Philosophy of Religion (booklet)

The Argument from Religious Experience

The argument from religious experience is the argument that God must exist because he is the object of certain experiences. It is only possible to experience that which exists, it is argued, and so the phenomenon of religious experience is taken to demonstrate the existence of God.

This argument assumes that religious experiences are a type of perceptual experience, i.e. a type of experience in which something external is perceived. Some, though, would argue that religious experiences are more akin to imaginings than they to perception, that the object of the experience is not something that exists objectively in the world but rather is something that exists subjectively in the mind of the person having the experience.

Objections may also be raised along lines suggested by traditional philosophical scepticism. There exist powerful philosophical arguments that our experiences of the external world, i.e. of the familiar everyday objects around us, are insufficient to justify belief in their existence. Descartes’ argument from dreaming is the best known of these, though external world scepticism can be traced back at least as far as ancient Greece and Pyrrho of Elis. If our familiar and lucid experiences of the external world are insufficient to justify belief in its existence, though, then how much more uncertain must be the connection between barely tangible religious experiences and belief in God.