Deck 10: Religious Experience

Question 1

What is the definition of the following term:
-commissioning experience:

Answer 1

A supernatural encounter that calls a person to special service to God.

Question 2

What is the definition of the following term:
-ecstatic (religious experience):

Answer 2

Literally, to "stand outside oneself"; having an experience of absorption in a sacred power outside oneself.

Question 3

What is the definition of the following term:
-enstatic (religious experience):

Answer 3

Literally, to "stand inside oneself"; having an experience of absorption in a deeper experience inside oneself, absorbed perhaps in one's own contemplations.

Question 4

What is the definition of the following term:
-epistemology (of religious experience):

Question 5

What is the definition of the following term:
-gnostic:

Question 6

What is the definition of the following term:
-mysticism, or mystical experience:

Question 7

What is the definition of the following term:
-orthopathos:

Question 8

What is the definition of the following term:
-Perennial philosophy:

Question 9

What is the definition of the following term:
-religious experience:

Question 10

What is the definition of the following term:
-satori:

Question 11

What is the definition of the following term:
-subjectivity (of religious experience):

Question 12

The writer of The Varieties of Religious Experience, who discusses the notion of the "healthy soul," is

A) Henry David Thoreau.
B) Sigmund Freud.
C) William James.
D) the Prophet Muhammad.

Question 13

According to our text, religious experiences are

A) the least important part of religion.
B) the most important part of religion.
C) an important part of religion but difficult to discuss carefully.
D) an important part of religion and impossible to consider logically because they are so subjective.

Question 14

The "subjectivity" of religious experience refers to

A) the fact that such experiences are inside the person and not open to objective study.
B) the fact that religious experiences are not often the subject of rational religious study.
C) the claim that religious experiences should properly be ruled by religious belief.
D) the obvious point that religious experience is the subject of this chapter.

Question 15

According to William James, religious experiences are

A) generally happy feelings of peace and love.
B) sometimes feelings of unhappiness or loneliness.
C) so vague and general that they cannot be labeled.
D) personal and private feelings that people do not talk about.

Question 16

The reading notes that religious founders (prophets and sages) often start with a great religious experience, but

A) most of us cannot possibly understand what they experienced.
B) average people, too, have similar, though less powerful experiences that fit into the founder's religion.
C) we have no reason to believe they had any real experience because we were not there.
D) this finally shows that all religions are really alike, at least in their most basic experiential content.

Question 17

The commissioning experience is a religious experience in which a person feels

A) called or spoken to by God, given a "mission."
B) guilty for committing sins.
C) an ecstatic union with God.
D) abandoned by God.

Question 18

Feeling called by or loved by some Ultimate Being is a religious experience that goes best with

A) a monistic idea of Ultimate Being.
B) a theistic idea of Ultimate Being.
C) most any idea of Ultimate Being.
D) sex.

Question 19

Regarding religious experience, the term "ecstatic" refers to

A) dynamic and moving, no longer "static."
B) standing outside oneself, absorbed in the presence of some sacred power.
C) standing inside oneself, absorbed in one's own contemplations.
D) standing on top of oneself, feeling tall and mighty.

Question 20

Regarding religious experience, the term "enstatic" refers to

A) feeling as though life is static and unmoving, bored by life.
B) standing outside oneself, absorbed in the presence of some sacred power.
C) standing inside oneself, absorbed in one's own contemplations.
D) standing on top of oneself, feeling tall and mighty.

Question 21

The term "orthopathos," as used in our reading, is meant to suggest that religious experiences

A) are often self-deceptive or the result of drug use and are therefore "pathetic."
B) are meant to lead us down a prescribed "path" of proper behavior.
C) like doctrines and practices, must fit with common descriptions of a specific religion.
D) all of the above

Question 22

According to our text, the "born again" religious experience

A) is an experience of personal transformation, a sense of changing from being religiously lost to being found.
B) comes from Christianity and describes a feeling of conversion to true faith.
C) may be analogous to the feeling of awakening in some Buddhist traditions.
D) all the above

Question 23

The epistemology of religious experience refers to

A) the need to consider how religious experiences translate into religious truth claims.
B) how we can be fooled by our senses, which are only electrical signals interpreted by your brain.
C) the fact that science has proven religious experiences to be self-deception in altered states of consciousness.
D) the fact that religions throughout history have used drugs and hallucinogens to induce religious experiences

Question 24

The book tells of the mystical experiences of Meister Eckhard and Julian of Norwich who were both Christians, but the author argues they were very different because

A) Eckhard's experiences were much more mystical than Julian's.
B) Eckhard interpreted his experiences in unorthodox ways, but Julian interpreted her experiences to fit into Christian doctrine.
C) Eckhard was brave enough to trust his own experiences, but Julian was a religious coward.
D) Eckhard was a heretic and deserved to be punished, but Julian was a real saint.

