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All Things Considered

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Religious affairs programme, tackling thorny issues in a thought-provoking manner

Religious affairs programme, tackling the thornier issues of the day in a thought-provoking manner

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All Things Considered: Religious Experience

Religious Experience

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Is it possible to have a faith which is not rooted in some kind of personal experience?

In the 50th anniversary year of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre at Lampeter, Roy Jenkins and guests examine Religious Experience.

A Welsh player crosses the English line to score at a crucial moment.  Television cameras capture a crowd in ecstasy, apparently transported into a realm of utter delight and fulfilment.

On another occasion, those same cameras might be focussed on a charismatic group at worship - outstretched arms, faces reflecting an intensity of joy and wonder.
Are these sensations of rapture in any way the same?

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, at the University of Wales Trinity St. David’s, and on All Things Considered today, Roy Jenkins explores how virtually anything can become a religious experience, even if it seems to have nothing to do with the way people usually practise a faith. And to what extent is it possible to have a faith which is not rooted in some kind of personal experience?

Joining Roy to discuss this are: Prof Bettina Schmidt, Director of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre; Rev Janet Fletcher, spirituality officer for the Church in Wales Bangor diocese and author of the Church in Wales Lent book; Rev Dr Gareth Leyshon, Catholic missionary working across the British Isles for the Sion community for evangelism; and Rev Dr Karen Smith, who until recently taught Church History and Christian Spirituality at South Wales Baptist College and Cardiff University and is now an Honorary Senior Research Fellow.

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