The importance of religious experience. Part 1

The importance of religious experience

(A theological and philosophical reflection in 6 parts)

The importance of religious experience

Part 1: Two options: “I’ve met God” or, “It’s just all in the mind”.

I have believed in God all my life. There have been periods of extreme doubt, when I could easily have given up, but I hung on in there. In recent years, even while teaching philosophy, which is very challenging to faith, I have felt very secure, and this is down to my confidence in the power of my religious experiences. This, ultimately, is the foundation of my faith: I experience his presence. I have no doubt at all about the reality of the religious experiences, and am happy to make the connection and say, “I experience the presence of God because there is a God”. Of course, the alternative explanation is that I have religious experiences – that is not in doubt – but the experiences have a psychological explanation. And in the alternative, there are always heavy overtones of “it’s just” a psychological experience. In many ways, this deflation is justified because the religious explanation is that the experiences have a supernatural explanation, so it is a direct counter to say, “No, there is no such thing as the supernatural; your religious experiences – though undoubtedly impressive – have an entirely natural, psychological explanation. It’s just all to do with how the mind works”.

Of course, it’s not a complete undermining of the believer’s position to say, “It’s just all in the mind”, for where else are we meant to experience anything except in our minds? Nevertheless, it is a valid alternative explanation, and, as I reflect now on my life, I want to consider as carefully as I can, the validity of my religious experiences. I have hung the validity of my faith on them, so I don’t want to have made a mistake!