An Annotated Bibliography of Journal Articles
on the Study of Spiritual and Religious Experience

Introduction

This bibliography of journal articles was first created in 2016 as a working document to assist with the creation of a student Reader on the Study of Spiritual and Religious Experience from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (see …. ). To this end, around 5,000 titles of journal articles were first reviewed, drawn both from references in the wider literature on religious experience and by using the search facilities of various databases, and a list of nearly 1,000 of the most relevant of these were then selected for further study. The selection criteria at this stage included:

(a)material that illustrated a range of different disciplines in Religious Studies and Theological Studies: that is, biblical studies and historical theology; theological and philosophical perspectives; psychological, sociological and anthropological perspectives; and detailed empirical social-scientific surveys using qualitative and quantitative analyses(however, neuroscientific studies were also collected);

(b)a dual focus on both ordinary religious and spiritualexperience and (for the more classic, explicitly religious experiences) the Scriptures and history of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

This redaction of the bibliography is now being made available more widely in the hope that it may prove useful to other students of spiritual and religious experience.

Notes on bibliographical format and vocabulary

The bibliographical data has mostly been cut and pasted from the journals themselves, and no attempt has been made to create a consistent format throughout the table. Where ‘keywords’ are listed as such in the final column, these are the keywords provided by the author(s) with their Abstract of the article.

Using the Table of Articles
These data have been formatted as a table in Microsoft Word, which allows users to employ a number of simple procedures to select, convert, search and sort the material. (For the benefit of users with low spec. personal computers, this table is split into sections, each within its own Word document. Given sufficient internal memory [RAM], however, these sections may be copied and pasted together into one table, so that the whole database can be searched and manipulated as one unit.)
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KEY TO SYMBOLS in the Discipline / Field of Study column:
(an additional ‘?’ indicates a doubtful categorization)
B = Biblical study
H = Historical study
N = Neuroscientific study
Φ = Philosophical study
P = Practical/pastoral study
φ= Psychological study
QL = Qualitative empirical study
QN = Quantitative empirical study
S = Sociological/Anthropological study
Θ = Theological study

