Starter quiz
- A religious experience is a personal feeling or moment when someone believes they connect with a ______ power or God.
- 'higher' ✓
- What method did William James use to study religious experiences?
- empirical research based on controlled experiments
- a comparative study of personal religious accounts ✓
- a psychological analysis of religious texts
- a philosophical inquiry into the nature of God
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- Match the characteristic of religious experiences to its description according to William James.
- ineffability⇔The experience cannot be easily expressed or fully described in words. ✓
- noetic quality⇔The experience provides knowledge beyond ordinary understanding. ✓
- transiency⇔The experience is temporary but has a lasting impact. ✓
- passivity⇔The individual feels controlled by a higher power. ✓
- What is the temporal lobe?
- part of the brain linked to emotions, memory and religious experiences ✓
- the area of the brain responsible for controlling motor skills
- part of the brain responsible for visual processing
- the brain region that regulates balance and coordination
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- What is Persinger's God helmet used to study?
- religious experiences caused by brain stimulation ✓
- the effects of prayer on the brain
- psychological disorders in religious individuals
- the impact of meditation on brain waves
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- How is scepticism used as a philosophical tool when evaluating religious experiences?
- It helps to confirm that religious experiences are always true.
- It assumes that all religious experiences are illusions.
- It supports a view that religious experiences are personal and therefore true.
- It questions religious experiences by seeking alternative explanations. ✓
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Exit quiz
- A complete transformation, often involving a change in worldview such as adopting a new religious belief, is called a ...
- 'conversion' ✓
- Which of the following is a common characteristic of near death experiences identified by Dr. Raymond Moody?
- experiencing a vivid dream
- feeling a sense of peace and love ✓
- seeing a figure from a past life
- hearing voices of family members
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- What is the order of events for Ian McCormack's near death experience?
- 1⇔Ian is stung by five box jellyfish and becomes paralysed.
- 2⇔Ian recalls the Lord’s Prayer and prays sincerely for the first time.
- 3⇔Ian sees a radiant beam of light and is lifted upward into a passageway.
- 4⇔Ian is pronounced dead by medical staff.
- 5⇔Ian sees a magnificent light and a voice asks if he wants to return.
- 6⇔Ian is revived after being dead for 15 minutes and prays for healing.
- How was Ian McCormack’s life transformed after his near death experience?
- He became a motivational speaker, sharing a message of faith and transformation. ✓
- He started a career in healthcare to help people recover from illness.
- He moved to a secluded area to focus solely on meditation and spirituality.
- He became a preacher and started a religious community based on his experience.
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- Which are explanations of Richard Swinburne's principle of credulity?
- We should trust others' experiences unless we have evidence they are mistaken.
- If we experience a vision or feeling, it’s generally right to trust it. ✓
- If someone shares their experience, we should believe them.
- Our perceptions are usually accurate and it’s reasonable to trust them. ✓
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- Why, according to Richard Swinburne, is Ian McCormack's near death experience evidence for the existence of God?
- It has features commonly associated with religious experiences.
- It demonstrates that God always intervenes when people are near to death.
- It matches accounts of near death experiences described in religious texts.
- It shows we can trust personal experiences and what others share about them. ✓
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- People may have religious experiences that confirm their current beliefs or convert them to a new religious outlook.
- Ian McCormack was an atheist who had a near death experience and became a Christian.
- Following his near death experience and conversion, he has dedicated his life to spreading Christianity.
- Richard Swinburne argues the role of credulity and testimony support the validity of religious experiences.
- Philosophers may argue that whether his experience can be proven is less significant than the impact it has had.
Common misconception
Ian McCormack’s experience is unique and proves the truth of Christianity.
McCormack’s experience is similar to those in other religions, where people report encounters with divine beings or light, showing such experiences aren’t unique to Christianity.
Keywords
Conversion - a complete transformation, often involving a change in worldview, such as adopting a new religious belief
Ian mccormack - a man who converted to Christianity after having a near death experience
Near death experience (nde) - a transformative experience often involving visions, feelings of peace or encounters with a higher power, typically reported by those who have been close to death
Richard swinburne - a philosopher who argues that religious experiences should be taken as evidence for the existence of God
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