Experience
EXPERIENCE
Knowledge acquired by long use without a teacher. It consists in the ideas of things we have seen or read, which the judgment has reflected on, to form for itself a rule or method. Christian experience is that religious knowledge which is acquired by any exercises, enjoyments, or sufferings, either of body or mind. Nothing is more common than to ridicule and despise what is called religious experience as mere enthusiasm. But if religion consist in feeling, we would ask, how it can possibly exist without experience? We are convinced of, and admit the propriety of the term, when applied to those branches of science which are not founded on speculation or conjecture, but on sensible trial. Why, then, should it be rejected when applied to religion? It is evident that, however beautiful religion may be in name, its excellency and energy are only truly known and displayed as experienced. A system believed, or a mind merely informed, will produce little good, except the heart be affected, and we feel its influence.
To experience, then, the religion of Christ, we must not only be acquainted with its theory, but enjoy its power; subduing our corruptions, animating our affections, and exciting us to duty. Hence the Scripture calls experience tasting, Psa 34:8. feeling, &c. 1Th 2:13, &c. That our experience is always absolutely pure in the present state cannot be expected. “The best experience, ” says a good writer, “may be mixed with natural affections and passions, impressions on the imagination, self- righteousness, or spiritual pride;” but this is no reason that all experience is to be rejected, for upon this ground nothing could be received, is, however, to be lamented, that while the best of men have a mixture in their experience, there are others whose experience (so called)is entirely counterfeit. They have been alarmed, have changed the ground of their confidence, have had their imaginations heated and delighted by impressions and visionary representations; they have recollected the promises of the Gospel, as if spoken to them with peculiar appropriation, to certify them that their sins were forgiven; and having seen and heard such wonderful things, they think they must doubt no more of their adoption into the family of God.
They have also frequently heard all experience profanely ridiculed as enthusiasm; and this betrays them into the opposite extreme, so that they are emboldened to despise every caution as the result of emnity to internal religion, and to act as if there were no delusive or counterfeit experience. But the event too plainly shows their awful mistake, and that they grounded their expectations upon the account given of the extraordinary operation of the Holy Spirit on the mind of prophets, rather than on the promises of his renewing influences in the hearts of believers. When, therefore, they lose the impressions with which they once were elated, they relapse nearly into their old course of life, their creed and confidence alone excepted.” Christian experience may be considered as genuine,
1. When it accords with the revelation of God’s mind and will, or what he has revealed in his word. Any thing contrary to this, however pleasing, cannot be sound, or produced by divine agency.
2. When its tendency is to promote humility in its tendency is to promote humility in us: that experience, by which we learn our own weakness, and subdues pride, must be good.
3. When it teaches us to bear with others, and to do them good.
4. When it operates so as to excite us to be ardent in our devotion, and sincere in our regard to God. A powerful experience of the divine favour will lead us to acknowledge the same, and to manifest our gratitude both by constant praise and genuine piety. Christian experience, however, may be abused.
There are some good people who certainly have felt and enjoyed the power of religion, and yet have not always acted with prudence as to their experience.
1. Some boast of their experiences, or talk of them as if they were they acquainted with others, they would find it not so. That a man may make mention of his experience, is no way improper, but often useful; but to hear persons always talking of themselves, seems to indicate a spirit of pride, and that their experience cannot be very deep.
2. Another abuse of experience is, dependence on it. We ought certainly to take encouragement from past circumstances, if we can: but if we are so dependent on past experience as to preclude present exertions, or always expect to have exactly the same assistance in every state, trial, or ordinance, we shall be disappointed. God has wisely ordered it, that though he never will leave his people, yet he will suspend or bestow comfort in his own time; for this very reason, that we may rely on him, and not on the circumstance or ordinance.
