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Dear Rhian,

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You explained :

« When I said: “Perhaps the most important thing is not that Jesus was resurrected, but that he is resurrected. That experience is at the heart of faith” I did not mean that the church experiences resurrection, but that the church experiences the presence of the risen Christ. This is experienced spiritually, not materially. »
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A spiritual experience as opposed to a material experience is a psychological journey that takes us beyond the reality perceptible to our five senses and the comprehension of our mind and intellect.

Many brilliant scholars have philosophised on this but it remains a matter of conjecture as to whether it corresponds to anything other than a figment of the imagination.

When all else fails one may call upon the notions of mysticism (the hidden truth), esoteric revelation, illumination, vision, intuitive insight, divination, transcendental knowledge, preternatural, supernatural, numinous or paranormal experiences …

Once again, I feel that “religious belief or faith” are more appropriate terms than “religious or spiritual experience”.

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Banjo,
I once met Ron Barassi. It was an experience I can't easily forget.

I have certain beliefs about Ron Barassi. One is that I believe he is one of the greatest coaches in Australian football history. I also believe that I actually met him. There were no other witnesses to the meeting, or at least none that would remember the encounter except for me and also probably my Dad, who was there.

Anyway, I believe I truly met him. And it was an experience. (I was about seven or eight years old at the time, and he gave me a hug.)

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Dear Dan S de Merengue,

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Just as well your father was there, Dan. You never know, but a big friendly hug like that between one of the greatest coaches in Australian football history and a little boy of seven or eight could have been quite physical.

In fact, it probably was quite physical. I guess that's why you were able to experience it, and still have fond memories of it.

I'm sure your father would have remembered it too.

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There are several rational explanations for spiritual experiences. For the hyper-religious, you’ll sometimes find that they suffer from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Someone on OLO once claimed to me that they had “directly experienced God”. Unbeknownst to this person, what they were actually describing was a TLE seizure. Specifically, the type that is referred to as a ‘Complex Partial Seizure’.

The more general and less pronounced spiritual experiences that Christians often describe can be explained by the type of euphoria that anyone experiences when surrounded by like-minded people. Brain scans suggest this too. I was reminded of this when I attended a sceptics’ convention last year and experienced exactly the same feeling that I used to think was God “touching my heart” when I went to church.

Yuyutsu states:

“It is not enough to issue general statements telling "this is not true, the Quran is non-violent": we need Muslim scholars to answer both Spencer and Daesh claim-by-claim, verse-by-verse.”

Your assigned reading :-)

Refuting ISIS: A Rebuttal of Its Religious and Ideological Foundations, by Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi, https://ia601307.us.archive.org/13/items/RefutingISIS/Refuting%20ISIS.pdf
(the first edition is available online because he has since released an expanded 2nd edition)

Leo wrote” <<“In relation to the comment you made, grateful,:” several elements in your posts that point to narcissist personality disorder “, you have not supplied the clarification I requested.
If, as seems likely, you simply missed your medication that day, and consequently made a baseless comment, fine, but at least let us know, and not attempt to avoid the issue.”>>

Leo, I didn’t notice your reply. In relation to your original post, I missed my medication

Returning to your post, you mentioned:

“Perhaps whatever our brain or personality type, our beliefs will be governed by our environment and community.”

I’d argue that if our beliefs are solely the product of “environment and community”, then any notion of free will is a delusion

Are you denying that we can exercise choice in the following sense:

"When a choice can be made that is not determined or necessitated by prior events then we can exercise freewill. The will is free when alternative choices could have been made with the same pre-existing conditions." http://www.informationphilosopher.com/... ?