An Argument for The Existence of God from Experience

I have noted elsewhere the observation that current Gallup poling has belief in God among U.S. adults at 80%. This is down from 98% as recently as the 1960s. What has caused belief to sink so deeply and in such a rapid fashion is up for debate. I make some conjectures in my forthcoming "The Death of Supernaturalism," which will release in October.

I have long been an advocate that the most compelling reason to believe in God is personal experience. For those who know me as a disciple of Schleiermacher, this may not be a surprise to you.

Recently, I have been motivated to formulate an argument for the existence of God based off the premise that God (at least in some non-trivial way) is universally experienced.

I recognize this is a premise that will need defending.

I also recognize that I am not the first to make an experience-based argument for the existence of God. Swinburne, Alston and others have done so.

I plan on engaging these thinkers, as well as proponents of other, more classical, arguments for God in future posts. I will leave it to the reader to decide if I have come up with something novel and useful here:

Experiential Argument for God’s Existence

Premise 1: Human beings have experiences that evoke a profound sense of dependence, awe, and transcendence (what Schleiermacher calls the feeling of absolute dependence).

Premise 2: These experiences are epistemically significant. Importantly, they constitute non-propositional knowledge.

Premise 3: The depth and universality of these feelings point toward a reality that is non-contingent. These feelings arise not from within the self alone but seem given/received.

Conclusion: Therefore, the felt experiences of dependence, awe, and transcendence are not merely psychological but ontological. They invite interpretation of the self as in-relation-to an Ultimate (what theology names God).

Over the next several weeks (at minimum), I will be interacting with each premise, utilizing the work of important thinkers, such as Ricoeur, Polanyi, Alston and (of course) Schleiermacher in order to investigate each point of my argument.

Schleiermacher once said he felt the experience of God to be so compelling that it takes the place of all the other "so-called proofs of the existence of God." I find myself aligned with his thinking.

For those willing to journey with me over the course of these posts, I welcome you as fellow travelers. Any and all feedback is more than appreciated.

*Edit - I have been asked to put this argument in less fancy terms. Here is what I am trying to claim, put differently:

Premise 1: Humans have feelings which strike the note that there exists something bigger than themselves.

Premise 2: These experiences are a source of valid knowledge about reality.

Premise 3: The depth and universality of these feelings give evidence they come from a source outside of self.

Conclusion: Since these experiences constitute valid knowledge and since this knowledge pertains to a source outside of self, humanity must share existence with a universal other. Theologians call this universal other God.