Religious experience can mean many different things. That is why St. Paul tells us to test the spirits. If there is not some objective way of doing that, then we have no way of telling whether or not a religious experience is from God or Satan. Having a religious experience means nothing if it is not based upon the truth.
Yes, religious experience can mean many things. Let us not get ahead of ourselves, though, and get into the logic of discerning the spirits. First, is religious experience a real experience, or not?
I personally do not understand everything you say on this subject but I hope to bring some thing up about testing the spirit. Written by the Apostle John- It’s in “1 john 4: 1-Test the Spirits
4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: EVERY SPIRIT that CONFESSES THAT JESUS CHRIST has come IN THE FLESH is FROM GOD, 3 and every spirit that DOES NOT CONFESS JESUS is NOT from GOD. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this WE KNOW the Spirit of TRUTH and the spirit of ERROR.”
NOW THAT BEING SHOWN- I have a friend whose wife dabbles in the occult. I helped them move from their upstate home. I asked God to guide me before I went to have his blessing on the trip otherwise I would not have gone. As we are in the car she decides to a do a game in the back seat. She asks if I would like to be read for a tarot card reading. I emphatically said NO WAY I do not believe in that lie. I Explain to her not to do it. I think she is doing it anyway. Just then suddenly A wild car on the NY State Thruway comes off the ramp onto the grass right in front of us to our lane towards the car. I plead the Name and Blood of Jesus on this car. Blessed be God it straightens out safely it doesn’t bother us again. Well, finally we are packing books and items. She has real occult and good spiritual books together on the bookshelf. I sense the Holy Spirit tugging on me to talk to her. I get her husband alone to explain we have to talk to her. He is a firm believer. She tells us she is catholic and believes in many gods. I tell her I will prove right now that you are not a Catholic Christian or any other True Christian. So I ask her to say the Apostle’s creed especially when it reads We believe in Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary. She couldn’t do it. She was stuttering from a unseen force. Then would blort out there are many Gods. Its like you could almost see the spirit not allowing it. Then I told her to say that she personally believed that Jesus Christ the Divinity became flesh thru the Virgin Mary still no positive confession. He husband was astounded. He tried to continue the same, no results. Anyway I am praying for her with others. I eventually gave him a St Benedict exorcism oil Cloth which he showed her eventually which caused her to fall to the ground. He did not tell her what it was on the cloth.Please pray for her. God has shown there will be a break through eventually —Well getting back to the Aposles Creed Or Nicene Creed -It’s very important to confess these two Creeds! Also this is what we say during the Rosary And The Nicene Creed every Sunday during Mass . Its funny thing that of all the Apostles, John declares this in the Gospel of John and His epistles. Why? He was given Mary at the Cross by Christ to Take Care of her as his Mother. I can just see John looking at Mary as he wrote these things down for us to hear and read thru out the age. Mary came to St Dominic about this very type of heresy! Well, who else would Christ send who can prove that he came in the Flesh. Our Mother knows better than anyone. She bore him from the Flesh of her flesh. Praise be to Jesus!Amazing! And thats one of the many reasons I am Catholic christian. God bless! Praise Jesus and Hail Mary Indeed!!!