Corporate Experiences and Objections
This page continues the discussion on religious experiences, focusing on corporate experiences and objections to their validity. It also explores the challenges in interpreting religious experiences and their impact on personal beliefs.
Corporate experiences are described as religious events involving large groups of people. Examples include:
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Fatima: In 1917, a crowd of over 30,000 in Portugal claimed to witness the sun "dancing" in the sky.
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Medjugorje: In 1981, six children reported visions of the Virgin Mary over several days.
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Toronto Blessing: A 1990s phenomenon involving uncontrollable laughter, crying, and other physical manifestations attributed to the Holy Spirit.
The text then presents objections to corporate experiences:
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Mass Hysteria: The possibility that large groups can generate physical symptoms in response to psychological stimuli, potentially explaining some corporate religious experiences.
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Trivial Acts: Concerns about the seemingly trivial nature of some claimed acts of God in corporate experiences.
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Individual vs. Shared Experiences: The difficulty in determining whether these are truly shared experiences or multiple individual experiences occurring simultaneously.
The page also addresses the challenges in interpreting religious experiences:
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Conflicting Truth Claims: Different religions interpret similar experiences in vastly different ways, leading to conflicting beliefs.
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Particularity: The theological question of why God would choose some individuals for experiences and not others.
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Logical Problem: The challenge of comprehending a God who is "wholly other" to human beings.
Definition: Mass Hysteria - A phenomenon in which a group of people collectively manifest similar physical or emotional symptoms, often triggered by a perceived threat or belief.
Example: The Toronto Blessing, where participants experienced uncontrollable laughter and other physical manifestations, is cited as an example of a corporate religious experience.
Vocabulary: Numinous - Describing a spiritual or supernatural quality, especially one that inspires awe and reverence.
The page concludes with a list of key terms related to religious experiences, including ineffable, noetic, transient, passivity, pragmatism, empiricism, pluralism, mystical experience, numinous experience, conversion, corporate experience, and self-surrender.