TABLE OF ARTICLES

Author / Article Title / Date / Journal Details / Discipline
/ Field of Study / Notes, Keywords, Abstractsor Summaries
Abernathy, Alexis D. et al / Varieties of Spiritual Experience: A Study of Closeness to God, Struggle, Transformation, and Confession-Forgiveness in Communal Worship / 2016 / Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 35(1), 9-21 / QN / Effects of Spiritual Experiences in worship. Interview study.
Adam, Martin T. / A Post-Kantian Perspective on Recent Debates about Mystical Experience / 2002 / Journal of the American Academy of ReligionVol. 70, No. 4, pp. 801-817 / Φ / Academic discussion of mystical experience has tended to presuppose a model of experience that is broadly Kantian in character, and this is so in two regards. First of all it has adopted Kant's division between intuition and understanding—in the form of a distinction drawn between "experience" and "interpretation." Through the former of each of these pairs, an object is said to be given; through the latter, it is said to be conceptualized. Second, many thinkers have presupposed the Kantian distinction of "noumenon" and "phenomenon."
This article questions the appropriateness of both these presuppositions. Situating my arguments in the context of the recent constructivist-essentialist debate, I suggest that thinkers on both sides have not been sufficiently critical in their employment of Kantian terminology. I argue that there exists an important subcategory of mystical experience that does not fit comfortably into the Kantian conceptual framework.
Adams, Robert M. / Review: Religious Disagreements and Doxastic Practices: / 1994 / Philosophy and Phenomenological Research,, Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 885-890 / Φ / Clear critique of Alston. See Alston’s reply.
Afterman, Adam / From Philo to Plotinus: The Emergence of Mystical Union / 2013 / The Journal of Religion / H / Judaism. Philo
Albright, Carol Rausch / Neuroscience in Pursuit Of The Holy: Mysticism, The Brain, And Ultimate Reality / 2001 / Zygon, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 485-492 / N Θ / Eugene d'Aquili and Andrew B. Newberg's The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience presents a core theory regarding the neurophysical nature of mystical experience; extensions of this theory, focusing upon near-death experiences and the nature of religion itself; and buttressing arguments proposing that genetically based neurophysical "operators" within the brain compel human beings to think in certain ways. On the basis of this work, the authors pose a "metatheology," suggesting that certain brain operations may underlie all the religions of the world. The core theory, its extensions, and related arguments are discussed in turn, concluding with commentary on the authors' constructive theology.
Allik, Tiina / Religious Experience, Human Finitude, And the Cultural-Linguistic Model / 1993 / Horizons, 20/2, pp. 241-59 / S? Θ? / The article argues that the anthropology of the cultural-linguistic model elaborates the radical materiality, historicity, and contingency of religious experience in a way that the experiential-expressivist model does not. More specifically, the article argues that experiential-expressivist thinkers who conceptualize religious experience as having a nonconceptual core which is not constituted by the contingencies of a person's material, social, and historical environments implicitly compromise human finitude. The article also suggests that the cultural-linguistic model will seem threatening to our sense of human freedom as long as we share the modern assumption that material causes and human choices are competing kinds of "things" in the world, rather than being descriptions of the same concrete phenomena from different perspectives and for different purposes, and that the cultural-linguistic model will seem atheistic if one shares the modern view that this-worldly causal efficacy is in competition with God's agency.
Little about religious exp
Allison, Joel / Religious Conversion: Regression and Progression in an Adolescent Experience / 1969 / Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 23-38 / Ψ / The sudden and dramatic religious conversion experience of a male divinity student is presented and explored in terms of its role in adolescent development. Particular emphasis is placed on his perception of family relationships, and especially on how the conversion experience serves to alter a perception of the actual father as weak, ineffective, or absent by supplying instead an internal representation of a strong and principled substitute paternal figure with clear values and firm judgments. This representation of a positive and powerful paternal figure is seen as crucial in aiding the adolescent process of individuation and differentiation by countering strong longings to retain or reestablish a sense of undifferentiated union with the maternal figure.
Early? Study of one individual
Allman, Lorraine S., et al. / Psychotherapists' Attitudes Toward Clients Reporting Mystical Experiences, / 1992 / PsychotherapyVolume 29/Winter 1992/Number 4, pp. 564-569 / Ψ QN P / Little is understood about therapists'attitudes toward clients who reportmystical experiences. A survey wasmailed to 650 members of the AmericanPsychological Association in full-timepractice and was completed by 285respondents. Results indicated that4.5% of clients during the past 12months had reported mysticalexperiences; most therapists did notview such experiences as necessarilypathological; therapists' theoreticalorientation and certain other personaland professional factors influencedtheir diagnostic attitudes toward theseclients; 50% of the respondenttherapists themselves reported havinghad a mystical experience at sometime in their lives.
Alston, William P. / Perceiving God / 1986 / The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 83, No. 11 (Nov., 1986), pp. 655-665 / Φ / Early, but good, account
Alston, William P. / Review: Précis of Perceiving God / 1994 / Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 863-868 / Φ / Summary of 1991 book.
Ref ‘MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE’ (p. 863f) p 864 cf. ‘big deal’; and ‘background’ experiences
Alston, William P. / Religious Experience and Religious Belief / 1982 / Noûs, Vol. 16, No. 1, (Mar., 1982), pp. 3-12 / Φ / Rather technical. Early
Alston, William P. / Reply to Commentators / 1994 / Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 891-899 / Φ / Responses to Gale, Pappas, Adams
Alston, William P. / Response to Critics / 1994 / Religious Studies, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jun., 1994), pp. 171-180 / Φ / Responses to Gale, Tilley, Schellenberg. Technical
Alston, William P. / The Autonomy of Religious Experience: The Epistemic Status of Religious Belief / 1992 / International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 31, No. 2/3, (Apr. - Jun., 1992), pp. 67-87 / Φ / Good account. Cf. Précis
Alston, William P. / Review of Yandell / 1996 / Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Mar., 1996), pp. 235-238 / Φ / Review of Yandell
