Religion versus Spirituality

10 August 2025

Its been a while since my last post under this section ( my spiritual journey) and I guess this post is somewhat longer than I would usually do, but it covers quite a bit. The thoughts herein are from my personal research, experiences and discovery and I offer them as an alternative perspective. We all have an ability to determine what we believe and how we want to shape our reality; its called Free Will. This then is a continuation of my search for Truth in my reality.

Religion seems to have always been a large part (some might say excessively so) of life in nearly all societies and cultures around the world.  The need to have a belief or faith in something, an all-powerful creator being (God), is a substantial part of many people’s lives and perhaps, rightly so.  When I talk about religion, I am not specifically talking about any specific faith.  Nor am I concerned with different aspects of a particular faith, e.g. the Christian religion has a multitude of what I call “subsets”, such as Catholic, Protestant, Presbyterian, Methodist and every other denomination derived thereof from the basic teachings of the Christian Bible.  Likewise with other, non-Christian religions, there also seems to be a raft of subsets available, e.g. Islam, has Sunni, Shia, Sufism, etc; Hinduism, with Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism – among others, and of course then there is Buddhism with at least half a dozen subsets.  For the purposes of what I want to say here I am grouping them altogether under one heading: “RELIGION” without distinction of culture or creed.  So, I am referring to the cultural tendency to worship a creator being (or beings, in some faiths) that is deemed to be all powerful; omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient.  I should point out that I am no expert on any of them and ignorant of many, and that whilst I was raised under the Christian faith (Protestant to be precise), I lay no claim to being an adherent to this particular subset of Christianity today, but I do treat religion with great respect for the principles on which it (any faith) was supposed to be founded.  Likewise, I respect every person’s right to believe in whatever they feel is right for them; I do not judge or condemn.  It is their free choice (free will) to follow whatever is true for them at this time.

As a seeker of spiritual Truth, I have been searching for meaning all my life.  Consequently, I have dipped my toes into several religious and quasi-religious doctrines, tenets, dogmas and teachings.  I have read many “spiritual” writings, religious books, scripts and magazines, as well extensive use of the internet to research comparable online sources, including spiritual (and supernatural/paranormal) oriented websites, YouTube (and other) channels and news items apparently relating to this matter.  Before the internet I relied on libraries and “occult” bookstores.  In 1978/79 I discovered the Theosophical Society (TS) and after attending several public events I became a member and participated in their study programs and meetings; I even gave a public lecture for the Society on one occasion!  It was whilst I was a member of the Theosophical Society that I first learned the true meaning “resonance” when I believe I came across one of my spiritual guides – an ascended master.  This was not a physical face to face meeting but a spiritual experience that came about during one of the “special” meetings I was attending at the time.  On seeing a photo/picture of this being I had an epiphany that deeply touched my heart, to the point that I knew I had met this individual somewhere but could not place it.  Anyway, I digress.  Suffice to say that when my kids were born (commencing 1986 - 89), I left the TS to focus on raising our family with my wife, but I still maintained a desire to continue my search for truth and understanding and thus continued my research outside of the TS.

Looking back, I undertook all this to gain an understanding of what versions of truth were “out there” and to see what they had to offer and if I could find anything in their material that resonated with me.  For the purposes of clarity, I will explain what I mean by resonance in relation to this information/knowledge.  Resonance means that the information strikes an immediate feeling of truth and/or acceptance when you assimilate it.  It is a deep gut feeling that rises from one’s heart as to the truth of the information, i.e. it speaks a truth to your soul which is acknowledged through your mind, body, spirit complex.

I was a member of the TS for around 10 years and as I have previously stated, whilst my “structured” searching stopped at that point, I never stopped my research and continued to read many books and review a lot of other material that I came across.  When the internet came along the whole panorama of spiritual teachings began to open up, with access to many varied sources of information.  It was all part of my journey (I hate that phrase, but I cannot think of anything better – maybe research is appropriate?) in search of spiritual truth, and the reason for my existence on this planet at this time.  Truth comes in many forms and from many sources, but ultimately it is identified through an inner resonance in one’s heart that ignites our spirit to push deeper, to continue the effort, to apply absolute focus on reaching and understanding, that satisfies the deep, inbred desire to know, experience, understand and believe, as well as to appropriately adjust ones behaviours and attitudes to life.

