Phenomenology of Religious Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 251-267
Author(s):  
Joseph Olufemi Asha
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Significant Implication ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The Road ◽  
Contemporary Research ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Everyday Situation

In the Christian tradition, a spiritual experience is a phenomenon that in some sense remains controversial. Nonetheless, spiritual experience in Christianity refers to the personalization of the faith in Christ that transcends the normal. This is, however, critically contested and regrettably unexplored. It lends credence to why contemporary research on religious experience reveals that Christian spiritual experiences have the element of supernatural intervention by the Holy Spirit, although supernatural must not be confused with spectacular. It might be spectacular, as in the case of Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Drawing upon extensive contemporary research, content analysis, and literature on religious experience, this study adopts descriptive methodology as techniques. The study situates religious experience as occurrence in an everyday situation of Christians through which they derive a clear inner realization of “the truth.” Findings reveal a significant implication for collective research on religious and spiritual experiences for Christians.

scholarly journals Human Spirituality: Jean-Louis Chrétien and the Vital Side of Speech

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 511
Author(s):  
Peruzzotti Francesca
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Points ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Call And Response ◽  
Human Spirituality

Jean-Louis Chrétien founded his phenomenological enquiry on an analysis of the word as defined by the call and response link. His analysis provides an in-depth approach to spiritual experience as a basis for authentic religious experience. The description of the theoretical sites in which he confronts the theme of the spirit (vital breath, Holy Spirit, inspiration of Scripture, and spiritual life and prayer) determines some fixed points that allow us to define spiritual experience as intersubjective and fleshly, and therefore, not reducible to solipsism and intimism.

Topics in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh

2020 ◽  
pp. 161-176
Author(s):  
Haym Soloveitchik
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Hasidei Ashkenaz

This chapter focuses on Ibn 'Ezra's Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh. Conflicting reports are to be found in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh as to the origin of the soul. At times it is described as originating from the holy spirit via a process of inbreathing. On other occasions it is said to have been lit from the flames of the Kavod or of the heavenly throne. Other passages speak vaguely of its having been created from the place of the heavenly spirit. Whether any of these processes, or all of them, are genuine acts of creation or only emanations cannot be determined from the text. A prominent place in the Ḥokhmat ha-Nefesh is occupied by demuyot, mirror-images of man fashioned at the beginning of Creation and which stand in endless array before the Kavod, drawing their sustenance from the absorption of the heavenly light that streams forth from the Kavod, and in turn transferring this vitality to their earthly counterparts. The demut is a counter-shape and plays no role in the religious experience of Ḥasidei Ashkenaz.

The Outbreak of Evangelicalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 140-172
Author(s):  
Baird Tipson
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Jonathan Edwards ◽  
John Wesley ◽  
British Isles ◽  
New Birth ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
George Whitefield

This chapter first describes the theology of the leaders of the evangelical awakening on the British Isles, George Whitefield and John Wesley. Both insisted that by preaching the “immediate” revelation of the Holy Spirit during what they called the “new birth,” they were recovering an essential element of primitive Christianity that had been forgotten over the centuries. Both had clear affinities with the conscience theology of William Perkins, yet both distanced themselves from it in important ways. In New England, Jonathan Edwards explored the nature of religious experience more deeply than either Wesley or Whitefield had done, and Edwards proudly claimed his Puritan heritage even as opponents found him deviating from it.

Experiencing the Spirit

2020 ◽  
pp. 48-79
Author(s):  
Simeon Zahl
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Systematic Theology ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Temporal Specificity ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit

This chapter argues that a constructive recovery of the category of “experience” in Christian theology is best accomplished through the lens of the theology of the Holy Spirit. Thinking about experience in terms of the work of the Holy Spirit helps specify what we mean when we talk about Christian “experience,” while also avoiding the problems that arise in appeals to more general concepts of “religious experience.” The chapter shows how a pneumatologically informed theology of experience draws attention to a problematic tendency towards abstraction and disembodiment in much modern systematic theology. It then argues that the work of the Spirit is likely to take forms that are “practically recognizable” in the lives of Christians in the world, exhibiting temporal specificity as well as affective and emotional impact, and that pneumatologies that cannot take account of such practically recognizable effects are deficient.

scholarly journals Spirit baptism and the doctrine of initial evidence in African Pentecostal Christianity: A critical analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mookgo S. Kgatle
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Unique Feature ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The Public ◽  
Speaking In Tongues ◽  
Spirit Baptism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Fruit Of The Spirit

Pentecostalism is known for the belief in Spirit baptism that is accompanied by the doctrine of initial evidence, that is, speaking in tongues. The practice of the doctrine of initial evidence has become a unique feature of Pentecostalism for many years since its beginning. Similarly, Spirit baptism and the doctrine of initial evidence are practised in African Pentecostal Christianity, especially in classical Pentecostal churches and charismatic movements. However, there are challenges with this doctrine: speaking in tongues is perceived as the only evidence, and there is an emphasis on gifts than fruit of the Holy Spirit and a great emphasis on public spiritual experiences than personal encounters with God. In re-imagining the doctrine of initial evidence in African Pentecostal Christianity, speaking in tongues should not be emphasised or practised as the only evidence of Spirit baptism because there are other evidences that demonstrate the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The emphasis should be on prayer than the speaking of tongues. In addition, priority should be given to the fruit of the Spirit and on a personal encounter with God. Finally, speaking in tongues should be accompanied by interpretation in a public service because the public cannot understand the language.

