TSAS Religion, Philosophy and Ethics A Level Website
Religious Language and Experience
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TSAS Religion, Philosophy and Ethics A Level Website
Religious Language and Experience |
| Quick Links Experience -:- Language Miracles Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 GCSE A Level Moral Issues Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Sikhism |
Make sure that you visit the Web Forum - take part in on-line discussion. 
Use this page to explore the various ideas about the validity of Religious Experience, and to read about specific case studies. Scroll down to begin, or use the Search Box to find what you want. |
Use these links to support your work. The pages refer to individual sections from the RPE Specifications: Philosophers |
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Religious Experience Understanding the SacredThis is a relatively new site, posted by a certain "John Durham". There are some interesting articles about William James and Rudolf Otto. Christian Classics Ethereal Library Mentioned in the introductory notes on Religious Experience. This is a huge site that offers "Classic Christian books in electronic format, selected for your edification." Mother Julian In the unit on Religious Experience, we use Mother Julian of Norwich as a "case study". This link is to a site run by the Parish Priest of the Church which houses Mother Julian's cell. You can find quotations from Revelations of Divine Love, view pictures of her cell in the Church (which is just off Rouen Road), and find out a little about Mother Julian herself. Click here to go to a site with texts, essays and background to Mother Julian's "Showings". Click here to visit a part of that same site to find out about Mother Julian's near contemporary, Margery Kempe. Theresa of Avila To research Teresa's life, and her 3-fold test of Religious Experience, click here. William James There are more extensive links in the Science and Religion pages - this link takes you to the text of his lectures "The Variety of Religious Experiences". Martin Buber Buber wrote about the "I-Thou" relationship between God and Man (as opposed to an "I-it" relationship. Click here to explore the idea. For more on Martin Buber, see the "Philosophers" page. Mircea Eliade This isn't on the A Level specifications, but it is fascinating anyway! Eliade was director of the History of Religions department at the University of Chicago. His ideas about Religious Experience involve the idea of "hierophanies". Click on the link to read on! The Hand of God No, not Maradona's goal in those infamous World Cup Finals! This is a link to the website that accompanies the BBC's series on religious experience and sports personalities, celebs and politicians. The impact of these religious experiences in considerable - Olympic Champions retiring to answer a call to work as a medic in disaster zones, or ascribing World Cup victory to God. "The Matrix" If you enjoyed watching this film, click here to research some ideas raised in it. It isn't the official page (that's here!) but it makes interesting reading! Other sites that have interesting "Matrix" pages, though they are of doubtful provenance. Proceed with caution! One is from "The Shark Lady" - click here to find out more. One site links Descartes' ideas about experience with the Matrix - click here. The Cave and the Matrix "Plato's Allegory of the Cave and its relation to 'The Matrix', 'The Truman Show', artificial synchronicity, language manipulation and realities", it says.... This is the text of The Cave, with additions made in the light of the Matrix. It is a thought provoking article, which I found through About.com's Philosophy and Ethics lists. Ally McBeal This link takes you to the episode Making Spirits Bright, in which Ally defends a man who claims to have seen a unicorn (we use this to consider the issue of Religious Experience). Click here to go to the main Ally McBeal site! English Literature and Religion This is a visually striking site organised to explore the link between English Literature and Religion - it includes texts, essays and background information. Can belief in miracles be justified? This is a page from the "Ask a Philosopher" pages of the Philosopher (the Journal of the Philosophical Society). Miracles The topic of miracle is a part of the unit on Experience, though you may find it being discussed in the Science and Religion unit as well. Bear in mind that any websites that you find that deal with miracle may have an evangelical agenda! The main link is to a collection of materials about events that are considered miraculous. Make sure that you read Hume's definition of a miracle in Chapter 10 of his "Inquiry on Human Understanding" (you'll find more on Hume in the "Philosophers" section!), and click here to read a response to his essay. Edward Wierenga's Notes on Miracles Professor Wierenga lectures at the University of Rochester, NY. His notes include some useful quotations and a good outline of the topic. Creation, Providence and Miracle This article is by William Lane Craig, the Professor who has supported the Kalam Argument (see the Arguments page for more details). His article looks at the part that Miracles play in the on-going provision for the World. The Question of Miracles If you are working on the Extended Essay, it might be useful to consider the place of God's action within the World. If Miracles are a contradiction of the laws of nature, consider the idea of god being able to act within a Newtonian system. This link gives a useful overview of the various views on God's Providence, including those of Polkinghorne, Peacocke and Wiles. Miracles - by definition impossible? Kieth Parsons' essay, originally an essay for an MA degree, is featured on "infidels.org". This is a secular website with an atheist agenda. Miracles and Modern Scientific Thought Professor Norman Geisler's essay on Miracles gives you a useful survey of the debate of Miracle in the Scientific Age. The Nine O'Clock Service An Anglican Church in Sheffield experimented in the unse of multi-media techniques in order to "enhance" the worshipping experience. It caused some scandal when it was accused of brainwashing, and the worship was described as "hypnotic". Visit this site to find out about the worship at the Nine O'Clock Service, and to find out about the claimed religious experiences that characterised the group's services. Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship Visit the home of the famous "Toronto Blessing". Their site includes this article by Margaret Poloma, a Sociologist from Akron University, about the Toronto Blessing. Other articles and reports on the Toronto Blessing can be found by clicking here Toronto Blessing FAQ This website is provided by an enthusiastic supporter of the Toronto Blessing - it provides a useful, if excitable, introduction to the "manifestation" and also gives an enthusiast's answer to its critics. The Toronto Blessing The University of Virginia operates this page, which is a part of their "New Religious Movements" service. The page gives a detailed history and description of the phenomenon, as well as background and links to sites associated with the churches involved. Orthodox Info Article The "Shepherd" is an on-line magazine operated by Orthodox Christians in the USA. This article forms a critique of the Toronto Blessing - bear in mind its bias when you read it! Holy Trinity Brompton Holy Trinity Brompton is the leading Evangelical Charismatic Church in Britain - it was the first congregation in the UK to experience the "Toronto Blessing". Visit its website to find out about the community and its activities. Cross + Word This page is part of a website that offers news for Christians trying to keep up to date with developments in the world of Pentecostal Christianity. Follow the link to news of various miracles, including stories of miracles involving Gold Teeth. The article is hoster by an organisation called "Banner Ministries", which claims to be"a small, home-run service dedicated to uncovering and exposing false doctrine; it also at the same time and by contrast presents sound biblical doctrine." Its background is within the Evangelical Church, but with some reservations about the way that the "Charismatic Renewal" has taken the Church. Church of Zion The Church of Zion website includes these stories about people experiencing apparently miraculous events - including their fillings being turned to gold. The "Church of Zion" is an enthusiastic supporter of the Charismatic Renewal, and so its article reflects that view. Religious Language Dr. Scott H. Moore (Department of Philosophy, Baylor University) has published a wide range of philosohpy resources for his classes at Waco - this link takes you to a useful summary of the issues about Religious Language. Kenneth Head's Essay on Religious Language This essay, submitted as a part of the Pathways To Philosophy course hosted by Sheffield University, is on the Status of Religious Language. Doxa - Paul Tillich and the "Ground of Being" Paul Tillich is important to this part of the course because of his work on the use of Symbolic Language. You will find it useful to read up of Tillich's idea that God is "the Ground of Our Being". This link gives you an article which will help you to understand the idea. Faithnet - Paul Tillich Faithnet is operated by an RE Teacher in Stratford - this page is a useful introduction to Tillich and Symbolic Language. Paul Tillich's Argument for God's Reality Houston Craighead is Professor of Philosophy at Winthrop University in South Carolina. This is his article for the Tillich Journal on Tillich's ideas about God's existence. Tillich - Dictionary of Western Theology The Dictionary is hosted by Boston University. This article details Tillich's life, and also explains the key ideas featured in Tillich's most important work, his Systematic Theology. Models and Qualifiers Alden Aiken (of the Wesley Centre for Applied Theology) has written this article about Ian Ramsey and the idea of Models and Qualifiers. The Verification Principle Explainer This is a page from the "Ask a Philosopher" pages of the Philosopher (the Journal of the Philosophical Society). R. M. Hare's Response to Anthony Flew In response to Professor Flew's contribution to the debate on the Meaningfulness of Religious Language, R. M. Hare suggested that people have strongly held beliefs, often in the face of evidence that suggests that this belief is wrong. Star Trek - Darmok The Fifth series of "Star Trek - The Next Generation" included an episode called Darmok. The U.S.S. Enterprise receives a signal from "The Children of Tama," an alien race that has no history of violence, but whose language has been deemed "incomprehensible" to humans. After some time, Captain Picard realises that the Tamarian language is rich in metaphor, and each statement derives its meaning from some event in Tamarian muthology. This link is to a Dictionary of the Tamarian language. Click here to the page in the Star Trek library that summarises the episode, and here to hear some of the Tamarian sayings. The Clangers Some people don't believe me when I tell them that the Clangers programmes had scripts. This link is to a page on the Clangers' very own website - this one describes how some of the scripts were edited for swearing. If you haven't a clue who the Clangers are, click here (and shame on you!)! Pseudo-Dionysius and the Via Negativa One of the classic definitions of the Via Negativa is in the works of Pseudo Dionysius, particularly in the book "Names of God". Click here for an article about this work. |