Rankin, Marianne (2021) Researching the fruits of experience in the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre Archive. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The focus of this study is on the “fruits” or consequences of religious and spiritual experiences (RSEs) recorded in the Archive of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre (RERC) held at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Lampeter. The Archive is now available online and continues to receive contributions today.

This database comprises approximately 6,600 accounts of experiences, many of which were originally submitted in response to an appeal by Sir Alister Hardy for people to send accounts of awareness of, or influence by a presence or Power, whether or not called God, which appeared to be beyond their individual selves.

My first research question asks, “What, in the RERC Archive, are the ‘fruits’ of RSEs in terms of inner transformation and outward behaviour?” This is answered by a quantitative, numerical analysis of the range of consequences recorded on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, indicating particularly a sense of comfort, guidance and love. Religious and spiritual changes are recorded, and specific accounts are explored in more depth to evaluate the fruits in a qualitative approach.

In view of today’s more secular society, my second research question became, “Is the designation ‘Intense Experience’ as expounded by Wesley J. Wildman in his Religious and spiritual experiences (2011) helpful for researchers when evaluating RSEs, particularly those of people who do not consider themselves religious?”. Might that categorisation enable RSEs to be accepted, as Sir Alister Hardy wished, as a natural part of human consciousness?

Study of the literature – religious and scholarly – gave rise to the third research question, “Can the hypothesis that a turn from self-centredness to altruism is the dominant category underlying the variety of fruits of experience be supported through analysis of the RERC Archive?” A mixed methods approach to the data appeared to lend support for this hypothesis.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Alister Hardy Research Centre, Experience (Religion), Experience (Religion) -- Case studies, Psychology, Religious, Altruism -- Religious aspects
Official Date:	September 2021
Dates:	Date Event September 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Education Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Francis, Leslie J. ; McKenna, Ursula
Sponsors:	Alister Hardy Research Centre
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	vi, 356 leaves
Language:	eng

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