scholarly journals RICHARD HOOKER’S WORRIES ABOUT THE MIND: THE PATH TO CERTAINTY

Perichoresis ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-49
Author(s):  
Rudolph P. Almasy
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Religious Doubt ◽  
Religious Truth ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Mind

ABSTRACT Focusing on two of Richard Hooker’s sermons, “Certaintie and Perpetuitie of Faith in the Elect” and “Learned Sermon of the Nature of Pride”, this essay explores Hooker’s worries about how the mind reacts to matters of religious doubt, curiosity, arrogance, and mental confusions. These worries of what enters the mind influence the search for what Hooker calls the certainty of adherence (faith) and the certainty of evidence (knowledge). Such worries, prompted by what Hooker sees as the mind’s frag- ileness in the face of religious experience and religious truth, lead Hooker in the sermons, as well as in his Ecclesiasticall Lawes, to a certain religious and rhetorical position which emphasizes the notion of approaching faith and knowledge in terms of simplicity or singleness. This approach, Hooker counsels, should lead the potentially confused mind, regardless of the certainty it seeks and of the influence of the Holy Spirit, toward the notion of surrender-to God or to the rhetor.

Pentecostal Churches and Homosexuality

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William K. Kay ◽  
Stephen J. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Secret Ballot ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Sexual Immorality ◽  
Church Government

Historically, the majority of Pentecostal churches stem from holiness and revivalistic streams of Christianity, while neo-Pentecostal churches are often indigenous plantings that broke away from congregations established by earlier Protestant mission. Given their stress on religious experience and their belief in the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, Pentecostal churches have always stressed individual holiness, and this holiness is understood in terms of abstinence from drugs, alcohol, gambling, immodest dress, and sexual immorality as traditionally defined. This chapter describes adjustments and initiatives that indicate how new norms may emerge. The issue is essentially concerned with the interpretation of Scripture and variations in church government. Where these interpretations align with an LBGT-friendly hermeneutic, LBGT-friendly Pentecostal churches will and have emerged. Such changes tend to occur in new or split-off groups rather than in traditional Pentecostal denominations, especially when denominations are governed by large ministerial conferences where decisions are by secret ballot.

scholarly journals ‘n Homilie oor geloofsonderskeiding in ‘n akkoord van drie

2012 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Christo Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Peter 2 ◽  
The Road ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Cross

A homily on discernment of faith in a chord of three. This article reflects on discernment as a key Christian faith practice of the believing community that wants to live according to its vision and mission as articulated in 1 Peter 2:21: To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. This homily is presented as a chord consisting of three notes that entices the readers to contribute their own harmonies – to witness to their own contexts of tension between true and false prophecy, to choose for God’s presence in Jesus Christ and to perservere as followers of Jesus amid the coldness and cruelty of this world. These disciples choose Jesus in spite of the chaos in their own lives and in their world. A similar choice was made by one of the criminals on the cross alongside Jesus (Lk 23:42). The three notes that make up the chord are: discernment on the basis of the Bible with the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to distinguish the will of God for the road ahead.

scholarly journals Prayer, the encounter and participation, the experience: A Pauline exhortation towards a spirituality of prayer

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk G. Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Spirituality ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
Experience Of God ◽  
Daily Events ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

Numerous references to prayer occur throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. These prayers relate closely to particular circumstances and needs where the petitioner appeals to God, illustrating the importance of prayer as part of the dialogue and communication between God (in the image of a Father) and Israel and the Church (in the image of his children). This article investigates Paul’s contribution to this dialogue. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Paul exhorts (using the imperative) the Thessalonians to pray ‘constantly’ (ἀδιαλείπτως), an exhortation located in the last pericope of the epistle, between two other exhortations (imperatives) indicating time (‘always’) and space (‘all circumstances’). Paul thus uses two more exhortations (surrounding the exhortation, ‘pray constantly’) to define what he means by ‘constant’ (without ceasing) prayer. His conviction of this necessity leads him to offer himself as an example of ‘praying constantly’ when he writes to the community in Thessalonica. Prayers in Paul’s epistles focus on the existential needs of daily living, to stand firm against evil and the spiritual need to live pure and blameless lives (complete sanctification) until the parousia. Conclusions arising from Pauline textual references on prayer include: the experience of God is not limited to extraordinary events, but subsists essentially in ordinary daily events; the understanding of God’s participation in the lives of believers is not always obvious and comprehensible; the Holy Spirit enables believers spiritually to see, hear and understand God’s daily involvement in their lives; and, prayer for the believer facilitates spiritual experiences which provide continuous transformation for the one who ‘prays without ceasing’. The result, for Paul, of this form of dialogue and communication between God and his Church, is that regular prayer constitutes joy and thankfulness.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This research relates to the disciplines of New Testament and Christian Spirituality. The focus is how to experiencing dialogue with the divine regularly every day. A specific mindset is needed to accomplish this; a mindset to see, hear and experience the divine in everyday life in the ordinary events in life.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document