essay on religious experience

Essay on Religious Experience

Students are often asked to write an essay on Religious Experience in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Religious Experience

Understanding religious experience.

Religious experience is a personal encounter with the divine or sacred. It is a feeling or perception that someone has when they come in contact with a higher power. This could be God, spirits, or other supernatural beings. These experiences are often very powerful and can change a person’s life.

Types of Religious Experiences

There are many types of religious experiences. Some people might hear a voice, see a vision, or feel a sudden sense of peace. Others might have dreams or feel a strong pull towards a certain faith. Each person’s experience is unique and personal.

Impact of Religious Experiences

Religious experiences can have a big impact on a person’s life. They can lead to a stronger faith, a change in behavior, or a new understanding of the world. Some people might even decide to dedicate their lives to their faith after having a religious experience.

Interpreting Religious Experiences

Interpreting religious experiences can be tricky. Some people might see them as proof of their faith, while others might see them as psychological events. It’s important to remember that religious experiences are personal and can mean different things to different people.

In conclusion, religious experiences are deeply personal events that can have a big impact on a person’s life. They can lead to a stronger faith, a change in behavior, or a new understanding of the world. Everyone’s experience is unique and should be respected.

250 Words Essay on Religious Experience

What is a religious experience.

A religious experience is a special moment when a person feels a deep connection with a higher power. This higher power could be God, a spirit, or any divine being. These experiences are often very personal and can have a big impact on a person’s life. They can happen in different ways. Some people might have a religious experience during prayer, while others might have one while looking at nature.

There are many types of religious experiences. For instance, some people might have a ‘mystical experience’. This is when they feel a deep sense of unity with the universe. Some people might have a ‘conversion experience’. This is when they change their beliefs or their way of life because of a religious experience. Other people might have a ‘miracle experience’. This is when they believe that something impossible has happened because of the power of God.

Religious experiences can change a person’s life. They can make a person feel more peaceful, happy, and hopeful. They can also make a person feel more connected to other people and to the world around them. Some people might start to live in a different way after a religious experience. They might become kinder, more loving, or more understanding.

In conclusion, a religious experience is a powerful moment of connection with a higher power. It can happen in many different ways and can have a big impact on a person’s life. It is a deeply personal and often life-changing event.

500 Words Essay on Religious Experience

A religious experience is a special event or moment in a person’s life when they feel a strong connection to a higher power. This higher power could be God, a spirit, or a divine being. These experiences can vary greatly from person to person. Some people might see or hear things that others cannot. Others may have a deep feeling of peace and love. These experiences can happen anywhere, anytime – during prayer, in a dream, or even when simply looking at nature.

There are many types of religious experiences. One type is a “vision”. This is when a person sees something that others cannot. It could be an image of a holy person or a message from God. Another type is a “dream”. Many people believe that God or spirits can speak to them in their dreams.

A third type is a “mystical” experience. This is a feeling of being one with the universe or God. It is often described as a deep sense of peace and love. Lastly, there’s a “conversion” experience. This is when a person decides to change their beliefs or way of life because of a religious experience.

Effects of Religious Experiences

Religious experiences can have a big impact on a person’s life. They can change how a person thinks and behaves. For example, a person who has a religious experience might decide to be kinder to others. They might also start to pray more often or read religious texts.

Religious experiences can also give people hope and comfort. If someone is going through a hard time, a religious experience might make them feel better. It can give them the strength to keep going.

Understanding Religious Experiences

Religious experiences are personal and unique to each person. It’s important to respect everyone’s experiences, even if they are different from our own. Some people might not believe in religious experiences. That’s okay too. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs.

In conclusion, religious experiences are special moments when people feel a strong connection to a higher power. They can take many forms and have a big impact on a person’s life. Whether you believe in them or not, they are an important part of many people’s lives.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Religious Business
• Essay on Religious Beliefs And Practices
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Human Experience and Development Of Religious Belief Essay

Religious studies have reached new milestones with the advent of great philosophical and realistic experiences and today newer arenas of religious understanding are given primary importance. On this basis do we identify the relevance of religious studies as they deal with real-life human experience in relation to the development of religious belief. It is an obvious fact that from time immemorial humanity felt insecure towards the powers that outstood their own and thus the religious beliefs came into existence. Therefore, it is most significant to understand the development of religious beliefs and, of course, the religions as such in relation to the human experience.

