understanding or information believed to be true and supported by reasons

a French town where St Bernadette’s visions of Mary occurred, now a pilgrimage site

a girl who reported visions of Mary in 1858, inspiring the Lourdes pilgrimage

the mother of Jesus, particularly honoured in Catholicism as pure and a helper in prayer

a religious experience where a person sees or feels a divine or spiritual presence

St Bernadette of Lourdes

Religious education

In this unit pupils investigate the idea of religious experience. They start with the ideas of William James before  examining case studies from history and Christian, Islamic and Hindu worldviews. 

Knowing God: does religious experience prove God exists?

Bernadette saw a total of {{}} visions of the Virgin Mary.

What did Bernadette describe the Virgin Mary as holding during one of her visions?

Bernadette sees her first vision of the Virgin Mary at the grotto (cave).

The Virgin Mary reveals herself as the Immaculate Conception.

People begin gathering at the grotto (cave) to pray.

Bernadette discovers the spring of water at the grotto (cave).

The first miraculous healing is recorded at Lourdes.

Put these events in the order they happened.

Why do many pilgrims visit Lourdes today?

everyone immediately believed her and supported her claims

she was doubted by many, including local priests

she was ignored entirely, and no one investigated her visions

the Pope declared her visions authentic the same year they occurred

How did people respond to St Bernadette's visions at the time?

as believing in something because it's a personal opinion, even if it's not true

as having a belief that is true and supported by evidence or reasoning

as believing in something without needing any evidence

as having a belief that is proven false but still personally important

Which philosopher researched religious experiences and recorded his findings in 'The Varieties of Religious Experience'?

A philosopher who thinks about alternative explanations for religious experience is using the tool of {{}}.

What is the name of the neuroscientist who performed the God helmet experiment?

it offers an alternative explanation, suggesting the cause is brain activity

it suggests that they result solely from belief systems, not brain function

it claims they are always triggered by external stimuli like rituals

it suggests religious experiences are unreliable and may be caused by delusion

How can Persinger's God helmet experiment be used to support a sceptical approach to religious experience as a philosophical argument for God's existence?

We should trust someone's experience unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Religious experiences should be questioned; they may be caused by mental events.

A person's belief in a supernatural event must be verified scientifically.

We should assume that people's experiences are false unless proven otherwise.

Which of the following statements is an example of Swinburne's principle of credulity?

when the account aligns with scientific evidence and can be verified

if the person is honest and reliable, and there is no reason to doubt them

when the experience is consistent with other religious experiences

when the account is part of an accepted religious tradition

According to Swinburne's principle of testimony, when might we accept someone's account of a religious experience?

Starter Quiz