Introduction to the Special Issue “Imagining Ultimacy: Religious and Spiritual Experience in Literature”
Religions March 5, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.3390/rel17030323 via OpenAlex
Summary
Scholars characterize religious and spiritual experiences as profound, meaningful, and enlightening—described as 'special' by Ann Taves and as matters of 'ultimate concern' by Paul Tillich. The text introduces these conceptual framings but does not present an empirical study, argument, or analysis beyond naming these scholarly perspectives.
Abstract
Scholars who study religious and spiritual experiences often describe them as full, profound, meaningful, and enlightening: “special” experiences, Ann Taves calls them; for Paul Tillich, they are matters of “ultimate concern [...]