The myth of religious experience
I argue that people do not and cannot have religious experiences that are perceptual experiences with theological content and that provide some justification for the belief in God. I discuss William Alston's resourceful defence of this idea. My strategy is to say that religious perception would...
| Published in: | Religious studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic/Print Review |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
2004
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| In: |
Religious studies
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| Review of: | Perceiving God / William P. Alston (Zangwill, Nick) |
| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism NAA Systematic theology NBC Doctrine of God VB Hermeneutics; Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Book review
B Experience of God |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | I argue that people do not and cannot have religious experiences that are perceptual experiences with theological content and that provide some justification for the belief in God. I discuss William Alston's resourceful defence of this idea. My strategy is to say that religious perception would either have to be by means of one of the ordinary five senses or else by means of some special sixth religious sense. In either case insoluble epistemological problems arise. The problem is with perceiving God as God, which we need to do if reasons to believe in God are to be generated. To do so, we would have to perceive the instantiation of His essential properties - being all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good. But perceiving the instantiation of these properties of God, even by some special sixth religious sense, is impossible. Hence, God cannot be perceived either by the ordinary five senses or by a sixth religious sense. Religious perceptual experiences are a myth. |
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| ISSN: | 0034-4125 |
| Contains: | In: Religious studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0034412503006772 |