This document discusses different types of religious experiences including visions, numinosity, conversion, and mystical experiences. Visions can be intellectual, imaginary, or corporeal experiences of supernatural beings. Numinosity refers to feeling the presence of a great power but remaining separate. Mystical experiences involve a direct experience of God through union, knowledge, or understanding beyond normal comprehension in an ineffable, noetic, transient, and passive way. There are different classes and types of mysticism focused on love, knowledge, the soul, or nature.

1. Religious Experiences
Philosophy

2. What is a religious experience
• A religious experience can be described as a
mental event which a person undergoes either
spontaneously or through intensive training and
self-discipline. This experience can make a person
feel like they have a closer and deeper
understanding of God. A religious experience can
sometimes encourage someone to live a better
life. There are many different types of religious
experience, for example visions, numinosity,
conversion and a mystical experience.

3. Visions
• Visons occur when an individual believes that they have seen or
heard something supernatural or a supernatural being. There are
three ways in which an individual may experience a vision.
• An intellectual vision brings knowledge and understanding such as a
revelation from God
• An imaginary vision where something that strengthens the faith is
seen with the mind’s eye
• A corporeal vision is where the figure is externally present such as
St. Bernadette’s visions of the virgin Mary
• Sometimes dreams are considered to be visions. For example
joseph’s dream in Matthews gospel where joseph is warned in a
dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect them from Herod.

4. Numinosity
• Numinosity refers to the sense of being in the
presence of a great power but also feeling
separate from it. A numinous feeling doesn’t
have to be considered a religious experience
but is often called that as people have no
other explanation for this feeling.

5. Numinosity continued
• Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) suggested that
religion must derive from a being that is
totally separate from this world. The existence
of this being is what causes numinosity. Otto
called Moses’ vision of the burning bush a
numinous experience. Other Scholars argue
that visions are far more than a numinous
experience because they involve a much
stronger and direct encounter with God.

6. Conversion

7. Mystical Experince
• Mystical experience: a direct and intimate
experience of God.
• Recipient feels the sense of ‘reunion with the
Divine’ or usually referred to as God.
• Spiritual recognition of truths beyond normal
human understanding.
• ‘Ultimate reality’ knowledge hidden from human
intellect.
• Freedom from reality.
• Closest that human actually meeting the ‘Divine’

8. Mystical Experience continued
• The 4 classes of Mysticism.
• Ineffability: the experience cannot be communicated
in normal speech. E.g. the dissolution of personal ego
or the sense of peace and sacredness.
• Noetic Quality: the mind gaining knowledge and
understanding. E.g. understanding and gaining
knowledge of the truth.
• Transiency: refers to the fact that religious experiences
only last for a limited time.
• Passivity: refers to the fact that religious experiences
occurs without any action on part of the recipient.

9. Mystical Experience continued
• Types of Mysticism
• Mysticism of love and union.
• Mysticism of knowledge and understanding
• Aspects of Mysticism
• Soul-Mysticism: does not deal with the concept of union of God or with
the existence of God. This relates to the finding the soul and therefore this
completes self-fulfilment. (This can also relate to Buddhists.)
• Nature-Mysticism: observing the beauty or vastness of nature triggers a
mystical experience.
• God-Mysticism: meditating on the attributes of God and the desire to be
one with God triggers mystical experience. For example some Sufi
Muslims seek this on their many ways of worshipping.