I am using these words wrong? I tend to think of "religious" as meaning pertaining to or believing in a religion or some kind of Supreme Being. Yet, "spiritual" to me is more general. Though, to me, "spiritual" is not necessarily being "religious," I can't really put its meaning into words. When I look at the dictionary.com definitions, they seem to define "spiritual" more like "religious," with such definitions as:

"Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul. Of, from, or relating to God; deific. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred"

I see "spiritual" as being more far-reaching than "religious." That is, I think one can be "spiritual," even though he is not "religious." Do you agree?

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Originally posted by Kalleh:


I see "spiritual" as being more far-reaching than "religious." That is, I think one can be "spiritual," even though he is not "religious." Do you agree?

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Yes. I think it's perfectly possible to be both agnostic (or even atheistic) and spiritual.

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So, then, Bob, how would you define "spiritual?" The dictionaries don't seem to help me at all, though I haven't looked at OED. This seems to be one of these words where its use is different than its definition, unless I just am using it wrong.

If I may jump in?

To me, spiritual is a feeling of oneness? An idea that all of us are a part of something larger than everyday life.

Religious is that same idea, though I see it as being more confined? Religion is spirituality within the confine of a certain dogma.

If I had to make my own definition, in this context, it would be that religious IS spiritual--with certain rules.


You know, I had a pet peeve once? But my karma ran over it.

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You know, I had a pet peeve once? But my karma ran over it.

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That was my dogma that your karma ran over !!

Yes, WinterBranch, I agree with you. However, I just don't see that connotation in the dictionaries.

I've always seen sprituality as representing one's belief system in regards to how one connects with any or all aspects of the universe while the world of the religious deals with the rules and traditions attached to the observance of the above.

"We are all inter-connected" = spirituality

"If you want to come in to say this you have to have a shirt and tie, no mumbling in the back pews, audience participation will be strictly limited to pre-written litanies, and how about ponying up a few bucks - 10% would be nice." = religion.

But, CJ, have you seen it defined that way? After all, we can't just define a word as we think it should be used. Surely we've discussed that before!

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
After all, we can't just define a word as we think it should be used. Surely we've discussed that before!

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Sure we have. February 7, 2003.

Tinman

I don't see any huge difference between the words. The words are different, have different sounds and arouse different images, but there is an underlying similarity to their meanings. Personally, I would add superstitious as well, but I know that is not universally accepted - some Christians bixarrely imagine they are not superstitious.

Now, Graham, you may have meant "bizarrely," though I did find 2 Google sites for "bixarrely."

However, I don't find it odd that one could be Christian and still not superstitious. How does one beget the other?

As far as the words "spiritual" and "religious," I find "spiritual" in a larger classification than "religious." In my mind, if you are religious, you are by definition spiritual; yet, if you are spiritual, you still may not be religious. I have just had a hard time pinpointing a good definition of spiritual.