Christian Comment with Laura Huxford from Stroud

Christian Comment with Laura Huxford, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Stroud

I’ve recently been pondering the word ‘spirituality’ — a word in common usage nowadays, often indicating an enhanced sense of well-being.Dictionary definitions contrast ‘spirituality’ with ‘materiality’ and most refer to God, though some definitions indicate that ‘spirituality’ may not necessarily have any connection with religion.

But can ‘spirituality’ as an idea be divorced from Spirit, which the Bible tell us is both a name for God and one that describes His/Her nature?

‘Spirituality’ as a term doesn’t actually occur in the Bible and, surprisingly, there are not many occurrences of ‘spiritual’ or ‘spiritually’ either. The word ‘Spirit,’ on the other hand, abounds in the Bible. The apostle John relates Jesus as saying, ‘God is Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth’ (John 4:24).Christ Jesus also said, ‘that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit’ (John 3:6), as if to show how different are the things of materiality from those of spirituality.