3. It is an abuse of experience, when introduced at improper times, and before improper persons. It is true, we ought never to be ashamed of our profession; but to be always talking to irreligious people respecting experience, which they know nothing of, is, as our Saviour says, casting pearls before swine. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress; Buck’s Treatise on Experience; Gornall’s Christian Armour; Dr. Owen on Psalm cxxx; Edwards on the Affections, and his Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England; Dorney’s Contemplations.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Experience
(, Rom 5:4, “proof,” as elsewhere rendered), approval of integrity as the result of trial. ” The three stages of , endurance, , approval, and , hope, are considered by the apostle as proceeding from the sufferings; the first denoting the state of moral earnestness implied in patient and faithful endurance, the second that state of approval as genuine which thence results, and bears within it hope as its blossom” (Olshausen, Comment. in loc.).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Experience (2)
Hume’s argument from. SEE HUME; SEE MIRACLE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Experience (3)
I. In Philosophy. Experience, in its strict sense, applies to what has occurred within a person’s own knowledge. Experience, in this sense, of course relates to the past alone. Thus it is that a man knows by experience what sufferings he has undergone in some disease, or what height the tide reached at a certain time and place. More frequently the word is used to denote that judgment which is derived from experience in the primary sense, by reasoning fiom that in combination with other data. Thus a man may assert, on the ground of experience, that he was cured of a disorder by such a medicine that that medicine is generally beneficial in that disorder; that the tide may always be expected, under such circum. stances, to rise to such a height. Strictly speaking, none of these can be known by experience, but are con. clusionsfrom experience. It is in this sense only that experience can be applied to thefuture, or, which comes to the same thling, to any general fact; as, e.g. when it is said that we know by experience that water exposed to a certain temperature will freeze” (Whately, Logic, app. 1).
Locke (Essay on Human Understand. book 2, chapter 1) assigns experience as the only and universal source of human knowledge. “Whence hath the mind all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from experience; in that all our knowledge is founded, and from that ultimately derives itself. Our observation, employed either about external sensible objects, or about the internal operations of our minds, perceived and reflected on by our. selves, is that which supplies our understanding with all the materials of thinking. These are the fountains of knowledge from whence all the ideas we have, or can naturally have, do spring that is, sensation and reflection.” In opposition to this view, according to which all human knowledge is a posteriori, or the result of experience, it is contended that man has knowledge a priori knowledge which experience neither does nor can give, and knowledge without which there could be no experience, inasmuch as all the generalizations of experience proceed and rest upon it. “No accumulation of experiments whatever can bring a general law home to the mind of man, because, if we rest upon experiments, our conclusion can never logically pass beyond the bounds of our premises; we can never infer more than we have proved; and all the past, which we have not seen, and the future, which we cannot see, is still left open, in which new experiences may arise to overturn the present theory. And yet the child will believe at once upon a single experiment, as having been once burned by fire. Why? Because a hand divine has implanted in him the tendency to generalize thus rapidly. Because he does it by an instinct of which he can give no account, except that he is so formed by his Maker” (Sewell, Christian Mor. chapter 24). “We may have seen one circle and investigated its properties, but why,- when our individual experience is so circumscribed, do we assume the same relations of all? Simply because the understanding has the conviction intuitively that similar objects will have similar properties; it does not acquire this idea by sensation or custom; the mind develops it by its own intrinsic force it is a law of our faculties, ultimate and universal, from vwhich all reasoning proceeds” (Dr. Mill, Essays, page 337). Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophy, s.v.
II. In Religion.
(1.) Knowledge gained by trial or practice. “A man unacquainted with those spiritual changes in the mind which are mentioned in the Scripture can form no notion of them. He may have some idea of the possibility of the changes called the new birth, sanctification, etc., but he does not understand their nature; they are foolishness to him. Nothing is more common with unregenerate persons than to ridicule as enthusiastic religious experience. But if the constitution of human nature is considered, it will be seen that man has emotions as well as intellect. His passions are original parts of his mental constitution, and must be exercised in religion. They cannot be destroyed. However beautiful religion may be as a theory, its excellency and energy can only be displayed as experienced. Hence the Bible employs the analogous terms tasting, feeling, to indicate the internal enjoyment of a Christian. He has peace through believing. He joys in God, through whom he has received the atonement. The love of God is shed abroad in his heart. He is conascious that he is a new creature” (Farrar, Bibl. Dict. s.v.). “That our experience is always ablolutely pure in time present state cannot be expected; but if it be genuine, it will not fail, through the exercise of Christian diligence, to become more and more pure. The main point, therefore, is to guard well against mistaking the illusions of the imagination for the operation of divince truth an the conscience and the heart (1Th 2:13). SEE AFFECTIONS.
(2.) The most valuable things are most apt to be counterfeited. But Christian experience may be considered as genuine,
1. When it accords with the revelation of God’s mind and will, or what he has revealed in his Word. Anything contrary to this, however pleasing, cannot be sound, or produced by divine agency.
2. When its tendency is to promote humility in us: that experience by which we learn our own weakness, and to subdue pride, must be good. 3. When it teaches us to bear with others, and to do there good.