Alston, William P. / Religious Diversity and Perceptual Knowledge of God / 1988 / Faith and PhilosophyVol. 5 No.4 October 1988 / Φ / Early
Alston, William P. / The Perception of God / 1988 / Philosophical Topics, Vol. 16, No. 2, (FALL 1988), pp. 23-52 / Φ / Good, but early and long. Gives Examples
Altany, Alan / What makes a Mystic? / 1992 / US Catholic, pp. 30-36 / Popular
Alva, Reginald / Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement and Secularization / 2015 / PentecoStudies14.1 (2015) 124-139 / S? Θ? / Advances in science and technnlngy have relegated the space of religion in the society. Modern people have rightly challenged the traditional hegemony of religious institutions. However, challenging unjust practices within religious institutions must not ystematically jeopardize the spiritual and ethical values, which the religions propose. Society should not sacrifice morality and values on the altar of science and progress.
The Catholic C hurch held the Second V atican C ouncil (1962-5) w ith theaim of overall renew al and reform ations w ithin the church. It preparedthe Church to read the signs o f times. The beginning of the C harism aticRenewal in 1967 w ithin the Catholic C hurch is a fruit o fth a t effort. Surveys show th a t the Charismatic Movement had a phenomenal growth. In theyear 2000, around 11.3 percent of the total global Catholic populationwas associated w ith Charismatic Movement.2 The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement (CCRM) seeks the grace of renewal to foster a deeper
communion with God the Father, a total acceptance of the lordship of Jesus
Christ and a perennial openness to the Holy Spirit. The CCRM is playinga vital role by infusing life and vigor to the Church, attracting youth to theChurch, bringing hope to the overstressed people and help them discover the meaning of life in the midst of growing ennui and angst because of the rapture of the bubble economy and effects of secularization. The task of renewal of the whole Church is far from finished. It is a project in process.
In this paper, we propose to trace the effects of this movement in the Catholic Church. We shall attempt to study, how best this movement can help in preserving the traditional religious values on the one hand and the progress of humanity on the other.
Keywords: Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Second Vatican Council, secularization, charisms, mission. Catholic Church, society, morality, values.
Andersen,M. et al. / Mystical Experience in the LabU / 2014 / Method and Theory in the Studyof Religion 26 (2014) 217-245 / N Ψ / We review previous attempts to study mystical experience and point to problems
inherent to certain methodologies. Focusing on studies that use controlled environments
we advocate taking an experimental approach to mysticism. To demonstrate the
viability of this approach, we report findings from a new study that probes the potential
for eliciting mystical experiences in the laboratory. We find that our experimental
paradigm is indeed enough to elicit mystical experiences. Based on subjective ratings
of experience, rich descriptions from interviews, and data obtained three months afterthe study, our data indicate that the experiences reported by the participants had a
high degree of authenticity and had lasting effects in terms of memory and attribution.
These findings demonstrate that at least some forms of mystical experience can be
studied in a controlled environment. Prospects and limitations for the experimental
approach to mysticism are discussed.
Andrejč, Gorazd / Bridging the gap between social and existential-mysticalinterpretations of Schleiermacher's ‘feeling’. / 2012 / Religious Studies, 48, pp 377-401 / H S? Ψ Φ Θ?
/ The article engages with two contemporary understandings of
Schleiermacher’s notion of feeling which are in important aspects in conflict: a social understanding (Kevin W. Hector and Christine Helmer) and an existential mystical
understanding (Thandeka). Using the phenomenological category of ‘existential feelings’ drawn from the work of Matthew Ratcliffe, I argue that they can be brought into a coherent overall account that recognizes different aspects of feeling in Schleiermacher’s work. I also suggest that such an interpretation of Schleiermacher’s concept of religious feeling offers a different and better understanding of the role of feelings in religious experience and belief than the contemporary ‘perception-model’ of religious experience.
Angel, Leonard / Mystical naturalism. / 2002 / Religious Studies, 38, pp 317-338 / Φ Θ / This paper suggests that an ontologically reductionist view of naturewhich also accepts the completeness of causality at the level of physics can support
(1) the blissful transfiguration of the moral, (2) mystical release from standard egoidentification,and (3) psycho-physical transformation cultivated through meditative
practice. This mystical naturalism provides the basis for a thicker, more vigorous
institutional religious life, including religious life centred around meditation
practices, personalist meanings, and the theology of incarnation, than current
proposals for strongly naturalist religions allow.
Angel, Leonard / Universal Self Consciousness Mysticism and the Physical Completeness Principle / 2004 / International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 55, No. 1 (Feb., 2004), pp. 1-29 / Φ / Philosophers promoting a version of Universal Self Consciousness mysticism (including Wainwright, Alston, Hick, Wilber and Forman) take it that their interpretations of mysticism are consistent with current scientific findings. However, their theories have implicitly or explicitly against the central claim arising from science, namely, the causal completeness principle. There is strong ground to accept physical causal complete- ness for human functioning, and the assessment of physical completeness is independent the phenomenology of Universal Self Consciousness mystical experience. Further, a positive account of Universal Self Consciousness mysticism that accepts physical completeness. Such an account is preferable to the many accounts that both require and yet give no basically satisfactory evidence to ground
Physicalism v religious experience . Good on naturalistic view of brain.
Antes, Peter / What Do We Experience If We Have ReligiousExperience? / 2002 / Numen, Vol. 49, pp. 336-342 / Ψ / The starting point of the paper is the historical fact that people who have special
forms of religious experience such as seeing saints, angels, gods or goddesses can
always say whom they saw. They never met anyone totally unknown to them. The
question is why. The answer that the paper proposes and invites to discuss is that
having experience means to identify what is happening with what is known as pattern
of interpretation. The knowledge of those patterns is due either to socialisation or to
further studies in favour of, or against, those patterns, yet, it is unlikely that something
totally new will ever be discovered through those forms of religious experience.