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Full Idea
A proclaimed experience of God must be rejected because a) there is no agreed test that it is such an experience, b) some people experience God's absence, and c) there is no uniformity of testimony about the experience.
Gist of Idea
The experiences of God are inconsistent, not universal, and untestable
Source
Brian Davies (Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion [1982], 7 'Objections')
Book Ref
Davies,Brian: 'An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion' [OUP 1993], p.121
A Reaction
[compressed] I'm not sure that absence of an experience is experience of an absence. Compare it with experiencing the greatness of Beethoven's Ninth.
| 20694 | 'Natural theology' aims to prove God to anyone (not just believers) by reason or argument [Davies,B] |
| 20697 | One does not need a full understanding of God in order to speak of God [Davies,B] |
| 20699 | Paradise would not contain some virtues, such as courage [Davies,B] |
| 20701 | Can God be good, if he has not maximised goodness? [Davies,B] |
| 20702 | The goodness of God may be a higher form than the goodness of moral agents [Davies,B] |
| 20703 | How could God have obligations? What law could possibly impose them? [Davies,B] |
| 20706 | A distinct cause of the universe can't be material (which would be part of the universe) [Davies,B] |
| 20708 | If God is an orderly being, he cannot be the explanation of order [Davies,B] |
| 20707 | The universe exhibits design either in its sense of purpose, or in its regularity [Davies,B] |
| 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] |
| 20712 | God is 'eternal' either by being non-temporal, or by enduring forever [Davies,B] |