'The Witness of Religious Experience'
One of the most dramatic moments during Jesus' interrogation by Pilate is when he said to Pilate “....For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth.” Pilate responds with a question that we should all ask....”What is truth?” (Jn.18:37, 38). Truth is understood to be expressed in two different forms: subjective, and objective truth. Subjective truth is a conviction based on personal experience; whereas objective truth stands outside the individual and is well established in the 'cultural mind' by science or divine revelation. The truth claims presented in the Bible are both objective and subjective in nature. God is not only objectively real, he also makes himself known to individuals through subjective experience.
Another way of thinking about this is to recognize truths that are directly or indirectly established. For example, by observing the ocean tides you can conclude that a reasonable explanation for the phenomenon is the existence of a heavenly body close to earth which exerts force upon the earth's oceans, causing daily tides. This is indirect evidence of the moon's existence. But this is not the same kind of evidence as directly observing the moon in the night sky. This direct evidence, in a certain sense, is more conclusive. Job referred to this distinction when he wrote - “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;....(Job 42:5).” Job speaks of two kinds of knowing:
: indirect - 'my ears had heard of you'; and direct – 'my eyes have seen you'. Job had heard about God (YHWH), but he also had an experiential knowledge of God! The question this poses to us is, is our knowledge of God to be only the product of inference and logical conclusion, or can we know God through encounter and experience?
A Fundamental Assumption
The biblical message begins with the assumption that God exists - “In the beginning God....(Gen.1:1)”, and then it goes on to present a God who is knowable to man in a personal and intimate way. To one who believes the Bible, a man's claim to have personally encountered God is not odd. It's certainly exceptional, but it's not unfamiliar and unacceptable. These experiences aren't an indication of mental instability; rather, they're a normal part of living in a world created by a God who makes himself known.
When we look closely at our inner life, we discover two basic drives that are common to all men: a drive toward meaning, and a drive toward transcendence. We have a need for the existence of something larger than ourselves, something that gives us an explanation for our existence. This certainly pushes us into the realm of the supernatural. If we strip the supernatural away from our lives, we're left with an inner emptiness and aloneness that haunts us. Life becomes a pointless business! This is evidenced by the current interest in New Age ideas, the paranormal, and the existence of extraterrestrial life. All of these suggest that we're not alone; rather, there's something bigger beyond us. They express our rejection of a one-dimensional life, and appeal to our need for wonder and worship. Thinking people are discovering that worship defines us, and one who doesn't worship something greater than himself begins to shrink. They lose a clear sense of self. This is illustrated forcefully in Peter Schaffer's play, Equus. One of the major themes of the play is that of man's need to worship. The main character is a teenage boy who becomes attached to the symbol of Jesus in a picture, and his father, who is an atheist, is determined to put an end to the 'nonsense'. He removes the picture of Jesus and replaces it with a picture of a horse, and the boy begins to worship horses. A psychiatrist is hired to help the boy get over his horse fixation, and in the end the psychiatrist becomes jealous and envious of the boy's 'religious experience'. This need to experience God's presence may not have surfaced yet in everyone, but we can say with confidence that the majority of us have a deep need to worship and to personally experience the reality of God.
Personal Encounters
There are millions of people who claim to have had a personal encounter with the God of the Bible, people from different races, and cultures, and from every period of history. This presents us with direct evidence which can't be discounted. Either God exists and our experience of him is real, or all those who claim to know him are self-deluded, and this would include Jesus himself. If those claiming to have had a personal encounter with God are self-deluded, this would include the great mathematician Blaise Pascal. In 1654, he had a dramatic encounter with God. After his death, a piece of paper was found sewn into his coat that vividly described the event; it was dated November 23, 1654 - “From about half past ten in the evening until about half past twelve...fire...God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars....certitude, certitude, feeling, joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ.” For most of us, our experience isn't this dramatic, but it's just as meaningful. Many times it comes in the form of a calm assurance of God's presence in our lives. It brings a sense of wholeness and a deep inner peace. God becomes real to us as his Spirit fills our hearts and confirms the truth of the gospel.
It's this aspect of biblical faith that opens a whole new dimension to our knowledge of God: first, by causing us to see ourselves as we really are; and also, by bringing us to a place of yieldedness to God. This was Isaiah's experience when he encountered the Lord in the temple. He said...”Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips,...(Isa.6:5)”. And then he yielded to God's call to go - “Here am I! Send me (Isa.6:8).” In addition to this, an encounter with God transforms and marks our lives. Jacob is a prime example of this; he wrestled with an angel and refused to let the angel go until he blessed him (Gen.32: 24-31). This encounter resulted in Jacob's name being changed to Israel, indicating a change of character from being a cheat and swindler to 'he who strives with God'. From that day on Jacob walked with a limp...he was marked!
Personal encounters with God are not discounted in scripture; rather, they're seen as a vital part of biblical faith that makes our lives whole. What we have in scripture is not only a God who is there, but also a God who makes himself known through man's experience. He breaks into our lives and touches us at the heart of our inner life. The Bible affirms man's religious experience!