Arguments for the Existnece of God

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page 5b

Mystical Experience: Link to Christian Experience

Overview:

page 2: Transformative Power
Page 3: Answering Objections
Page 4: It's only chemicals in your head
More study results (p2 of instinct argument)
study sources


predominantly focus on the minimal phenomenological criteria of such experiences whereas the religious person may make such experiences . religious” by virtue of their interpretation of them as religious (Hood et al., 1990). Without an attributional system from which to understand the experience, mystical experiences have little consequence for the person. Within the attributional system of a church, people can interpret their mystical experiences and as interpreted they may become significant life transforming events (Hood, 1985).


Present Study


In light of the current debate on the use of the ROS, this study explored the assumption that it assesses Christian maturity, prior to its use in a study of the effects of mystical experiences. Seventy-two Episcopal church leaders at the 1991 National Episcopal Convention, held in Phoenix, rated the items of The Age Universal Religious Orientation Scale (Gorsuch & Venable, 1 983) and the Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975) as to whether they represented a mature or immature expression of the Christian faith. The Intrinsic/Extrinsic (I/E)-Revised scale (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989), a derivation of the Age Universal Scale, and the Mysticism Scale were then used to assess the impact of mystical experiences on Christian maturity in three Episcopal parishes (N = 248). In addition a purely behavioral scale of church related activity was also used to assess Christian maturity. It had a five- point scale ranging from infrequent church attendance to regular attendance and service in parish programs.


The results suggest that the intrinsic scale of the I/E-Revised scale is an approximate measure of one aspect of Christian maturity. It appears to assess the extent to which individuals allow their beliefs to impact all aspects of their lives. This scale was also found to relate positively and substantially to the Mysticism scale scores (r = .37, p < .0001) and a behavioral scale (r = .38, p < .0001) that assessed persons’ level of involvement in church worship and service to others.

However, mysticism scores were essentially unrelated to the level of involvement in church activities. The study concluded that there was no consistent pattern of church related activity following mystical experiences. In addition to providing a language and means for people to interpret their mystical experiences, the church appears to need a variety of means by which these experiences can be translated, beyond a mere commitment to beliefs, into the fulfillment of service to others.


In other words, my own (Hinman's) interpretation: mystical experience doesn't need chruch to thrive, but Christians who have these expereinces are at the mature end of Christianity.


References

Allport, G. W., & Ross, J. M. (1 967). Personal religious orientation and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5, 432-443.

Donahue, M. J. (1985). Intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness: Review and meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48 (2), 400-419.

Gorsuch, R. L., & McPherson, S. E. (1989). lntrinsic/ extrinsic measurement: I/E-Revised and single-item scales. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 28 (3), 348-354.

Gorsuch, R. L., & Venable, G. D. (1983). Development of an “age universal” l-E scale. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 22, 181-187.

Hood, R. W., Jr. (1973). Forms of religious commitment and intense religious experience. Review of Religious Research, 15, 29-36.

Hood, R. W., Jr. (1975). The construction and preliminary validation of a measure of reported mystical experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14, 29-41.

Hood, R. W., Jr. (1 976a). Conceptual criticisms of regressive explanations of mysticism. Review of Religious Research, 17 (3), 179-188.

Hood, R. W., Jr. (1 976b). Mystical experience as related to present and anticipated future church participation. Psychological Reports, 39, 1127-1136.

Hood, R. W., Jr. (1985). Religious experience, mysticism and conversion. In B. Spilka, R. W. Hood, Jr., & R. L. Gorsuch (Eds.), The psychology of religion: An empirical approach (pp.153-223). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Hood, R. W., Jr., Morris, R. J., & Watson, P. J. (1990). Quasi- experimental elicitation of the differential report of religious experience among intrinsic and indiscriminately pro-religious types. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29 (2), 164-172.

James, W. (1990). The varieties of religious experience. New York: Vintage Books. (Original work published 1902)

Kirkpatrick, L. E., & Hood, R. W., Jr. (1990). Intrinsic-extrinsic religious orientation: The boon or bane of contemporary psychology of religion? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29 (4), 442-462.

Poloma, M. M., & Pendleton, B. F. (1991). The effects of prayer and prayer experiences on measures of general well-being. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 19 (1), 71-83.

Stace, W. T. (1960). Mysticism and philosophy. Philadelphia