For those people who consider themselves to be “religious”, they are displaying a deep faith based on their understanding of sacred books that were supposedly written as a result of divine inspiration.  I cannot speak for the Koran (Islam), Tanakh (Judaism), Vedas (Hinduism), Tripitaka (Buddhism), or many others, but from my somewhat brief time associating with the Anglican Church and the Bible, it is apparent that the Bible was not written by a single author, but is a collection of “inspired” writings by many different people over a long period of time.  It is believed that around 40 authors contributed to the Bible, including prophets, kings, poets, and others.  These authors came from diverse backgrounds and wrote in different styles, reflecting their individual perspectives and experiences, and only a few of them claim to have directly witnessed the events they have depicted.  In other words, most of it is anecdotal at best, consisting of parables and poetic passages, which are clearly meant to convey moral or spiritual lessons rather than factual historical accounts.

Due to the influence of religious leaders over time, adherents came to accepting these writings based on how this truth resonated for them, i.e. they are displaying faith in both the religious leaders ability to articulate the messages in the texts, and the writer’s ability to truthfully (and accurately) record events that, for the most part, they were not personally a witness to.  Some might say that the church leads the common person by the nose into a system of faith based on the church leaders (Pope, Cardinals, Bishops and other clergy) own interpretations of the “good book” Bible.  We should understand that the Bible, prior to the First Council of Nicaea, held in 325 AD, had at least 22 more books than it does today.  The Council was a significant event in Christian history; convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I, it addressed the theological dispute surrounding Arianism and aimed to establish a unified Christian doctrine.  The council's most important outcome was the development of the Nicene Creed, which affirmed the divinity of Jesus Christ and his co-equal status with God the Father.  However, during the meeting 22 books were removed from the Bible as being heretical to the faith because they related to Arianism, a doctrine promoted by the priest Arius, which challenged the traditional Christian belief in Jesus' divinity.  Arius argued that Jesus was a created being, subordinate to God the Father, rather than being of the same essence.  In addition. any references to the universal laws of Cause and Effect (Karma), and Cyclicity (Reincarnation) were removed to strengthen the doctrine under the banner of what became known as the Nicene Creed.  The council formulated the Nicene Creed, which declared that Jesus Christ is "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father."

Like most people I guess, my parents had a strong influence on me, and I never wanted for anything in my childhood, and so, from my perspective I enjoyed what I considered to be a loving family.  As such, I felt compelled to follow my mother’s desires to be more involved in her Sunday morning practice of attending church.  Whilst she clearly had faith in the Bible’s teachings (or so I believe), she was not what I would call an especially religious person.  Because of my desire to please her, at the age of 13, I joined a group of similar aged youths receiving special “teachings” from our local Vicar, with a view to being “confirmed” in the Anglican church.  It is fair to say that this experience started the process of me slowly extricating myself from the church, and to be frank, anything associated with it.  Suffice to say that the Vicar “schooling” us, did not resonate with me or several others in our group.  The sessions were basically an opportunity for the Vicar to harangue us with apparent teachings from the Bible.  A somewhat dogmatic Vicar, he essentially demanded immediate acceptance of his truth because in his mind it was the only truth, and that we would be accept this as so because he said it was.  We were left in no doubt that if we did not accept these teachings with complete obedience then we would be considered sinners, even evil, and that we would ultimately go to hell when we died, because to do otherwise was a sin against God!

During this period in my life, torn between my mother’s desire for me to be more involved with her religion, and my growing aversion to what I was being exposed to, I came to view the whole religion thing as brainwashing that was employed by the church to try and force the faithful practitioner into a sort of conditioning where they accepted without question what the local Vicar, Priest, or preacher (in essence, God’s representative in our village) delivered in his sermons, advice or counselling.  From my perspective this was about trying to maintain or gain control over the good people of the parish through excessive religious fervour.  In our case (the group of teenagers) it became somewhat physical when one of my colleagues challenged the Vicar and was roughly pushed for challenging the Vicars authority and was subsequently ejected from the group – not that it mattered to the lad as he had already determined that enough was enough and wasn’t going to come back anyway.

In those days female Vicars were unheard of; maybe if a woman was our teacher things might have gone differently, as in my experience women are far more in tune with their inner heart, their intuition, and as such, she would have applied a less aggressive approach to dissenting questions.  I mean, as simple question like “why” on any matter evoked an angry response from our teacher.  Anyway, I can recall myself and others in our little group, asking, well actually questioning really, some of the things being told to us in our little sessions with the Vicar, only to be metaphorically slapped down by him for having the temerity to even ask a question let alone not immediately accepting outright what he was telling us.  Whenever we asked why or wanted more detail, he just said “because the Bible says so and the Bible is the word of God”!  I mean, really?

