Assess the claim that religious experiences prove that God exists.

by medinafaithrobertsgmailcom (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Many philosophers have presented different ideas to the fact of Gods existence in general let alone within religious experiences. It is not only philosophers that have presented these theories. Some such as St Teresa of Avilas theory have come from the church and people who have experienced a religious experience themselves but also believe there could be liars out in the world that try and invent them. However, other philosophers such as Russell and Freud offer other explanations for religious experiences such as psychological and physiological ones.

Many philosophical thinkers have come up with theories and writings that can test the level of genuineness of a religious experience. St Teresa of Avila is a prominent example of mystical experiences within Christianity. In her writings, she argues that experiences should be subject to tests to see if they are in fact genuine. These tests included sensing a positive change in the room and within the person, whether the person looked at peace or disturbed as the experience and if the experience fits into the teachings of the church. St Teresa of Avilas’ theory presents an open argument to religious experiences proving that God exists. She herself had an religious experience so she is speaking from a person with experience. She believes she was visited by Jesus Christ and her remaining feeling was peace and tranquillity not at all disturbed. Whereas on the other hand, Russell believed that it was all to do with our mind. In history, it has been proven that our mind can play tricks on us, with showing us visions which are called hallucinations – hallucinations can also include hearing sounds and voices that are not there. Russell states the point that if we eat too little, we see visions and if we drink too much, we see snakes. It is the idea that our mental states are very much affected by our physical state. For example, many people underwent periods of fasting to bring them closer to God then they saw visions, this coincides with Russells’ theory of seeing visions when you have eaten too little.

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Another theory could be that some of our greatest events in history are based on religious experiences, in other religions, Muhammad, the Buddha and the Guru Nanak became founders of their faith after religious experiences. Muhammad was believed to have revelations from Allah, this led him to find Islam and write the Quran in Arabic – repeating word for word what God had said to him. A Christian example would be that Bernadette of Lourdes witnessed the Virgin Marys presence and was believed to be told that she should dig for fresh spring water, Bernadette did this and found such water and it is now still a worldly attraction for humans. The fact that our history is based on religious experiences and people still to this day believe them – even some atheists believe these experiences, this theory proves that religious experiences prove the existence of God. Whereas, one could say that Freuds theory gives evidence for the psychological reason for these visions. Freud believes that some people are unable to deal with adult life so they invent a parental figure to guide them through it. This could explain some religious experiences in history such as Muhammad – the founder of Islam. Freud eblievs that people mistake their super egos as being the voice of God, he calls this ‘infantile neurosis’ and he states that if people want to hace better mental health they should grow out of this. Freud added a comment of the naturalistic approach stating that if people think God is speaking to them that they are deluding themselves. This is a theory against religious experiences proving that God exists.

In conclusion, many different thinkers have different views on religious experiences some such as Freud and Russell believe that it is psychological or physiological and that people do not have such visions but yet they make them up themselves in their own mind. But then, others believe that religious experiences do exist but yet only some out of all the claims are true and they themselves have come up with tests to see what is real and what is not. This subject is an interesting one but yet a very controversial one. Proving that religious experiences prove the existence of God has always been and will always be complex mainly because of peoples views but also because there is no definite test or assessment to analyse the truth of Gods existence.

I didn’t have time for a third paragraph – but don’t worry I do know one is missing! 😊