Editing Religious experience (section)

===Norman Habel===
Biblical scholar [[Norman Habel]] defines religious experiences as the structured way in which a believer enters into a relationship with, or gains an awareness of, the sacred within the context of a particular religious tradition.{{sfn|Habel|O'Donoghue|Maddox|1993}} Religious experiences are by their very nature [[preternatural]]; that is, out of the ordinary or beyond the natural order of things. They may be difficult to distinguish observationally from psychopathological states such as [[psychoses]] or other forms of [[Altered state of consciousness|altered awareness]].{{sfn|Charlesworth|1988}} Not all preternatural experiences are considered to be religious experiences. Following Habel's definition, psychopathological states or drug-induced states of awareness are not considered to be religious experiences because they are mostly not performed within the context of a particular religious tradition.

Moore and Habel identify two classes of religious experiences: the immediate and the mediated religious experience.{{sfn|Moore|Habel|1982}}
* '''Mediated'''&nbsp;– In the mediated experience, the believer experiences the sacred through mediators such as [[ritual]]s, special persons, religious groups, totemic objects or the natural world.{{sfn|Habel|O'Donoghue|Maddox|1993}}
* '''Immediate'''&nbsp;– The [[immediate experience]] comes to the believer without any intervening agency or mediator. The deity or divine is experienced directly.