4. When it operates so as to excite us to be ardent in our devotion, and sincere in our regard to God. A powerful experience of the divine favor will lead us to acknowledge the same, and to manifest our gratitude both by constant praise and genuine piety.
(3.) Christian experience, however, may be abused. There are some good people who certainly have felt and enjoyed the power of religion, and yet have not always acted with prudence as to their experience.
1. Some boast of their experiences, or talk of them as if they were very extraordinary; whereas, were they acquainted with others, they would find it not so. That a man may make mention of his experience is no way improper, but often useful; but to hear persons always talking of themselves seems to indicate a spirit of pride, and that their experience cannot be very deep.
2. Another abuse of experience is dependence on it. We ought certainly to take encouragement from past circumstances if we can; but if we are so dependent on past experience as to preclude present exertions, or always expect to have exactly the same assistance in every state, trial, or ordinance, we shall be disappointed. God has wisely ordered it that, though he never will leave his people, yet he will suspend or bestow comfort in his own time; for this very reason, that we may rely on him, and not on the circumstance or ordinance.
3. It is an abuse of experience which introduced at improper times and before improper persons. It is true, we ought never to be ashamed of our profesion; but to be always talking to irreligious people respecting experience, which they know nothing of, is as our Savior says, casting pearls before swine.” See Buck, Treatise of Experience; Gurnall, Christian Armor; Edwards, On the Affections; Doddridge, Rise and Progress; Wesley, Sermons.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Experience
EXPERIENCE.This word, which plays so large a part in modern philosophy and religion, occurs 4 times (including experiment) in EV [Note: English Version.] . Of these instances only one survives in RV [Note: Revised Version.] , viz., Ecc 1:16, where hath had great experience of = hath seen much of (wisdom), etc. In Gen 30:27 I have learnt by experience (= experiment) becomes I have divined, the Heb. vb. being the same as in Gen 44:5; Gen 44:15, Deu 18:10. In Rom 5:4 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] probation) experience, and in 2Co 9:13 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] proving) experiment. was the rendering of a Gr. word borrowed from the assaying of metal, which signified the testing, or test, of personal worth; the same noun appears in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] as trial (RV [Note: Revised Version.] proof) in 2Co 2:9; 2Co 8:2, and proof in 2Co 13:3 and Php 2:22. Christian experience, in modern phraseology, covers what is spoken of in Scripture as the knowledge of God, of Christ, etc., and as the seal or witness (testimony) of the Holy Spirit, of our conscience, etc., or as peace, assurance, salvation, and the like. Cf. next article.
G. G. Findlay.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Experience
eks-peri-ens: This word is employed 3 times. In Gen 30:27 the King James Version, Laban says, to Jacob, I have learned by experience (the Revised Version (British and American) divined) that Yahweh hath blessed me for thy sake. Here it translates the Hebrew , nahash, to observe diligently, as when one examines the entrails of a bird or animal for the purpose of divination.
In Ecc 1:16, the writer says, I have gotten me great wisdom ….; my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. Here the Hebrew (ra’ah) means hath seen abundantly, and the idea seems to be that of a wide outlook combined with actual trial of the things discovered or known.
In Rom 5:4 the King James Version, the Greek word , dokime (the American Standard Revised Version more correctly approvedness), means the proof or testing of a thing. We rejoice in tribulation because it works out or produces patience, while the latter develops an experience of God, i.e. it brings out as a proved fact His power and love toward us in our preservation in and deliverance from trial.
Thus it is seen the Bible use of the word is not different from the ordinary, which means the sum of practical wisdom taught by the events and observations of life, or, to go a little farther, the personal and practical acquaintance with what is so taught. Heb 5:13 gives a good practical example. the King James Version says, Every one that useth milk is unskillful (apeiros) in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe, while the Revised Version (British and American) renders unskilful by without experience of. The thought is that he who fails to search out the deep things of the word of God is so lacking in the exercise of his spiritual senses as to be unable really to know truth from error.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Experience
Solomon’s
Ecc 1
Religious, relating of
Testimony, Religious
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Experience
(Lat. Experientia, from experirito test) The condition or state of subjectivity or awareness. (The term differs from Consciousness by emphasizing the temporal or passing character of affective undergoing. Usage, however, is not uniform, since its definition involves a theoretical standpoint. Thus Bradley identified it with Consciousness, while W. James used it to mean neutral phenomenon, a That or Given, without implications of either subjectivity or objectivity.) — W.L.