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The problem with spirituality
Author Anne Rice said last week that she was 'quitting Christianity:' The once-lapsed Catholic wrote that she was could no longer accept her religion's teachings on homosexuality, feminism, politics and birth control.
"In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian," Rice announced on her facebook page.
Can you leave religion and keep Christ? Can you be spiritual without being religious?
I have no personal quarrel with those who say they are spiritual, but not religious. In fact, I have some very good friends who describe themselves this way. Some have dropped out of traditional religion precisely because they have seen those circles not living up to their own best teachings. I have learned much from some of these friends.
In the final analysis, however, from a biblical perspective, this claim will not hold up. The idea of spirituality in general strikes me as being akin to the idea of a God in general. In fact, neither the Hebrew nor the Greek texts of the Bible contain words that can indisputably be translated "spirituality." Even those places where the word "spiritual" appears in English are questionable as to the correctness of the translation.
In the Old and the New Testaments, when the Holy Spirit interacts with human beings, the action always is one of the Spirit acting upon those persons to enable them to carry out tasks God has given them. In the Old Testament the Spirit falls upon individuals such as judges, prophets, and kings. In the Synoptic Gospels the Spirit falls upon Jesus at his baptism to enable him to carry out his messianic task. In Galatians Paul refers to the characteristics bestowed by the Spirit upon the entire faithful congregation as "the fruit of the Spirit." In 1 Corinthians he speaks of specific individual abilities (charismata) the Spirit gives to individuals to enable them to contribute to the life of the faithful congregation.
From a biblical perspective, then, "spirituality" is not something one achieves or a stance one adopts, but is the character and the capabilities of individuals and congregations that have embraced the work of the Holy Spirit upon themselves.
There are however, also - from a biblical perspective - alien spirits that dominate individuals and groups such as institutions and nations and through these human instruments produce alienation, violence, and even death. Such is the spirituality of racism, warfare, extreme nationalism, and other such things. My guess is that this spirituality underlies much of the social chaos that characterizes the United States today both domestically and internationally.
By
Gene Davenport
|
August 4, 2010; 12:20 PM ET
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Posted by: APaganplace | August 9, 2010 2:32 PM
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Dear Professor,
Interesting article. Yet, I would like to further offer that confusing religion and spirituality is like diners going into a restaurant and eating the menu, rather than the meal it describes.
In my opinion, every path offers us an opportunity for spirituality. There are many paths and thank goodness we all have a choice to sit and savor the meal. Some religious institutions, like restaurants, offer better food then others. Some make you sick and some are downright poisonous. Where do you want to eat?
I believe there are many paths, yet there is one truth. We all have the opportunity to be touched by the holy spirit, as spirits having a human experience. We must only seek, ask, be honest, open and willing.
Thank you,
Reverend K. Fiveson
Posted by: kfiveson | August 8, 2010 7:09 PM
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Bruce18,
Actually, my question is a little broader than that. How do you "know" what "God" "wants"?
Posted by: haveaheart | August 6, 2010 1:51 PM
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Just curious. How do you know this?
haveaheart
Faith, Hope and Love, but mostly Love which is by definition a personal relationship.
Posted by: bruce18 | August 5, 2010 3:14 PM
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"And that personal God wants a personal relationship with each of us."
Bruce18,
Just curious. How do you know this?
Posted by: haveaheart | August 5, 2010 3:03 PM
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Dear Professor, Thanks for your article. I like your comment about God in general. It seems to me that Christianity at least teaches about a personal God, not a general one. And that personal God wants a personal relationship with each of us. And as we know from our human relationships, we can only have a relationship with someone by interacting with them, not just thinking about them.
Posted by: bruce18 | August 5, 2010 1:49 PM
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"From a biblical perspective, then, 'spirituality' is not something one achieves or a stance one adopts, but is the character and the capabilities of individuals and congregations that have embraced the work of the Holy Spirit upon themselves."
Here is an excellent example of how religious leaders limit themselves when addressing this question. If they are fundamentalists of the Jewish or Christian traditions, they can't seem to deal with the question outside the bounds of their theology.
The "holy spirit" is very specifically understood in both religions. However, it has no currency outside those boundaries, where there exist other, very different understandings of spirituality -- understandings that do not incorporate a character, the holy spirit, into their belief systems.
Posted by: haveaheart | August 5, 2010 12:54 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
There is no 'Problem with spirituality.'
The problem with *religion* is that 'Spirituality' can see, 'We've become the bad guys,' while what you call 'Religion' says, 'This can't be, we must do it harder!'