences?
Theologians have struggled for centuries trying to define what a religious experience is, with many
believing a religious experience to be a sort of revelation, meaning that God reveals some part of hi
nature to the experient. St Thomas Aquinas believed that to be his 'Revealed Theology', where truths
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Swinburne's third type is a strong feeling, a conviction that they were experiencing, even though
there is no phenomena surrounding the experience. The penultimate type is witnessing a perfectly
normal experience, such as the Grand Canyon, which creates a numinous experience. The final type
of experience is in perceiving a very unusual public object, like a miracle, for instance, the
resurrection.
To help identify a religious experience, William James put forward four characteristics of a typical
experience. The first being passivity: how in control the experient is; as whilst you undergo a
religious experience, you take on an 'alternative personality' outside of your own, surrendering your
own control to God. The second quality is ineffability, where the experient can't quite put the
occurrence into words. Another characteristic of a religious experience is the Noetic Quality of said
experience. This quality is the knowledge that is gained in a religious experience, knowledge that
cannot be gained in a conventional manner, and tells you something that you otherwise wouldn't
know. The final quality is transciency, where the time the experience takes doesn't dictate the
significance of the experience, as time is altered or distorted in some way, just as in a dream – the
dream may seem really long, whereas in reality it's only been a few minutes

The Argument For The Existence Of God
I do not find the three arguments I analyzed satisfactory for the existence of God. The existence of
God simply cannot be proven. Regardless of how strong a person's faith is, or how many miracles
they claim to have witnessed, God can only ever be a possibility. First, I will discuss why Pascal's
wager is not a satisfying argument for the existence of God. I will then examine C.D. Broad's
"Argument for the Existence of God", and why it is also not a satisfying argument for the existence
of God. Finally, I will discuss St. Thomas Aquinas' first cause argument, which is a more reasonable
argument for the existence of God. Pascal's wager is not as much of an argument as to why God
exists; rather, it is a rationalization of why it is beneficial for people to believe in God. He gives four
main options for his wager:
God exists.
God does not exist.
I believe in God.
I do not believe in God. If God exists, and you believe in God, you will go to Heaven. If God exists,
and you do not believe, you will go to Hell. If God does not exist and you believe in God, you will
live a happy life, because you have faith in something greater than yourself (it provides an
explanation for inexplicable events). If God does not exist and you do not believe in God, nothing
will happen. According to this argument, regardless of whether or not God exists, you will lead a
better life believing in Him. If you do not believe in God (atheism), you will either gain nothing,
because He does not

Religious Experiences are all Illusions
'Religious experiences are all illusions.' Discuss. Most arguments for the existence of God are 'a
posteriori', seeking to move from experiences within the world to the existence of God rather than
relying on the definition of God to prove his existence. Religious experience is an interaction with
God or a feeling of connection with a higher power. It is interesting to note that William James
never spoke of 'God' but of the 'spiritual', 'unseen order' or 'higher' aspects of the world. Does a
person have to be sure they encountered God rather than connecting with a higher power for their
experience to be classed as 'religious experience'? The basic problem when trying to verify religious
experiences is providing proof to show others that ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
We must appreciate that if God is beyond the limited physical world of objects that are known
through the senses then he cannot be experienced. Otto believed that religion must be derived from a
separate being from this world. He believed religious experience was a personal experience of the
numinous that brought feelings of awe–inspiring holiness. Otto thought that the numinous couldn't
be successfully described using everyday human language as the experience is beyond ordinary
experiences perceived by our senses. Words that are used tend to get close to experience but cannot
pin it down. Otto called the words used to describe the experience its schema, but believed this
schema was only an attempt to find words that could begin to describe the experience although the
idea is inexpressible. Otto was developing the ideas of Schleiermacher who believed the essence of
religion was based in personal experience. He thought that religious experience is 'self–
authenticating' and requires no other testing to see if it is genuine. He believed experiences should
have priority and statements of belief should be formatted to fit them. Also, James considered that
religious experiences lie at the heart of all religion. We have to consider whether religions would
have been founded and held a belief so strong for so

The existence of God Based on Religious Experience Essay
1. Examine the strengths and weaknesses of the argument for the existence of God based on
religious experience. (18) 2. 'The argument merely indicates the probability of God and this is of
little value to a religious believer.' Discuss. (12)
In contrast to the classical arguments for the existence of God, namely the ontological, cosmological
and teleological arguments, the argument from religious experience doesn't just entail a set logical of
points arriving at a conclusion on a piece of paper, rather it also necessitates sense–based
experience, tangible to the individual who experiences the divine.
First and foremost, we must classify the argument from religious experience.
In general, philosophical arguments usually take one ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
James lists four qualifiers of mystical experiences: ineffability (a state that defies description),
noetic quality (revelations of universal and eternal truths), transiency (a brief but profoundly
important experience) and passivity (a feeling of being taken over by a superior authority).
The father of liberal theology, Schleiermacher, made "passivity" the most important qualifier. He
took the concept a step further and proposed that the "essence of religion is the feeling of absolute
dependence" and this approach was supported by scholars such as Rudolf Otto, who defined
religious experience as "wholly other".
For Schleiermacher, in particular, and, additionally, the Islamic mystic Al–Ghazali, true religion was
completely experiential and it should therefore be felt rather than thought. He believed that logic
destroys religious experience because religious experience is a matter of intuitive knowledge, not
processed knowledge. Intuition is belief, where as logic creates doubts. In many spiritual systems
(religious or independent of religion) the human instinct is held in high regard. It was for this reason
that Iqbal, the late Islamic philosopher of the modern era, disagreed with Al–Ghazali.
Religious experience is a very important concept for those who believe that way to know God is to
experience Him. There is a spiritual, mystical dimension to all the world religions – in fact, the
Eastern religions rely

The Argument for the Existence of God Essay
The Argument for the Existence of God
It is an undisputed fact that some people claim to have experienced God. It is these religious
experiences that have been used by philosophers to argue for the existence of God. The main way of
expressing the argument from religious experience is as follows:
P1 Someone experiences an entity
C1 The entity exists
P2 Someone has experienced God
C2 God exists
Those who champion the argument seek to differentiate ordinary experiences and religious
experiences. The supporters of this argument argue that there are several key differences between
the two types of experience: that religious experiences are completely different from what is normal
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The idea expressed here is that religious believers will become explicitly convinced that they are in
God's presence when a religious experience occurs.
In order to stress that the experience was truly experienced and not simply a conclusion of a series
of inferences (caused by consideration of a set of hypotheses), experiences are described through the
undeniable, self–authenticating interaction of the five senses. For example, when you see a football
heading straight towards you and subsequently colliding with your head, you not only see the
football coming towards you but also feel the football when it hits your head. Through the
interaction of the two senses of sight and touch it would seem illogical to deny the existence of the
football and, indeed, the event itself. An analogy to this effect is often cited because the direct
experience that comes from a spiritual sense and that not to believe in God's presence after this
experience would seem absurd.
The point of the example of experiencing God 'something like the way that you would experience
people' is not the idea of how we experience each other's bodies but how we experience each other's
'being'. This is further clarified by the suggestion that we also experience other people's minds,

Religious Experience Research Paper

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Religious Experience Research Paper