"Religious experiences are clear and evidential proof of a divine existence." Discuss. (35marks)
Religious experience can be seen as clear evidence for proof of a divine existence as the religious experious is a metaphysical interaction on a personal level and the individual who is involved in the experience feels the power of a divine over them. This can come in a variety of ways, one being voices and visions. Voices and visions involving seeing an image or hearing the voice of the divine or messenger of the divine. These, in some circumstances, can be singular or corporate experiences such as some mystic events that occur in the Toronto blessing. There are three specific types of vision experiences, one of which is noetic; noetic visions often involve an observation of the divine such as Ian McCormack’s religious experience, a self-confessed ‘sinner’ who had a religious experience following jellyfish stings. Another type of vision experience is a corporeal experience which involves communication and the sharing of knowledge between the individuals who are involved in the experience such as St Bernadette’s religious experience. The third and final type of vision experience is imaginative and these refer to vision experienced in dreams which there are many accounts of in the Bible such as Joseph’s dreams in the gospel of Matthew. Voices are also seen in many biblical texts and portray the authorative voice of the divine. However, there are many issues with voices as evidential proof of a divine existence as hearing voices and external powers are often experience by mental health patients and thus voices may not be a reliable source of the will of God. An example of this occurring is the stabbing of George Harrison by Michael Abrams in 2001; Abrams believed the voices were God given yet in reality he had failed to take his medication to aid his mental health issue. The validity of voices is an area that William James discusses in The Varieties of Religious...