Michael Horton’s New Book on the Origins of “Spiritual but Not Religious”

Watch On

Series: Shamans in the Church

Religious Movements

Michael Horton’s New Book on the Origins of “Spiritual but Not Religious”

1 hr 3 min

Watch On

Series: Shamans in the Church

Religious Movements

Michael Horton’s New Book on the Origins of “Spiritual but Not Religious”

1 hr 3 min

Caleb Wait, Sola Media’s Director of Content, interviews Michael Horton on his new book, “Shaman and Sage: The Roots of “Spiritual but Not Religious” in Antiquity. Many preachers today appeal to headlines that announce a surge in spirituality as if this news offers the church encouragement. We tend to think of modern secular culture as hostile to spirituality—an atheistic world of soulless materialism. So if modern people now want spirituality, Christians often think, that must mean people will find their way toward Christianity. This thesis, among many others, is challenged by Horton in the first volume of his new series on the Divine-Self. 

Listen in as Horton shares how this new intellectual history of “spiritual but not religious” as a phenomenon in Western culture is the biggest project he’s ever undertaken. Horton shows how ancient shamanist practices and philosophies appear in Plato, schools in Alexandria, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and more, revealing to us that modern practices and beliefs are far more ancient than we think.



MENTIONED ON THE SHOW:

CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S OFFERS:

Sola Newspaper

Today's Offer

Sola Newspaper

A quarterly print publication featuring articles on theology, the confessions, & reflections for the Christian life, delivered straight to your mailbox. For free.

Subscribe Now

Caleb Wait is the Director of Content for Sola Media. He has an MA in Theological Studies from Westminster Seminary California, and his writing and podcast productions have appeared in Modern Reformation magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and Mere Orthodoxy. When he’s not working on a podcast or article, Caleb enjoys reading, playing the violin, and exploring the diverse scenery of his home state of California with his wife Kristin and their two children.

Michael Horton (Ph.D., Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Coventry University) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California and Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Sola Media.

Series • 4 Episodes

Shamans in the Church

Explore All
The "Enthusiasts" of Church History: From Montanists to Modern Day "Prophets"

The “Enthusiasts” of Church History: From Montanists to Modern Day “Prophets”

Martin Luther once said that, “Adam was the first enthusiast,” and by “enthusiast” he doesn’t mean someone who is enthusiastic. The philosophy of enthusiasm is “god-within-ism,” a belief and tendency to pit internal spirituality versus external texts, institutions, and authorities. In this episode, Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Walter Strickland, and Bob Hiller discuss how this […]

The New (Old) Apostolic Reformation

The New (Old) Apostolic Reformation

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is one of the fastest growing movements “within or on the periphery of American Christianity.” Join Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb as they discuss where this contemporary movement came from, what its tenets of dominionism, new apostles, and direct revelation are, why its teachings are so […]

“I Have Nothing Left to Hear Me Say”: Religion without Authority

“I Have Nothing Left to Hear Me Say”: Religion without Authority

Where does the spirituality of enthusiasm and the New Apostolic Reformation ultimately lead? Hosts Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb show how ecstatic shaman-like spirituality wrought in enthusiasm results in an isolated life. While autonomous spiritual practices may free us from the external structures and authorities of religion, the hosts share how […]

Help more people know what they believe and why.

Support trusted articles, podcasts, and resources that deepen faith, point people to Christ, and strengthen the church.

Give Monthly