Philosophers Arguments
Fredrick Shleleirmachers
• Claimed the essence of religion was in personal experience and should
be at the heart of faith
• Believed that everything person had a consciousness of the divine but
in many it is obscured - religious people are those that are aware of
and try to develop the divine
• He believed that religious experience is self authenticating
• He thought that doctrines such as the creed were attempts by
individuals to understand their religious experiences
• He believed religious experiences should have priority and statements
of belief should be formulated to t them
• He stated that an individuals religious experience was based on the
sense of being wholly dependent
• He therefore believed that Christianity was the highest religion
beacause in Jesus there was the only example of someone with
complete God conciousness”
Rudolph Otto
• He tried to indentify what is was about a religious experiences
that made it religious rather than just an experience
• He wanted to show that it was fundamental to religion that
individuals should have a sense of personal encounter with the
divine
• He describes it as mysterium;tremendum
• Mysterium - mystery of experience - felt but cannot be
described
• Tremendum - because of the awe inspiring terror, almost a
sense of dread in the prescience of an overwhelming being
‘ ‘ fi ’
Fredrick Shleleirmachers
• Claimed the essence of religion was in personal experience and should
be at the heart of faith
• Believed that everything person had a consciousness of the divine but
in many it is obscured - religious people are those that are aware of
and try to develop the divine
• He believed that religious experience is self authenticating
• He thought that doctrines such as the creed were attempts by
individuals to understand their religious experiences
• He believed religious experiences should have priority and statements
of belief should be formulated to t them
• He stated that an individuals religious experience was based on the
sense of being wholly dependent
• He therefore believed that Christianity was the highest religion
beacause in Jesus there was the only example of someone with
complete God conciousness”
Rudolph Otto
• He tried to indentify what is was about a religious experiences
that made it religious rather than just an experience
• He wanted to show that it was fundamental to religion that
individuals should have a sense of personal encounter with the
divine
• He describes it as mysterium;tremendum
• Mysterium - mystery of experience - felt but cannot be
described
• Tremendum - because of the awe inspiring terror, almost a
sense of dread in the prescience of an overwhelming being
‘ ‘ fi ’
