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oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:449
oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:449Seventy-four Christian experiences: a comparative study of experiences from four different traditions
Abstract
In our investigation of religious experiences, one interesting set of questions is, ‘Do Christians of different kinds - Catholic, “Middle-of-the-Road”, Evangelical or Charismatic, have different kinds of religious experiences, or have them in different circumstances? Do some of them tend, more than others, to see visions of the Virgin, or of Jesus, have “conversion” experiences or find themselves in mystical or strange sensory states?’. Professor Lawrence Brown, a former Director of the Religious Experience Research Centre, and Professor Michael Argyle, then a Trustee, suggested that I might carry out a study to examine and compare the experiences of current members of a wide variety of Christian churches, and three members of the Alister Hardy Society were approached who kindly agreed to help with a pilot. I decided to use as my technique the un-timed, unstructured interview, supplemented if necessary by questions designed only to clarify and elucidate. As a former personal counsellor, I was aware of the necessity of being warm, non-judgemental and empathetically (and in this context silently) encouraging. I asked my volunteers to tell me about any ‘relatively short, intense spiritual experience’ they might have had, the attendant circumstances and any possible ‘triggers’, and what had been the final effects or outcomes. To provide some quantitative data it was proposed to ask participants to rate aspects of their experiences on a scale of 1 to 5Similar works
This paper was published in University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
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