Summary |
Religious experience is
a very broad topic, understood in different ways by different persons and faith
traditions. Each academic field that bears on religion and spirituality approaches it with distinct methods. Recognition of the diversity in reported religious experiences, values, and beliefs also informs
work on religious freedom, tolerance, and the public role of religion in a
pluralistic society.
The broadly epistemic
issues include: the need to interpret one’s religious experiences; the
cognitive value of religious experience; the proper role of evidence in the
formation of religious belief; the epistemology of miracle claims; differences
between “experience” as personal and primary, and "testimonial" belief in faith traditions centered on a special revelation; the nature and limits of religious language;
feminist critique of androcentric and anthropocentric conceptions of
godhead; positive theology in contrast with apophatic or mystically-oriented faith traditions; and
process verses substantive conceptions of ultimate reality. |