When the beliefs of any world religion are analyzed, we come to understand this essential nature of human experience which creates the very foundations of the religious philosophies. “Religion is a worldwide phenomenon that has played a part in all human culture and so is a much broader, more complex category than the set of beliefs or practices found in any single religious tradition… In all cultures, human beings make a practice of interacting with what are taken to be spiritual powers. These powers may be in the form of gods, spirits, ancestors, or any kind of sacred reality, with which humans believe themselves to be connected.” (Introduction, Religion) Thus, we recognize the essential relationship between human experience and religious beliefs and in this paper, this essential relation between human experience and religious beliefs and the role of the former in the development of the latter is exposed.

Modern religious studies give paramount importance to the investigation of the essential relationship between human experience and religious beliefs in the wider perspective of different religions. It is, therefore, possible to compare the various religious traditions and their beliefs in relation to how they were formulated by human experiences. In an analysis of the development of religious beliefs, the contribution of the human experience becomes most significant. It is every human being’s personal experience that leads him or her to the individual beliefs and practices in a specific religious tradition. That is to say, religious beliefs are partly personal and partly social in nature, and in both cases, human experiences, either personal or social, contribute essentially to the diverse religious beliefs and ideologies. The specific human experiences in different life situations, especially in trying situations, ultimately result in religious beliefs and practices. “According to Parsons, two main types of frustration in the human situation provide the focal points for the development of religious beliefs.

One of these is that people are “hit” by events that they cannot foresee, prepare for, or control, such as the occurrence of premature death. The second type is present where there is a strong emotional investment in accomplishing some goal, yet despite the greatest energy and skill brought to bear in this effort success remains uncertain… hence the significance of religious belief is that it is made up of the life situation to which people cannot remain indifferent, which they cannot in the long run evade, but which they cannot control adjust to with every practical means available.” (p 46, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, by William H. Swatos, Rowman Altamira, 1998) This essential nature of human life and experience is relevant not in the personal beliefs of humans alone but in the more general, social, and cultural levels of religious beliefs and practices. It is also significant to note that the influence of the human experience is evident not in the development of the religious beliefs of a single religion alone but of the religions of the world in general. Therefore, it is greatly universal in nature.

In an analysis of the role of the human experience in the development of religious beliefs, it is necessary also to note that the relation between human experience and religion is the exact background to outline the very nature of religion itself. Thus, the human experience indicates the development of a religious view. “A religious view must grow out of the human experience. This follows from the fact that human experience is the only basis for ideas that have any meaning or allow intelligible communication. This means that at every stage of discussion about religion, concepts or assertions must be explained by reference to actual human experience. Ideas tend in time to declare their independence of experience. When this happens, they lose their meaning or their significance becomes obscure and confused. This is the trouble with traditional religious doctrines: they are burdened with ideas which have lost their reference to actual human experience.” (Intelligible Religion by Philip H. Phenix). In this way, human experience provides the right basis for an exact understanding of religion and religious beliefs. It is primarily because of the fact that human experiences are the source for religious philosophies to emerge in great significance. Therefore, an analysis of the relation between religion and human relations ultimately establishes religious views and assumptions.

Another remarkable element of the basic human experience in relation to religious beliefs is that it is the universal experiences of humanity that amount to religious beliefs and practices. Religious experience influences the human experience and in turn the latter influences the former. That is to say, human experiences are of a general nature in determining their specified impact on religion. “Among the universal experiences in which man participates religion relates to those which are of central concern. By this is meant experiences which are involved in every area of man’s life. Religious experience… is not some specialized department of human thought or activity. Rather it is an aspect that pervades every form of man’s existence. Further, these experiences are of central concern by being in some sense ultimate. They do not refer to the immediate, obvious, superficial aspects of consciousness, but to the deepest and most pervasive factors which determine the long-term quality of existence.” (Intelligible Religion by Philip H. Phenix). The relation between religious experience and human experience is one of the most evading relations that is known to humanity. It is in this background we understand the role of human experience in the development of religious belief.

When we concentrate on the religious experience as acquired by human beings, we understand the influence of human experience in the formation of the religious philosophy which ultimately leads one to believe in the religious principles. The psychological development of a child’s religious conscience confirms the contribution of human experience in the development of religious beliefs. Thus, as a child acquires religious beliefs, it evaluates personal experiences and chooses the religious meaning from the meanings provided by evil. These are the human experiences that help the child choose the religious path. In other words, the formation of religious sense and belief is the result of the human being’s lived experience. It is therefore always recommended to provide the child with the maximum freedom to experience its individualized religious experience and develop personal beliefs about the religion. Nobody should interfere in the growth stage of a child. The influence of the parents seems to be the most prevailing block in acquiring the personal experience of religion.

