Reference no: EM133236225

Assignment - Personal Religious Experience Discussion

Description - For this assignment, students (not in the Methods Stream) are asked to submit a 200-300 word essay on the topic of "religious experience." Using the lecture and readings as inspiration, please reflect upon a moment in your own life that you might consider to have been a "religious experience." Two important notes: 1) I have no desire to pry into your personal lives, so if a particular experience is too personal or uncomfortable, please find another, less sensitive example; 2) as per both William James and Rudolf Otto, remember that "religious experiences" need not be conventionally religious. This can be the overwhelming feeling of awe that you get at the Grand Canyon, the shivers down your spine at a song, the tear in your eye from a beautiful painting, the elation of climbing a mountain, etc., etc.

So please describe this moment, and reflect upon why it seemed/seems like a religious experience. Does it fit any of the criteria put forward by James or Otto? Does it check off a different set of boxes, and if so, what are your criteria for a religious experience? Or, if this feeling is totally foreign to you, reflect upon why you think that might be the case.