Arguments from religious experience are never convincing. When people say that they have experienced God or the divine in some way; they are not saying that it ‘seemed like’ God but was something else. The issue for many philosophers is: are religious experiences veridical? By this is meant can we actually demonstrate that the religious experiences of people are what they seem to be‚ i.e. experiences of God‚ rather than delusions‚ products of the mind or of some other source such as LSD? Can
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The Argument from Religious Experience The argument from religious experience is the argument that personal religious experiences can prove God’s existence to those that have them. One can only perceive that which exists‚ and so God must exist because there are those that have experienced him. While religious experiences themselves can only constitute direct evidence of God’s existence for those fortunate enough to have them‚ the fact that there are many people who testify to having had such experiences
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’Argument’s from religious experience are never convincing’ discuss (35 Marks) A religious Experience is an experience of the divine . Religious experience can be divided into many categories and it depends on what philosopher you agree with as to what categories you would decide on. But the main undisputed categories are; corporal experiences‚ which are experienced by a mass audience‚ vision experiences‚ which are when people see God‚ Hell or Heaven in some sort of semi-conscious state like
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Part B. The ontological argument is a convincing argument. Discuss. The ontological argument was first made famous in the 11th century by St Anslem from Canterbury and was later taken further by French philosopher Rene Descartes. The debate is an attempt to confirm God’s existence as a priori argument. It does not rely on observations of the world around us it simply uses logic and the idea that it is illogical to say that God does not exist as its main factor. There are three elements to St
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“Explain the argument from religious experience for the existence of God.”30 marks Expect different forms of the argument from religious experience‚ e.g. inductive argument‚ direct awareness‚ cumulative argument. Also expect reference to Swinburne’s principle of credulity and principle of testimony. Maximum Level 2 if summary of types of religious experience with no reference to argument for God. ------------------------------------------------- Level 7 for one fully developed argument‚ or two that
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‘Arguments from religious experience are never convincing.’ (35 marks) Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud present challenges to religious experiences. Marx’s challenges to religious experience arguments are sociological; he suggested that the origins of religious experience are to be found in society. He states religion is about mythological beliefs and an unreal god that distracted people from the real world‚ religion is ‘the opium of the people’‚ religious experiences create alienation and a religious
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An argument from design is an argument that is close to the Teleological approach‚ which are arguments for the existence of God because of a general pattern and order in the universe‚ as opposed to arguments from providence‚ which are arguments from the provision of needs; of conscious beings. The teleological argument attempts to prove the existence of God by explaining that the world‚ in its seemingly perfect and ordered state could not have come about without the existence of a designer. The
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Religious Experience Religious experience is seen as a non-empirical occurrence which means it does not depend or can be verified through observation or examination. Majority of people believe it’s supernatural. It is also seen as an experience to make a person aware. Certain religious people believe who have had the experience has drawn them into a deeper knowledge/ awareness of god. Most importantly it is seen as the experience itself is not a substitute for the divine but a vehicle that is
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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
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Religious experiences cannot be explained empirically and tend to take place within a context of religious expectancy. Such experiences may be individual‚ in which a person becomes aware of the presence of the divine; or corporate‚ in which a gathering of people experiences feelings beyond expression – the ineffable. St Teresa of Avila described her experiences as: “God established himself in the interior of this soul in such a way‚ that when I return to myself‚ it is wholly impossible for me to
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