Naslov
Religious experience and personal perspective

Autori
Golubović, Aleksandra

Izvornik
La Nottola di Minerva (1973-3003) 16 (2018), 1; 20-34

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
person – a guarantee of religious experience, religious experience, spirituality, health, difficulties in ascertaining, believing in and justifying religious experience

Sažetak
In this paper we will look into the issue regarding the relationship between religious experience and benefit (health), from the personal perspective. Under religion it is meant Christianity, and under health we mean primarily spiritual health. Spiritual health can, among other things, include an option in which a person sees God and religion as making their life meaningful, which affects, or can affect their life positively (and even make a previously ill person healthy again). It has been proven for the patients who are believers suffering from certain mental illnesses, that they can benefit in their treatment from various religious practices. However, we will not deal with the medical aspect of the issue, but look into the most commonly used philosophical objection given to those who have had, or think they have had, religious experiences. The objection is that we should not trust them because their justification for the claim that they have had religious experiences (and also for their belief in God) is highly questionable. Therefore, in this work the focus will be put on the person since the person is crucial for critical assessment of religious experiences in the context of the possible influence religion has on the spiritual health. It depends on the person whether we will take religious experiences seriously into account. This is owing to the fact that we must first decide whether we should trust a person who claims they have had a religious experience, and only then can we talk about a possible influence of religion on a person's health. Therefore, in the first part of this paper we shall look into the problem of people who claim they have had some kind of religious experience. We will analyze what it means to have a religious experience in the first place, what types of religious experiences there are and how individuals interpret them, meaning, what value they usually assign to them. Then, in the second part, we will present main objections and criticisms. In the third part we will discuss the meaning and personal interpretation of religious experience in greater detail, bearing in mind the experience of God. Lastly, in the final part we will show in what ways a person can justify their faith in God (and give a certain guarantee of their experience). In conclusion, we will show that it is possible to believe a person who claims that they have had an experience of God

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filozofija

POVEZANOST RADA