The self-experience has a great significance in a person’s growth of religious identity. The religious experience of a child as it grows old is affected by several life experiences which determine the religious philosophies and beliefs it ultimately chooses. As the faith becomes strong the individual accepts the beliefs of the religion and human experiences then lead not to the selection of a particular religious belief but to the affirmation of the faith in a particular religious philosophy. “Religious experience is markedly influenced by physical health, inherited temperament, and social environment. But these temporal conditions do not inhibit inner spiritual progress by a soul dedicated to the doing of the will of the Father in heaven. There are present in all normal mortals certain innate drives toward growth and self-realization which function if they are not specifically inhibited. The certain technique of fostering this constitutive endowment of the potential of spiritual growth is to maintain an attitude of wholehearted devotion to supreme values.” (Religious Growth, The Urantia Book, Part III – The History of Urantia). The religious growth of a person is an unconscious process. However, it does not mean that the human experience does not affect religious beliefs. It actually takes place and it is unconscious.

It is important to note that religion has a critical role in the life of humanity and it contributes considerably to the progress of the universe. It is also important that religion forms the life experience of an individual all through his life. “Religion is an integral part of the holistic development of an individual, community, and the nation. It permeates every aspect of life. It contributes to making education holistic in terms of tolerance and appreciation of values and ideas within various traditions. (Religious Education). Therefore, on the one hand, religion plays a dominant position in the life of an individual and, on the other, religious beliefs are influenced by the individual’s experiences. The role of religion on humanity and its experiences are very well recognized and now we recognize a more significant role played by human experiences on religious beliefs. Religious beliefs are those which create the religion itself and therefore there is an intrinsic relation between human experiences and religious beliefs and religion itself.

Ultimately we come to top the conclusion that human experiences have paramount influence on religious beliefs as they are formulated by the specific experiences of the individuals in their development of the religious self. The difficult and different situations in a person’s life lead him to the acceptance of a religious belief and as the life experience of the individual grows, the religious belief in the person also gets rooted in the person. “Sometimes a spiritual power is understood broadly as an all-embracing reality, and sometimes it is approached through its manifestation in special symbols. It may be regarded as external to the self, internal, or both. People interact with such a presence in a sacred manner—that is, with reverence and care. Religion is the term most commonly used to designate this complex and diverse realm of human experience.

An adequate understanding of religion must take into account its distinctive qualities and patterns as a form of human experience, as well as the similarities and differences in religions across human cultures.” (Introduction, Religion). Therefore, we can conclude that the person’s individual experiences lead to the specific religious beliefs of the person. In short, the role of human experience in the development of religious belief is greatly significant.

Bibliography

Introduction, Religion. Web.

Intelligible Religion by Philip H. Phenix. Web.

Religious Growth, The Urantia Book, Part Iii – The History of Urantia. Web.

Religious Education. Web.

p 46, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, by William H. Swatos, Rowman Alttamira, 1998.

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A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies

Religious experience summary notes

OCR Philosophy

This page contains summary revision notes for the Religious Experience topic. There are two versions of these notes. Click on the A*-A grade tab, or the B-C grade tab, depending on the grade you are trying to get.

Find the full revision page  here.

William James’ pluralism argument for mystical individual religious experiences

• James argued that religious experiences are evidence of union with a higher power (not necessarily the christian God)
• James studied religious experiences from across the world from different cultures.
• He found that mystical experiences were present in all cultures. 
• Mystical experiences are full-blown out of body transcendent experiences – not just a visionary experience like seeing an angel flying around.
• James said mystical experience have 4 criteria in common:
• Ineffable – beyond description – beyond language
• Noetic – provides knowledge/insight
• Transient – happens in limited amount of time
• Passive – it happens to you, you don’t make it happen.
• James’ pluralism argument, built on and developed by Walter Stace, is that because these mystical experiences are found in all religions and have these 4 criteria in common – this can’t be by chance – there must really be an objective cause of that cross-cultural similarity.
• James & Stace’s proposal of the cause is that people in different religions are all tapping into the same higher spiritual reality. So all religions are valid and true (pluralism).
• (add persinger here?)
• Human brains are all the same – so it would make sense for us to hallucinate in similar ways.
• There are many naturalistic physiological causes of hallucinations, including drugs, mental illness, fasting, sleep deprivation and they can even just be completely random unusual brain activity.
• Additionally, human lives share similar themes, so that would also explain the similar style and content of the hallucinations.
• Feuerbach suggested that the universality of religious experience only suggests a universal psychological need for a higher purpose.

