Clearly the answer to my question depends on what one means by spiritual and religious. In contemporary Christianity the question has become important as the numbers of those associated with the "church alumni association" continue to rise. In a 1999 Gallup poll three in ten Americans claimed that they were spiritual but not religious. They were asked "do you think of spirituality more in a personal and individual sense or more in terms of organized religion and church doctrine?" Almost three-quarters picked the personal and individual response. In a January 2002 poll 50% described themselves as religious, while 33% claimed to be spiritual but not religious. A poll conducted by Newsweek and Beliefnet in 2005 reported a lower percentage (24%) claiming to be spiritual. In the Gallup poll when they defined spirituality they did it without any reference to God or a higher authority. Among other things answers that defined being spiritual were having calmness in one's life and living in a way that is pleasing to oneself.
The words religious and spiritual are used in the New Testament and suggest something other than simply "organized religion" (religious) and "personal and individual attitudes" (spiritual). The words religion and religious are rare in the New Testament, but in Greek antiquity their cognates are fairly common. In general, being religious is showing devotion to a transcendent power through cultic practice, which corresponds somewhat to the idea of "organized religion," although modern Christian "cultic" practice and what occurred in ancient Greek and Roman temples is quite different.
In the New Testament the term "religious" appears only once; it is used of persons who are able to control their tongues (in Greek antiquity it carries the idea of "god fearing" or "pious"). Those who cannot control their tongues have a worthless religion (James 1:26; compare 3:1-12). That is to say, what they do in their formal worship in showing devotion to a transcendent power is worthless unless they look after orphans and widows in their affliction and keep themselves from the negative influences of the world (James 1:27). Hence, a religious person is someone whose worship is defined in terms of what we might call service to others; in James it is regarded as the only kind of cultic practice that is "pure and undefiled."
The specific term "spiritual" with reference to certain people is used primarily in the letters of Paul. The specific term "spiritual" is used to characterize the nature of the abilities with which God endows certain persons (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-31). These abilities are given mystically through a divine spirit, and are considered mystically endowed gifts. They were not natural abilities with which a person is endowed at birth, which can be developed through one's own human powers. Paul thought of himself as a source of certain spiritual gifts that he could impart to others (Romans 1:11). Hence he was a spiritual person and apparently not the only one (1 Corinthians 2:12-3:3). Others also thought of themselves as "spiritual" (1 Corinthians 14:37). A spiritual person was endowed with a spiritual gift for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7), and hence was a helper of others through their spiritual gifts (Romans 1:11; 1 Corinthians 9:11; Galatians 6:1).
People in the 21st century who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious would not have been understood by a follower of Jesus in the first century, since in the ancient idiom both terms are closely related. It may also be true that many today who describe themselves as religious would not be understood by followers of Jesus in the first century for the same reason. The term "spiritual" in the sense of the answers given to the pollsters in 2003 and later seem to suggest the idea of having no involvement with anything relating to transcendent power, mysticism, or being a source of aid to others. In today's vernacular to be "spiritual" apparently means being wrapped up in oneself. It does not even suggest such things as meditation, mystical trance, contemplation, or thinking about matters beyond one's own self, something Paul would clearly not have understood (Romans 8:6-7).
Can one be spiritual without being religious? Like so many other things in life, it depends on how one defines the terms. How do you define the terms "religious" and "spiritual"?
Charles W. Hedrick
Professor Emeritus
Missouri State University
12 comments:
Would you give the Greek for the words "religious" and "spiritual"? Thanks.
Good Morning Alison,
I was tracking two words: spiritual (pneumatikos) and religious (threskos).
Cultic practice, which is not in the New Testament is threskeuw. I am unable to type them in Greek directly into the response, so I hope transliteration will suffice.
Thank you for asking.