I persisted with these meetings for my mother’s sake and completed the “course”, although not all of our group lasted the distance as I said.  I could never understand how the God of the Christian church was firstly presented as an all-loving deity (which I actually believe) but according to the clergy, who are supposedly God’s representatives on Earth, that if a person transgressed (read sinned) then they would not be admitted to heaven and thus be consigned to eternal damnation in a place called Hell.  To my mind, if the divine, represented by God, created us in “his” likeness then why would “he” condemn us to damnation if we slipped up somewhere.  This made no sense to me, and my questions were never satisfactorily answered, and I was rebuked for having the temerity to question the church’s teachings on this.

From the moment I completed this little religious charade and was “confirmed” in the Anglican church, I shunned everything and anything to do with religion, much to my mother’s disappointment, I guess.  I do however, respect other people’s right to believe in whatever they choose, and I have obviously attended church for family and friend’s marriages, christenings and funerals, so it’s not like I separated myself entirely from everything associated with religious communities.  I respect every person’s right to believe in whatever they choose, and I do not try to belittle them for it.  Nor do I try to force my own thoughts and beliefs on anyone.  If someone asks me for a comment on what I believe in with regards to religion, then I will provide them with an honest opinion to the best of my knowledge or understanding, but I have never sought to preach my beliefs to anyone, and I never will.  One thing I will say though is that I really struggle with the concept of God being portrayed as masculine (Father, he, him), but I will discuss this issue in a later section.

So now we come to the crux of the matter for me, Religion, or in this case Christianity v Spirituality.  I thought I would “ask Google” for a definition of each and the key points of difference:

Spirituality and religion, particularly within the context of Christianity, represents distinct yet interconnected approaches to faith and belief.  Religion, like Christianity, often involves structured beliefs, practices, and community within a formal organization, while spirituality is a more personal and individual journey of seeking meaning and connection with something greater than oneself.  It's possible to be both religious and spiritual, or to experience one without the other.

Religion (Christianity):

Structured System:  Christianity, as a religion, has established doctrines, scriptures (like the Bible), rituals (like sacraments), and a hierarchical structure with leaders and clergy.

Community Focus:  It emphasizes communal worship, fellowship, and shared practices within a church or religious community.

External Authority:  Christianity often relies on external sources of authority like the Bible and church teachings to guide belief and practice.

Emphasis on Rules and Doctrines:  Religious practice within Christianity often includes adherence to specific rules, commandments, and theological interpretations.

Spirituality:

Personal and Individual:  Spirituality is a more personal and subjective experience of connection to something transcendent, whether that's God, the universe, or a higher power.

Focus on Inner Journey:  It emphasizes introspection, self-reflection, and a personal search for meaning and purpose.

Open to Different Paths:  Spirituality can be explored through various practices like meditation, prayer, contemplation, or connecting with nature, and it's not limited to any particular religious framework.

Internal Authority:  Spirituality often emphasizes trusting one's own intuition and inner wisdom as a guide

I have explained my disenchantment with religion above, but I have also indicated that whilst I personally can’t abide by the tenor of religion as delivered by contemporary faiths that I have studied and been a part of, what then do I consider as my faith?  Well, that’s a very interesting question and to be fair it is one that I have pondered long and hard.  I suppose I could be considered as a Christian because that is the faith that I have had the most exposure to, but I do not claim allegiance to anything that comes under the Christian faith!  Sounds kind of weird, doesn’t it?  But I do not consider myself as a religious person; I don’t attend church at all unless I have a need such as a wedding, a birth or a funeral service, and I do that out of respect for the prime participant(s) not because I feel any obligation to the church.  You see, I don’t believe that one has to regularly attend a church, nor do I believe that the ceremonies practised at such establishments are entirely necessary to experience the grace of God.  I do not want to put out the impression that I think it is unnecessary as there a definitely benefits for those that participate.  It is just that it is not for everyone and given my comments above, I for one want to make my own decisions about my spiritual truth without being coerced into something that just does not resonate with me.

In my next post I will discuss some thoughts on the nature of God.