Religion A Religious Experience - 2619 Words

Shashank Neelagiri Professor James Thrall PSYCH 268 February 1, 2015 Essay 1: Topic 3 First Draft A religious experience, which could also be interpreted as a mystical experience due to the lack of objective understanding, could be a type of subjective experience that is strengthened through blind faith. On one side, religious experience may exist in order to defend one’s self against the ‘corrupting’ influence of rationalism and on the other side, religious experience could be an inert feeling that carries the moral of every person. One may say that rationalism protects one’s self against psychosis as well as sinning while the other might say that it is only religious experience that can protect one from delusion and sin. William James and Sigmund Freud offer competing views on the specifics of religious experience and the capabilities of as well as limits of the human knowledge in attempting to understand the ‘religious.’ In terms of whether the religious experience is exclusive or rare or not, James believed that men have a religious appetite, and when this religious appetite is insufficient to allow a person to be faithful, then men seek satisfaction through philosophy and logic though when exclusively sought out for then the man becomes eccentric and exceptional (James 2-5). James claims that scientific judgment alone cannot completely embrace religion and nor can spiritual judgment (James 5). He says that it is with the combination of the two that a clearerShow MoreRelatedThe Varieties Of Religious Experience : Religion And Neurology1843 Words   |  8 PagesCentral Concept of Religion Religious experiences can be defined as intense emotions or subjective experiences that an individual endures upon sensing or participating in religious functions and activities. Nonetheless, even though these feelings are shared amongst individuals from the same faith, they can be interpreted in a plethora of ways depending on each individual’s experiences. Put differently, members within a religious group elucidate these phenomena through their religious framework, whilstRead MoreThe Challenges Posed For Religious Believers By Religious1713 Words   |  7 PagesThe challenges posed for religious believers by Religious diversity will be discussed in this paper. First, one must understand what Religious diversity is. 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