Cordially,
Charlie
With 25% of Americans unaffiliated to a religious sect but 70% saying they “believe in God” or a supernatural power according to recent Pew Research data, it shouldn’t be surprising that many would use the word “spiritual” instead of “religious” to define their beliefs. Religious to me implies adhering to a set of beliefs within a faith community. With “cultural lag” of mainstream Christian institutions when it comes to scientific knowledge, with sex and pedophile scandals, and with a set of beliefs including misogyny (no women pastors, priests or even chaplains in some of these sects) and the inability to come to grips with homosexuality, these institutions are just not relevant and in many ways are seen either as a waste of time or odious. Belief in a god separate from religious institutions, if it has to have a label, would be spiritual, I would think. That is not the way I classify myself, but it sounds reasonable to me. A faith community is merely seen as a way to separate “them” from “us” and as such, is absorbed with a “collective self.”
My definition of spiritual is more ambiguous. To me “spirit” is breath, the breath of life. I don’t, as did the ancients, attribute that to the gods, but I don’t concern myself with gods. They are irrelevant, almost comical, representations of those who believe in them. To me, spiritual is life. Far from “self-absorbed,” the spiritual person (to me) is aware of self and the very small place one has within the cosmos. “Tending the garden” is metaphor for caring for the life around one. That is my description, not definition, of “spiritual.”
Dennis Dean Carpenter
Dahlonega, Ga.
Hi Charlie,
Dennis says it well.
Definitions of terms such as "religious" and "spiritual" vary according to the conversation at hand, who is speaking and to whom. If I am speaking to a "religious" person, meaning someone who believes in an omniscient divine being, I may use the term "spiritual" to describe myself as one who believes in "The Spirit of Life," rather than in a supreme being. When I use the word spiritual in this way, perhaps I actually mean "humanist", or "secular humanist," however I reserve the right to continue to call myself a spiritual person. I certainly do try to be "tending the garden." In any case I have found that when I use the word "spiritual" most God-fearing people, and atheists as well, don't know what the heck I am talking about. It sure doesn't help to bring "humanist" into the conversation. That creates even more confusion. I suspect many folks are looking for black and white answers and a pigeon-hole rather than asking real questions. One thing I do know: No matter what you call me I lead a more generous and tolerant "Christian life" than some I have met who claim to be "in Jesus."
Three weeks til the new season at Chautauqua!
All Best,
Butch
Hi Butch and Dennis--Good morning to you both!
Thanks for giving such thoughtful answers to my question. I find it difficult myself. I think it odd, however, that you would continue to use the word "spiritual," which will always evoke the existence of another plane of reality (i.e., the spirit world) in your conversation partners. You clearly do not mean to imply that, as your answers show. What about simply refusing to use the word "spiritual" and finding another word that you feel would best express how you think of yourself. I would likely use the word "sentient" in the sense of conscious or aware. "I am not spiritual; I am sentient."
It has the advantage of celebrating the human life force. There might be a better word. What do you think?
Cordially,
Charlie
Charlie, I don't think I have ever used the word "spiritual" in a conversation with anyone. (That's what I meant when I said "That is not the way I classify myself," though it didn't come out that way.) I don't hang around or know people who talk about religion around me, except online, where I'm generally discussing biblical scholarship or presenting my "pseudo-scholarship." Sentient works well. I have used that in my writings. Perhaps the Hindu word for inner spiritual energy, "atman," might work. But, like I said, theology or atheology is something I don't talk about. No one is interested!
Dennis Dean Carpenter
Dahlonega, Ga.
Charlie, I'm wary of having my words taken from me. (I'm thinking now about the way "Christian" was taken away from me years ago by the Religious Right, when they decided it meant "to be in Christ") When I sit in the UU congregation at Chautauqua and sing "The Spirit of Life" among the patrons of that wide tent, I suspect "sentient" is too narrow a term. It falls short somehow, although it might be a good written word. Aren't all creatures sentient to some degree? Dogs are surely sentient, but I don't see them as spiritual creatures. My use of "spiritual" is not transcendent, but does relate to ritual, which has meditative value for me. And it relates to "the human spirit," whatever that is. Perhaps it describes a mythical place, perhaps it connotes mystery, which I value. It is a very personal word, which I rarely use in conversation. I never use it facilitating the labyrinth because I like to stress that the labyrinth can be a secular meditative experience, and it would probably be misinterpreted by some religious people. (ie. those who believe in a transcendent God.)
