Religious Education

Religious experience – from quasi-sensory phenomena to Sigmund Freud

What is the difference between a quasi-sensory phenomenon and a charismatic experience or a mystical experience?

It’s a fairly fundamental question and one that students of religious studies need to understand before they get too far into the religious experience component of Religious studies AS and A2 levels.

That, of course, is only the start, for there is also the question of Channels, Sources and Occasions of Religious Experience.  There’s also the need to know about such thinkers as Rudolph Otto, William James, Sir Alistair Hardy, Richard Swinburne, as well as those hostile to religion such as Ludwig Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud.

The copiable book, Religious Experience, (also available on a CD so that it can be put on the school’s learning platform) deals with all these points and many more in a way that gives the student a basic understanding and then allows, and indeed, encourages, debate beyond this point.

In short, it covers the spectrum of issues involved in Religious Experience and the theories advanced to explain them. It provides an introduction to and discussion points on these main types of religious experience and will enable students to obtain an overall grasp of the subject matter. It looks at the different kinds of religious experience and the different channels or occasions for religious experience and also discusses religious experience in the context of the major religions.

After taking in The Ongoing Significance of Religious Experience the book moves on to Problems of Religious Experience, including Empiricism, Kant, and The Logical Positivists.

The volume concludes with Discussions of Religious Experience, which ranges from private and public experiences to perception and moral attitudes.

Throughout the book are exercises/activities for the students to complete. These can form the basis for written homework or for group discussion in the classroom.

Religious Experience is available as a copiable spiral bound book or on CD Rom. The book comes with an unlimited photocopiable licence for the school, and costs £19.95 plus £3.95 delivery for either the book or CD. If you wish to buy both together the price is £26.94 plus £3.95 delivery.

You can order in four different ways. In each case please quote our reference T1672emn. Sample pages can be viewed prior to ordering on http://bit.ly/5Xt0dR

  • By post to First and Best, Hamilton House Mailings plc, Earlstrees Ct., Earlstrees Rd., Corby, Northants NN17 4HH
  • By fax on 01536 399 012
  • By phone with a credit card or with an official school order number on 01536 399 011
  • On line with a credit card at http://bit.ly/8lXyCy