Rudolf Otto believed that religion was totally separate from this world we live in and we are totally separate from God Otto describes god as ‘numinous’ as he felt that he had such awesome power.
Martin Buber suggested that we could have relationships with God himself (personal relationships), Buber believed that we could contact with God through religious experience, through other people or nature, Buber believed it was ‘thou we address the eternal thou’.
Anther great philosopher William James who claimed varieties of religious experience has four different characteristics, ineffability which is where the feelings the person has during the experience are indescribable, noetic quality being an insight into unobtainable truths about God, passivity which is losing control to a powerful being like God.
Individual experiences can be seen as a believer who comes into contact with God, where they gain awareness of God and claim to have a relationship with God. Where as a corporate experience would be seen as an experience, to which is a group of believes rather than an individual believer, witness the experience.
Corporate experiences such as the Toronto Blessing, which in 1994 began at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church. Believers who have ever been to that church service would claim that strange things would happen which would include people barking like dogs, roaring like lions, laughing hysterically, or acting as if they were drunk. It is a Charismatic Movement, which emerged from Pentecostalism. Despite the controversy the thousands that have visited the church and been to the service since believe that the extraordinary happenings that occurred came from the Holy Spirit. There are several reports of healing, joy, peace, and visions from God many of the thousands that have been present in the church service would say that it has changed their lives, but many would claim that it did nothing special for them.
Other experiences that have people so strongly that could make a conversion where they feel they have felt the truth from the divine- God, the result of the conversion is a feeling of greater understanding of faith and God, which leads to change of way of life and religious attitude. Conversion would obviously show signs that God does exist to the believer, however we can only take the believers word that this experience did take place, as there is no scientifically evidence that God does exist.
Prayer experience of the numinous which any believer weather be Muslim praying to Allah or Christian praying to God, this individual experience can take in any place for church as an example, where the believer feels that they can communicate with god through prayer the believer may feel that God listens to them and they feel they an talk to God.
All individual or corporate religious experiences have one common characteristic and that is God, weather it is communicating with God, seeing God, feeling Gods presence, feeling healing joy or peace by God. But does any of these experiences prove or tell us anything about God? As we can only take many believers words and experiences, there is no proof or evidence, it cannot be scientifically proven, so it would appear that it could only be evidence of God for the believers themselves.
Many of the experiences may help to strengthen the religion itself, C.S. Evans suggested that when believers are filled with the need for dependence on a higher being then they most probably will be categorised into the cosmological argument, but if they are moved by the concept of the universe then they will be categorised into the teleological argument.
William James claimed that if there is any criticism of the faith or believer who has experienced such an experience will be completely against their criticism.
As we can clearly see the is no clear answer as to weather an experience can prove the existence of God.
Revelation would mean revealing of something in this case the revelation of God, who can be seen to conceal himself from his people. We could argue that God reveals himself through the world, God who could be believed to have been the creator of the world, could god be revealing himself through this world that we live in?
In genesis it says that ‘we are created in God’s image’, therefore many would argue that everything God created would be a revelation of God himself. Though some experiences of God like Toronto blessing go beyond the sense that God reveals himself through this world. Therefore revelation does not have complete proof that God reveals himself, to even consider that there was a God, would he make himself known to his people to his believers? Revelation cannot be proved only believed by those who would suggest that God shows himself through his creation. Revelation does not have much to do with believers own experiences; it is not personal, more of a generalised belief.
Many different religions worldwide would base much of their God on a holy book, where it would have sense of the history and foundations of the religion. Christians most holy book would be the bible and the gospels, however Muslims holy book would be the Qur’an or Jews holy book would be the Mosaic Torah. What ever the religion, there is anther common factor with religion, they have some holy book to which they refer to many time, Christians that come from a fundamentalist approach would take the bible literally and believe word from word was absolutely true. A traditionalist approach to the bible would not take it literally, but maintains the bible is all true, but some parts of need to be reinterpreted for today. A liberal approach would insist that bible shouldn’t be taken literally bur should look for deeper meaning as some writings appear to be written a long time ago, which could be why its does not all make sense. As we can see there are many different ways of approaching the bible and interpreting it and understanding it, but which way of understanding it is the right way? This can be summed up to the different type of Christians from Protestants, Catholics or even western Christians. Although the different types of Christians have the same belief they just differ in the understanding and interpretation of the religion and how they see God. Many of the Christians would say that the bible is the word of God, but with all the errors and human literature mistakes, the bible would show that it was written by humans, therefore how can a book that has not been written by God himself be the word of God?
With the bible been written so long ago when traditions were a complete difference then and now and where language was different and how we interpret would have been different, this could be explained how we don’t understand some of the text in the bible.
As I have examined the different types of religious experience, individual and corporate, finding out weather they show any signs of an argument of proof of God.
I have been looking in to the nature of revelation and how this might been seen as an attempt to answer the question of how so many believers might feel they know God.
I feel that there are explanations for religious experiences, philosophical, scientific and psychological all of these have some kind of effect on the believer which they could say tell us something about God. Religious experience I have found is one of the main arguments for the existence of God, it is a way of believers to have some sort of justification however this topic of religious experience is very much controversial, because it relies so much on the believer and there word and account of the experience.
In my personal opinion I would have to say that of all the research of religious experience, and the Toronto blessing, to which I have gained more awareness and understanding of the different religious experiences and how it might been seen to tell us something or nothing about God, I would still argue for both sides and say that it does tell us something about God however, arguments for and against from many philosophers, to which I have looked deeply into may still have me questioning weather it does not tell us anything about God himself.
So although religious experience may help us to clarify religious concepts, it does not nesciliary tell us anything about God that can be proof for Gods existence.
It would seem obviously clear to the believer who endured the religious experience that they would not need proof for the existence of God, but however to many other believers or non believers who have not been through the same experience would need some sense of proof.
Can anyone be so sure to say that the many different religious believers who have had these experiences were not delusions, or self-induced or even maybe self-fulfilments?
The believers may maintain that these experiences were all real and did tell them something about either through visions, heavenly voices, conversions, prayer or revelation, are the complete truth but is there any way of proving this?
Sigmund Freud would argue that they are nothing more than revealing a childish need of a father figure and a neurotic refusal to grow up. With the ever growing of technology with science and new everyday findings and explanations would science in years to come not prove that these experiences are nothing more than delusional, will science not prove these wrong?
Like all other arguments that try to prove the existence of God, religious experience is by far the most powerful. Many of the worldwide religions Christians, Jews, Hindus or Muslims it is difficult to dismiss these as just subjective.
William James came to the conclusion that if an experience was beyond words, and offered a new insight then it had to be accepted as objective and authentic.
To conclude I would say that if a believer of any religion was to agree that experiences do prove the existence to God then it would be their own belief and understanding and interpretation of the religion, however if a person non believer of believer said that it does not prove anything for the existence of God then that would be their own decision. So I neither agree nor disagree, it purely depends on the strongest of the faith and interpretation.