But I think I'll keep spiritual for my own personal use.
All Best,
Butch
Charlie, Butch, Dennis,
Thanks for this inspiring discussion of basic life terms. I've been trying to fit them together in a useful way. I'm thinking that we are pneumatic (breathers) before we are sensient-conscious-aware. Breath or spirit introduces us to consciousness of the interaction which we call life. Some experiences are more satisfyingly breathe-able than others, i.e., they lift our spirit. We seek to enrich our lives with as many of these "spiritual" experiences as possible.
Gene Stecher
Chambersburg, Pa.
Good Morning Butch,
I agree that "sentient" is too narrow and it certainly does not do full justice to the "mystery" of life, but on the other hand the use of the word "spiritual" is much too broad; rather than suggesting (religious?) ritual, it implies too much of the transcendental to my ear.
A further question: you say you find in (religious?) ritual a "meditative value." How is meditation different from thinking? "Meditation" is another of those words that suggests a gloss of the transcendental--again to my ear.
Cordially,
Charlie
Good Afternoon Charlie,
I've read a bit of Carl Jung and others, and continue to study "mindfulness" among other things. I suspect that "thinking" is mostly a conscious brain activity, whereas mindful meditation is an attempt to delve into the unconscious —bring thoughts and emotions to the surface ....to bring the id into the awareness of the ego to use Freudian terms. .....or the Feminine into the Masculine side to use Jungian terms.
I suspect that being more aware of the unconscious part of the psyche is what transcendence is actually all about.
Jung says our conscious mind is the tip of the iceberg. Rituals, such as walking a labyrinth, seem to facilitate awareness of unconscious feelings and emotions. The Buddhist sitting meditation doesn't work for me as well.
"Mindfulness," by the way, might be an alternate term for "sentient," but again, no one would know what I'm talking about if I used it in conversation. So I use spiritual, which is confusing as well I suppose, but there you are. Mostly, like Dennis, I don't talk about it.
All the Best
Butch
Hi Charlie:
Personally, I tend to think of "religious" people as ones who conform themselves to an established religion/doctrine, and "spiritual" people as ones who seek their own answers by considering a variety of religious ideas and practices and accepting whatever seems true (and congruent) to them. But there's a more basic sense in which "spiritual" denotes the ability to commune with a divine spirit, as in 1 Corinthians where a spiritual person is one whose (carnal) nature is transformed by their spirit receiving deeper/hidden knowledge of God through gifts of the Holy Spirit. Viewed that way, a person could be both religious and spiritual by both subscribing to an established religion and being able to commune with their god (an anthropologist might describe this in terms of manifesting religious trance and dissociation in a constructive way). These different meanings of "spiritual" probably cause some confusion when pollsters ask people whether they consider themselves religious or spiritual. Someone who is religious can also be spiritual; someone who is spiritual but not religious might never have a spiritual experience; and someone who is neither religious nor spiritual might still believe in God.
AnonymousJune 9, 2015 at 5:12 PM
Good Afternoon Charlie,
I've read a bit of Carl Jung and others, and continue to study "mindfulness" among other things. I suspect that "thinking" is mostly a conscious brain activity, whereas mindful meditation is an attempt to delve into the unconscious —bring thoughts and emotions to the surface ....to bring the id into the awareness of the ego to use Freudian terms. .....or the Feminine into the Masculine side to use Jungian terms.
I suspect that being more aware of the unconscious part of the psyche is what transcendence is actually all about.
Jung says our conscious mind is the tip of the iceberg. Rituals, such as walking a labyrinth, seem to facilitate awareness of unconscious feelings and emotions. The Buddhist sitting meditation doesn't work for me as well.
"Mindfulness," by the way, might be an alternate term for "sentient," but again, no one would know what I'm talking about if I used it in conversation. So I use spiritual, which is confusing as well I suppose, but there you are. Mostly, like Dennis, I don't talk about it.
All the Best
Butch
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