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May-22
3. Verifying religious experience
Proof of religious experience:
Why REs are hard to prove:
1. Only have the individual’s word as evidence.
HOWEVER:
o Group experiences – testimony does not rely on a single individual.
o Can see evidence of RE in their effects on people (e.g., complete lifestyle change, new
spiritual outlook on life etc).
o Swinburne’s principle of testimony = we should accept that people’s experiences are as
they report them unless there is a sufficient reason not to.
2. They are subjective/private, therefore effectively just in the mind.
HOWEVER: This doesn’t necessarily render them false – e.g., we believe others when they
dream.
3. They are ineffable, meaning they literally cannot be described.
HOWEVER: Again, does not make them false; can only be RE if it is ineffable.
4. There are natural explanations for RE from science.
5. There are contradictory REs – they cannot all be true.
HOWEVER: Humans experience things differently; the ‘ultimate reality’ of God can express
himself in different ways to different people.
Scientific challenge to RE:
1. Freud: religion is wish fulfilment
Religion is wish fulfilment from the unconscious.
RE = hallucinations as a result of the need for control over our helpless state (controlled by
unconscious and past) – fear of the unknown.
Religious response: Freud’s view is merely a hypothesis – cannot prove that REs of God are false.
2. TLE: temporal lobe epilepsy
Can cause religious visions/mystical experiences, produced by temporal lobes.
RE therefore is no more than an abnormal brain state.
E.g., St Paul’s conversion from Judaism was accompanied by visions, voices, and falling to the
floor (all symptoms of TLE) – there is evidence that TLE can cause RE.
3. Neurotheology: the God-helmet
Produces visions of God, mystical states, and a sense of the presence of a mystical being by
stimulating temporal lobes.
Suggests that REs are not from God.
Religious response (2 & 3): If RE is to happen, it must be produced by the brain – God uses the
temporal lobes to bring about RE.
May-22
3. Verifying religious experience
Proof of religious experience:
Why REs are hard to prove:
1. Only have the individual’s word as evidence.
HOWEVER:
o Group experiences – testimony does not rely on a single individual.
o Can see evidence of RE in their effects on people (e.g., complete lifestyle change, new
spiritual outlook on life etc).
o Swinburne’s principle of testimony = we should accept that people’s experiences are as
they report them unless there is a sufficient reason not to.
2. They are subjective/private, therefore effectively just in the mind.
HOWEVER: This doesn’t necessarily render them false – e.g., we believe others when they
dream.
3. They are ineffable, meaning they literally cannot be described.
HOWEVER: Again, does not make them false; can only be RE if it is ineffable.
4. There are natural explanations for RE from science.
5. There are contradictory REs – they cannot all be true.
HOWEVER: Humans experience things differently; the ‘ultimate reality’ of God can express
himself in different ways to different people.
Scientific challenge to RE:
1. Freud: religion is wish fulfilment
Religion is wish fulfilment from the unconscious.
RE = hallucinations as a result of the need for control over our helpless state (controlled by
unconscious and past) – fear of the unknown.
Religious response: Freud’s view is merely a hypothesis – cannot prove that REs of God are false.
2. TLE: temporal lobe epilepsy
Can cause religious visions/mystical experiences, produced by temporal lobes.
RE therefore is no more than an abnormal brain state.
E.g., St Paul’s conversion from Judaism was accompanied by visions, voices, and falling to the
floor (all symptoms of TLE) – there is evidence that TLE can cause RE.
3. Neurotheology: the God-helmet
Produces visions of God, mystical states, and a sense of the presence of a mystical being by
stimulating temporal lobes.
Suggests that REs are not from God.
Religious response (2 & 3): If RE is to happen, it must be produced by the brain – God uses the
temporal lobes to bring about RE.
