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Religion: Spirituality vs. religion
What is the difference between spirituality and religion? That’s the question columnist Robert Chell tackles in this month’s The Lutheran:
Spirituality is private. Religion is public. Spirituality focuses on feelings. Religious faith demands action. The largest difference: We define our own spirituality; religion defines us. Both words come from Latin roots. Spirituality comes from a root word meaning to breathe, a subjective sense defining what empowers oneself. Religion derives from the root word meaning to bind, carrying the clear meaning of obligation to something beyond oneself.
Do you think his analysis is accurate–why or why not?
Topic: Religion, WorldMagBlog
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back to top13 Comments to “Religion: Spirituality vs. religion”
To me spirituality is what binds me to Christ, and religion is the expression of Christ’s Spirit binding me to others in Christ. For example, Spirituality gives me the power to pray, and Religion provides a way to worship God in communion with others in the same Spirit of Christ.
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Academically, spirituality is a slippery fish. That said, spirituality is usually defined as how one lives out their faith, so I completely disagree with Chell’s analysis. The word comes from Paul’s pneumatakoi (Spirit people). Christians are led by the Holy Spirit and live a life that witnesses to God. In the past 100 years spirituality has picked up many clingers-on who don’t like the word ‘religion’. I think that is what Chell is reacting to.
As Gordon Fee says when referring to Paul’s writing on the Holy Spirit, Christian’s are defined by the indwelling presence of the Eschatological Spirit. That presence empowers us to live a godly life. Spirituality is how we as Christians respond to the Holy Spirit. Which means our life will reflect the Trinitarian God’s design and morality.
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Our assessment must always be focused through the lens of God’s word. “Spiritual” implies that the one who has such a quality is living by the Spirit, in obedience and relationship with God (i.e. Gal 6:1). Our modern twist, “spirituality,” would seem to be the quality of having that quality. Yikes.
“Religion” appears to be the practice of that religion, and I use that word in the sense that a doctor practices medicine. We apply that which we know to be true (James 1:26-27).
The first verse in that last passage also gives the sense (as do Acts 25:19 and 26:5) of all that constitutes one’s relationship with God. This was the sense that the Founding Fathers had regarding religion. Within this definition of “religion,” the “spiritual” would also be found.
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Coupling what Mac said with what Chell said, it reminds me of what Francis Schaeffer exposed in How Should We Then Live? In the irrationality and death-throes of humanism, they seek to find a happy place even clinging to religious words to find some hope or some meaning. The problem: for the humanist (as for many Christians today), the words are contentless, they have been stripped and are bereft of any meaning.
This is why it is so important that Christians always head back to our sure foundation, the Word of Truth, to discern meaning and intent.
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Robert Chell states it well. I agree with it, but would add that religion and spirituality are both diminished by the absense or the neglect of the other. They need to embrace in a mutually complimentary dance of understainding and practice.
Each word can also be debased by the flawed actions of those who abuse those words too. So we must not compare the abuses of ’spirituality’ with the glorious ideal of ‘religion’ (or vica versa).
The Holy Spirit’s presence MUST animate our understanding and our practice of BOTH terms. Thus, I respectfully disagree with Mac’s take on this topic.
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I would quibble with Chell when he writes; “We define our own spirituality; religion defines us.”
Actually, the Holy Spirit should define both. That said, Chell’s points are very well made and taken.
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The word “spirituality” is extremely popular in today’s culture. I think this is because current cultural trends are pushing faith into private realms and defining it more in terms of our feelings than our convictions and actions.
But just because the current popularity of the woed “spirituality” in today’s superficial culture has diminished some expressions of it, that does not mean that word has any less value from a biblical standpoint.
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Joel: I wasn’t the one setting up the dichotomy between religion and spirituality. Spirituality is the outworking of the Holy Spirit within the framework of religion (creeds, confessions, and dogma). Spirituality is primarily a Christian term that has been co-opted by other religions. I thinks Chell’s definition of spirituality is wrong.
In days past, Chell describes nominal Christianity or Religion without spirituality. My point is that Pentecost defines the Church. The religion of the Church can only be lived out in spiritual people…but perhaps your dance is the same idea.
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I think Chell’s understanding fits the definitions of the terms as they are popularly used today. How often do you hear the vapid claim that someone is spiritual but not a believer in any particular creed or even God?
Etymologically we can make the case that spiritual should be tightly coupled with Christian. It is still important to understand how people use and define the words today if we want to communicate with them.
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In popular usage today, people say they are “spiritual” to mean that they like the feeling of having a religion but don’t want to deal with any sort of the doctrine that might require them to change any of theor ideas or behaviors.
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Kristin,
I disagree with Robert’s assertion that Spirituality focuses on feelings. I believe the Biblical view of spirituality is defined better as “what the Spirit does in the life of the believer.” Feelings may be a part of our inner life of subjectivity, but so are thoughts, memories, desires, wishes, hopes, dreams, commitments, and worldview — all under the purview of the Holy Spirit.
I’m encouraged by Robert’s use of the term religion, which seems to go beyond the commonly understood use of the term religion: the rites and rituals of the praxis. I like his definition of religion.
My argument is with his use of the term “spirituality” which he sees as the empowerment of self. Self empowerment is the farthest thing from Biblical spirituality, which is described as an opening of the eyes and a softening of the heart (the center of the will, not the center of the emotions.) It’s not so much the ability to do good but the willingness to accept the truth, my truth, i.e. I am a creature before God and you are no more and no less worthy of my love than I am of yours.
Biblical spirituality is to have a righteous subjectivity — a right attitude toward God, righteousness, goodness and truth. Far from being apart from our behavior, the work of the spirit in our lives becomes the basis for right action — mercy, generosity, humility, goodness, and kindness being fruits of the Spirit. In effect, to the extent that I am being led of the Spirit, I will commit myself to something beyond myself.
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#8, Fair enough, Mac. Perhaps the comments of Ken at #9 serve to reconcile the apparent semantic difference we had.
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Thanks for the information on religion.
We recently wrote an article on religion at Brain Blogger. How do we really view religion? Could it be the very source of belief comes from our brain?
We would like to read your comments on our article. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kelly
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