Examine some of the key principles of the argument for the...

Examine some of the key principles of the argument for the existence of God based upon religious experiences Religious experiences are experiences we have of the divine or God. These experiences may be Mystical experiences, conversion experiences or revelatory experiences. Paul Tillich states that religious experience is a feeling of ‘ultimate concern’, a feeling that demands a decisive decision from the one receiving it. He describes it as an encounter followed by a special understanding of its religious significance. The argument for religious experiences is based on 3 premises. Premise one states that the experience of X indicates the reality of X. One problem with this premise is that the experience of X does not always indicate†¦show more content†¦The problems with premise three can also be highlighted by looking at the religious experience of Mosses when he saw God in the burning bush. When God came to him, Mosses had just killed a man and run away into the desert. Therefore he could be experiencing extreme guilt which could cause him to have an illusion. Also if he is in the desert then he was most likely dehydrated which again could cause an illusion. Therefore other factors may be used to explain religious experiences. Another example to support premise three, and one that addresses the problem of the subjective nature of religious experiences, is corporate religious experiences. This is when large numbers of people all have the same religious experience at the same time. The fact that they are experienced by many leads to the fact that they can be objectively tested and the accounts validated adding further support for the argument. Those that argue that religious experiences are proof of the existence of God usually argue inductively. 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