Spiritual but Not Religious

This chapter offers a platform for investigating the historical roots of the contemporary SBNR movement. It begins by tracing the genealogy of the phrase “SBNR” as it arose out of its cousin “churched” terms spirituality and mysticism, the latter defined with respect to early Greek and Christian culture that, through the ministrations of liberal Protestant thought and Transcendentalism, eventually gave rise to the introduction of phrase “spiritual but not religious” in the 20th century. It then adds sophistication to this genealogy by looking at the various cultural movements in four basic groups (early American strands; the metaphysical “isms”; countercultural currents, contemporary demographics) that helped further define the topic through time. This chapter functions as the general frame for the contributions in Part I (Roots) of the volume.