ABSTRACT
Sheer numbers are enough to suggest that a theology for “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) people is warranted. In a globally challenged, polarized, violence-ridden, climate-endangered world, the tasks we face are so critical, so massive, and so vital to world survival that some common spiritual and social principles are needed for us to survive. However, the difficulties must be acknowledged up front. These include such factors as the common stereotyping of them, their eclectic and hybrid spiritual practices, and the false dichotomy they make between spiritual and religious. Even so, there are some common conceptual factors in their tackling of life’s “big questions,” and in the religious beliefs they reject. Against popular misconceptions of SBNRs, they do hold some identifiable stances regarding transcendence/immanence, what it means to be human, whether spiritual growth is more a communal or solo task, and views of an afterlife. These factors can provide a useful jumping-off point for organizing an SBNR theology.