Evaluation:

• James’ theory is technically possible, we can’t prove it’s false. 
• However, we have much simpler and better and more scientific explanations of the cross-cultural similarities in religious experiences.
• We have naturalistic explanations, so a supernatural cause is an unnecessary hypothesis.

James’ pragmatism argument (inc. conversion experiences)

• W. James thought conversion experiences were especially convincing because of their life-changing effects.
• James thought religious experiences could not just be hallucinations. 
• He pointed out that, unlike hallucinations, religious experiences can have positive and profound life-changing effects, which we can observe.
• James pointed to the case study of an Alcoholic who was unable to give up alcohol but then had a religious experience, after which he was able to give up the alcohol. After the experience, they had gained power which they lacked before. James would argue that this is evidence for the validity of the experience, that it really came from a higher spiritual reality.
• James on conversion experiences. Conversion experiences are clearly a strong example of James’ point about the life-changing impact of religious experiences. He viewed conversion experiences as a transformation from an unhappy divided or imperfect self with a guilty conscience to a more unified happy state.
• For example – St Paul – he was called ‘Saul’ and was a Jew who hated Christians but then had a conversion experience where he saw Jesus who said ‘why are you persecuting me?’.
• Saul changed his name to Paul and became Christian and ended up writing a lot of the Bible.
• Firstly, conversion experiences could be hallucinations.
• Dr Ramachandran suggests it’s possible that St Paul had epilepsy – his description was consistent with having an epileptic seizure. Epilepsy can cause hallucinations.
• James’ argument is unsuccessful because although most hallucinations are not life-changing, sometimes they can be. 
• The right sort of hallucination to the right sort of person can produce a life-changing effect.
• E.g. if a Christian hallucinated an angel talking to them, that might change their life, despite being just a hallucination.
• James’ theory at least attempts to provide evidence, however we have better and more scientific evidence regarding hallucination. 
• We know that hallucinations tend to be projections of the imagination. So, scientifically speaking, RE’s, including conversion ones, are best explained as hallucinations. 
• There’s a principle called Ockham’s razor which is that when we have competing explanations, we should go with the simplest one which works – so as to not multiply assumptions unnecessarily.
• Essentially, we have no reason to accept the unnecessarily complex supernatural explanation when we have naturalistic/scientific explanation – physical evidence.
• Freud was a psychologist.
• Religion is the unconscious mind’s need for wish-fulfilment.
• We fear death and we fear the responsibilities of adult life.
• So, we invent the idea of a God to give us an afterlife so death is not real and having an eternal ‘father’ lets us feel like a child, to psychologically hide from adulthood.
• Just like when people lost in a desert desperate for water hallucinate water, humans desperately wish to not die etc hallucinate a God. That’s Freud’s explanation of RE’s.
• Freud was not a real scientist – he didn’t do any actual experiments, he studied a small sample size of people who were a poor cross-section of society. He’s overgeneralising – maybe he’s right about some religious people, but he’s not right about all of them.
• Also – conversion experience critique of Freud.
• Freud is arguing that religious experiences are just the result of mental desperation for an afterlife.
• The issue is, some people who are religious and already believe in an afterlife, have a religious experience which converts them to a different religion.
• They already believed in an afterlife, so an experience converting them to a different religion can’t be explained by their being desperate to believe in an afterlife.
• St Paul would already have been satisfied in his wishful desire for an afterlife by his Judaism, so that can’t explain his conversion experience to Christianity.
• Freud is probably right about some religious people. However, it’s just not justified to generalise/extend his argument to all religious people. We lack the scientific evidence & data to justifiably make that claim, and Freud failed to provide it.
• Swinburne argues that RE’s are evidence for God’s existence.
• If we experience something that is evidence that it is true.
• If you experience something divine (credulity), or someone tells you they have (testimony), that is evidence that God exists.
• Rationally speaking, we ought to believe such cases unless we have a reason not to.
• These experiences are evidence for God, and you can’t dismiss evidence unless you have other better evidence which goes against it.
• E.g. if you have evidence the person is on drugs, sleep deprived, etc, then Swinburne accepts that you can dismiss the experience.
• His point is, what about all those experiences where you have no evidence of such confounding variables.
• In those cases, you have no counter-evidence to the experiences themselves and therefore it would be irrational not to believe them as evidence for God.
• Even if Swinburne is right that religious experiences are evidence for God – that doesn’t mean they are enough evidence to justify believing in God. 
• Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. We need more than just religious experience to justify belief in God.
• Pluralism objection: Hume made this argument about miracles but it can also be applied to religious experiences. All religions have religious experiences. Technically speaking, an experience in one religion is evidence against the Gods of other religions. So even if we take religious experiences as evidence – they all cancel each other out.
• (however of course this would not be a problem for pluralists like James)
• However – we will always have reasons not to believe a religious experience. There are psychological and sociological explanations of religious experience which in principle could explain them without God.

