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Single Idea 18976

[filed under theme 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / d. Religious Experience ]

Full Idea

I myself believe that the evidence for God lies primarily in inner personal experience.

Gist of Idea

Private experience is the main evidence for God

Source

William James (Pragmatism - eight lectures [1907], Lec 3)

Book Ref

James,William: 'Pragmatism - eight lectures' [Dover 1995], p.42

A Reaction

There is not much you can say to someone who claims incontrovertible evidence which is utterly private to themselves. Does total absence of private religious experience count as evidence on the subject?

The 5 ideas with the same theme [proving God's existence from direct human experience]:

20312 God cannot be demonstrated objectively, because God is a subject, only existing inwardly [Kierkegaard]
18976 Private experience is the main evidence for God [James]
20710 Maybe an abnormal state of mind is needed to experience God? [Davies,B]
20711 A believer can experience the world as infused with God [Davies,B]
20709 The experiences of God are inconsistent, not universal, and untestable [Davies,B]