Visions as a Source of Knowledge of God
Visions are supernatural sights believed to convey a religious message, studied as a claimed source of knowledge of God, from biblical examples such as Moses at the burning bush to the Islamic example of Muhammad's encounter with the angel Jibril. Philosophers challenge treating visions as reliable evidence, citing psychological explanations and the problem of verifying a private, subjective experience.
Method
- Learn the definition of a vision and the distinction sometimes made between a corporeal vision (something physically seen, e.g. a light or figure) and an imaginative or intellectual vision (a mental image or insight, without anything physically present).
- Learn a key Old Testament example: Moses at the burning bush, where 'the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush' (Exodus 3:2), which does not burn up.
- Learn a key New Testament example: Peter's vision of a sheet lowered from heaven containing forbidden and permitted animals (Acts 10:9-16), which he interprets as removing the barrier between Jews and Gentiles in the early Church.
- Learn the comparable Islamic example: Muhammad's overwhelming encounter with the angel Jibril in the cave of Hira, the beginning of revelation, commanded 'Iqra!' ('Read!', Qur'an 96:1-5), showing visions and auditory religious experience are a shared category across traditions, even where the theological status of a particular vision differs.
- Learn psychological and scientific challenges to visions as evidence: they may be explained as hallucination, wish-fulfilment (a Freudian critique), or the product of unusual brain activity, and cannot be independently verified by anyone but the person who experienced them.
- Learn a religious response: some argue a vision's transformative, life-changing effect on the person, and its consistency with existing scripture or tradition, count as supporting evidence, even without external proof.
- Practise weighing a specific vision's content and effect against a specific sceptical explanation, rather than only listing 'for' and 'against' points in general terms.
Worked example
Explain two features of Moses's vision of the burning bush that Christians might see as significant.
- Identify a first feature: the bush burns but is not consumed, an unusual, attention-grabbing sign that something beyond ordinary nature is taking place.
- Develop it with a reference: Exodus 3:2 describes 'the angel of the LORD' appearing 'in flames of fire from within a bush', yet the bush 'did not burn up'.
- Identify a second feature: God speaks directly and gives Moses his name and a specific mission, rather than the vision being a vague or wordless impression.
- Develop it with a reference: in Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses his name is 'I AM WHO I AM', and commissions him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.
- Combine both points into a complete answer: the burning bush vision is significant because its unnatural sign draws Moses's attention, and because it includes a specific divine name and a clear commission, giving the vision both a striking form and an unmistakable content and purpose.
Practice questions
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Q1According to Exodus 3:2, what does Moses see that makes him turn aside to look?Show answer
Answer: A bush that is on fire but not being burned up.
Q2What does Peter's vision of the sheet of animals in Acts 10:9-16 come to be interpreted as meaning?Show answer
Answer: That the barrier between Jews and Gentiles in the early Church should be removed.
Q3In which cave is Muhammad believed to have first encountered the angel Jibril?Show answer
Answer: The cave of Hira.
Q4According to Qur'an 96:1, what is the first command given to Muhammad in this encounter?Show answer
Answer: 'Read!' (Iqra!)
Q5Give one psychological explanation sceptics use to challenge visions as reliable evidence of God.Show answer
Answer: That a vision may be a hallucination, or a form of wish-fulfilment, rather than a genuine encounter with the divine.
Q6Give one reason a believer might treat a vision as credible despite it not being independently verifiable.Show answer
Answer: Its lasting, transformative effect on the person's life, or its consistency with existing scripture or tradition.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Religious Studies exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two challenges to the idea that visions provide reliable knowledge of God.
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'Visions are too unreliable to count as genuine knowledge of God.' Evaluate this statement, referring to religious teaching and reaching a justified conclusion.
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