Corporate RE’s

• When multiple people share a RE.
• The toronto blessing – a church in Canada where a congregation all suddenly felt the presence of the holy spirit. Some started rolling around laughing, some speaking in tongues.
• We can’t explain such cases away with reference to individualistic explanations like drugs, mental illness, sleep deprivation etc. 
• The chances that all these people would hallucinate at the same time and in the same way is too low to be rationally believed.
• There are psychological explanations regarding group dynamics that could explain corporate religious experiences.
• E.g. social compliance – if one or some people start doing it, others will simply join in due to expectations. 
• There’s also stronger influences like mass hysteria, mob mentality.
• Witches – in medieval europe you’ll find a whole village claiming a person is a witch and they saw them cast spells etc.
• In America you’ll find a whole village claiming they all saw an alien ship come down and take their dogs etc.
• The fact that such radically different belief systems, including witches which is now quite discredited, can both produce corporate experiences, is good evidence that groups of people can share delusions.
• So, we can explain corporate experiences scientifically.

William James’ pluralism argument for mystical individual experiences

• Mystical experiences are full-blown out of body transcendent experiences – not just seeing an angel flying around.
• James’ pluralism argument is that because these mystical experiences are found in all religions and have these 4 criteria in common – this can’t be by chance – there must really be a higher spiritual reality behind all religious experiences – so all religions are valid and true.

Evaluation 

• Maybe mystical experiences are the same in different religions because human beings all hallucinate in a similar way.
• So, these experiences could just be hallucinations.

Conversion experiences & William James

• James on conversion experiences. Conversion experiences are clearly a strong example of James’ point about the life-changing impact of religious experiences. 
• For example – St Paul – he was called ‘saul’ and was a Jew who hated Christians but then saw Jesus who said ‘why are you persecuting me?’. 
• Saul changed his name to Paul and become Christian and ended up writing a lot of the Bible.
• Hallucinations actually can be life-changing, in rare cases.
• If a Christian hallucinated an angel, then that might have a life-changing effect on them, even though it was just a hallucination.
• Plus – St Paul probably had epilepsy which causes hallucinations/visions.

Freud’s psychological explanation – religious exp are just in the mind  

• Freud says that religious experiences are just illusions /delusions caused by people’s fear of death and fear of being an adult. So, they delude themselves that they have seen a God who is like father figure and will provide them with an afterlife.
• This is like a mirage – if people are lost in a desert, they will hallucinate water – their minds are so desperate for water, that they hallucinate it. It’s similar with God – people are so desperate for death to not be the end that they hallucinate God.

Swinburne on witness (credulity) & testimony

• Swinburne argues that witness and testimony are the basis for showing religious experiences to be valid.
• Swinburne thinks all types of religious experience are equally valid, so long as there’s no reason not to accept them.
• Swinburne says that if you see something, or someone tells you they’ve seen something, that is evidence that it exists. 
• So, if you see God (Credulity) or someone tells you they’ve seen God (testimony) then that is evidence that God exists.
• You can’t dismiss evidence for no reason – you can only dismiss it if you have other, better evidence that goes against it.
• If you know someone is a liar or on drugs, then you could dismiss their experience.
• Swinburne’s point is that there are many religious experiences where we have no evidence that someone has any such physiological or psychological influence.
• In those cases, we have to accept them as evidence for God.
• Even if Swinburne is right that religious experiences are evidence for God – that doesn’t mean they are enough evidence to justify believing in God. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. We need more than just religious experience to justify belief in God.

Corporate experiences

• Some argue Corporate experiences are the most convincing because there are multiple people who can testify to them.
• When multiple people share a religious experience.
• Toronto blessing – church in canada, everyone suddenly felt the presence of the holy spirit – some started laughing, some crying, some rolling around on the floor.
• You can’t explain corporate experiences by things like mental illness or drugs – because there’s no way everyone would hallucinate the same thing.

Evaluation of corporate experiences

• Groups of people can share delusions. If you go to a village in america the people there might say ‘we all saw the alien spaceship come down, they took our dog away, etc.’ Similarly with a village in medieval europe – they might all say ‘we all saw this person cast a spell – they are a witch’. 
• Unless there really are aliens and witches running around, groups of people can clearly share delusion – and that could explain corporate religious experiences.