Question 25

Dokusan is a

A) process in Zen Buddhism in which a master tests the experience of his student.
B) term for enlightenment or awakening in Japanese Buddhism.
C) kind of religious experience in which one feels called by God.
D) feeling of love that is particularly deceptive.

Question 26

Religious experiences have a connection to religious beliefs because

A) religious founders often have a kind of religious experience that becomes a model for followers.
B) some religious experiences more than others suggest a relational kind of Ultimate Being.
C) religious experiences come to followers within a context of beliefs and practices.
D) all the above

Question 27

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Commissioning

A) Absorption into oneself as in a deep meditative consciousness.
B) Absorption into some greater reality outside oneself.
C) Feeling called by God to learn what God would teach and potentially to share that message.
D) A general sense of oneness with the Ultimate, implying a loss of separate ego.
E) A sense of awakening to spiritual insight or a special "knowing" of higher reality.

Question 28

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Ecstatic

A) Absorption into oneself as in a deep meditative consciousness.
B) Absorption into some greater reality outside oneself.
C) Feeling called by God to learn what God would teach and potentially to share that message.
D) A general sense of oneness with the Ultimate, implying a loss of separate ego.
E) A sense of awakening to spiritual insight or a special "knowing" of higher reality.

Question 29

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Enstatic

A) Absorption into oneself as in a deep meditative consciousness.
B) Absorption into some greater reality outside oneself.
C) Feeling called by God to learn what God would teach and potentially to share that message.
D) A general sense of oneness with the Ultimate, implying a loss of separate ego.
E) A sense of awakening to spiritual insight or a special "knowing" of higher reality.

Question 30

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Gnostic

A) Absorption into oneself as in a deep meditative consciousness.
B) Absorption into some greater reality outside oneself.
C) Feeling called by God to learn what God would teach and potentially to share that message.
D) A general sense of oneness with the Ultimate, implying a loss of separate ego.
E) A sense of awakening to spiritual insight or a special "knowing" of higher reality.

Question 31

Matching: The letter of the correct definition is given in the space provided.
-Mystical

A) Absorption into oneself as in a deep meditative consciousness.
B) Absorption into some greater reality outside oneself.
C) Feeling called by God to learn what God would teach and potentially to share that message.
D) A general sense of oneness with the Ultimate, implying a loss of separate ego.
E) A sense of awakening to spiritual insight or a special "knowing" of higher reality.

Question 32

According to the author, beauty is completely subjective and has no place in religious discussion.

Question 33

According to the author, religious experiences, religious actions, and religious truth claims are all interconnected.

Question 34

According to the author, "religious experiences" and "miracles" mean the exact same thing.

Question 35

William James claims that religious experiences can be both pleasant and unpleasant.

Question 36

The "born again" experience is exclusively a Christian experience.

Question 37

According to our reading, monotheistic religions provide the best examples of the concept of enlightenment.

Question 38

Mystical experiences can be found in monotheistic religions.

Question 39

Some scholars believe that mystical experiences found throughout different world religions show how apparently different religions are really about the same thing.

Question 40

Bertrand Russell claimed that all religious experiences are a form of self-deception.

Question 41

The author argues that religious experiences that are brought about by hallucinogenic drugs should never be considered legitimate experiences of Ultimate Being.

Question 42

Describe a powerful or meaningful experience in your own life; try to use textbook terms where applicable (even if only by contrast). Was it a religious experience? What qualities made it "religious," or what qualities were absent such that it was not religious?

Question 43

Describe what the text calls a "commissioning experience" and give an example from a major religious founder. Describe also how an average theist might have a similar experience but without it being the foundation of a new religion.

Question 44

Explain what is meant by a "gnostic quality" in the religious experience of enlightenment or even a more common version of meditation. Be sure to connect the term "gnostic" to "knowledge" and try to show how the experience is somehow a connection to an idea of Ultimate Being.

Question 45

It was noted in the reading that a monotheist might speak of feeling God's presence or loving God, but a Buddhist would not. The Buddhist would speak more in terms of awakening or enlightenment. Explain why. You will have to contrast the experiences a little and relate each experience to other ideas in their separate religions, such as founders, scripture, or Ultimate Being.

Question 46

Report on an important religious experience you have heard about or researched (there are examples in this chapter from major religious founders and mystics) or even had for yourself (clarify why it is a religious experience). Now raise questions regarding self-deception or subjectivity to question the epistemological value of the experience. In this case, and for religion more generally, do you think religious experiences can be reliable sources of religious understanding? Say why or why not.