Final Essay This paper will give a brief critique of the articles that have been provided. Every article will be summarized with the main points of the article examined, and the overall significance of the article appraised. By doing this, it will be possible to read this paper and obtain a general feel for all the articles the have been provided. WHAT DO WE EXPERIENCE IF WE HAVE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE? By Peter Antes. This article looks at why people who have religious experiences never “...saw a person who was totally unknown in the respective religious context where the apparition took place.” (Antes 3). Why don’t people ever see the God(s) from other religions, why do some people “...see Kali or Durga, while in Christian contexts, if the vision is that of a woman, St. Mary is seen instead.” (Antes 3). This thesis is rather profound in the fact that almost every religion claims to have religious experiences and divine visions, but never of the God(s) from other religions. An interesting contrast shown in the body of the article is between Madeleine Le Bouc, and Ramakrishna. The former, was said to be quite mad by Doctor Pierre Janet while the ladder was considered a saint. Antes points out that “...they had similar types of experience which, according to their surrounding milieus, found very different explanations: a medical one in terms of mental illness in the secular context of France, and a religious one in the Indian context of Hindu spirituality.” (Antes 2).
By using this approach, the findings will be more valid as this argument explores “...the field of Psychology of Religion.” (Antes 3). There is an example that uses Paul’s conversion to Christ as a kind of example that is supposed to possible falsify the thesis. The example states that Paul did not believe in Jesus but had a vision of him and was converted. In the conclusion Antes states that “This