Q1. Critically analyze Rudolf Otto's views on Religious Experience. Or Discuss the salient features of Religion. How it different from philosophy of religion?
- Rudolf Otto defined religious experience as an encounter with the 'Numinous,' the non-rational, distinct essence of the holy.
- The Numinous is characterized by 'Mysterium Tremendum,' evoking awe, dread, majesty, and an overpowering sense of unapproachability.
- It also includes 'Mysterium Fascinans,' drawing the individual with captivating allure, bliss, and irresistible attraction.
- The Numinous is 'Wholly Other,' meaning it is entirely transcendent, incomprehensible, and beyond ordinary human experience.
Answer: Rudolf Otto, in his influential work *The Idea of the Holy* (Das Heilige, 1917), critically analyzed religious experience by identifying its unique, non-rational core, which he termed the 'Numinous'. Otto argued that the essence of religion lies beyond mere ethical doctrines or rational beliefs, residing in a fundamental, irreducible encounter with the sacred. He proposed that the Numinous is an *a priori* category of apprehension, meaning it is an innate capacity for religious feeling not deri...