I've noticed a lot of posts differentiating between Religion and Spirituality. And of course these posts mentioned the organizational part of the Religion vs. the so called "free relation" in Spirituality.
As a young Catholic coming from a Melkite Byzantine background, I guessed the problem directly. And I was shocked as my background is a mix of rational thinking of Catholicism and Mystic experience of the oriental byzantine church, that helped me to understand that there's no such a real big difference between Religion and Spirituality.
First, I would like to define both terms.
Spirituality: The term comes from the spirit and doesn't have a definitive definition. Although social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration.
Religion: It's a set of variously organized beliefs about the relationship between natural and supernatural aspects of reality, and the role of humans in this relationship.
1-As per Cicero, Religion comes from "Religere" which means "re-read". and it's concerned about the mind, it's a very rational term.
2-As per Lactance, it comes from "Religare" which means "re-connect". and it's concerned about affection or feelings or in other terms, what your heart tells.
3-As per Augustine, it comes from "Reeligere" which means "re-elect". and it's concerned about the will, in other terms Free Will.
Second, from the Christian point of view.
The main Spiritual and Religious essence of faith, is the incarnation, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So any spiritual idea far from the cross, is a fake and a lie.
The main commandment is to love God from the heart, the mind and the being and to love each other.
So my question is: where's the difference between Spirituality and Christian religion here?
Third, the church: the group of believers and the organization:
1- The bible is the written experience of the church, not the opposite.
2- Jesus Christ instituted the organization and the sacraments.
3- The church is mystic cause it's based on the relationship between Jesus Christ and his disciples.
4- The church is born from the side of Jesus Christ on the cross, renewed by the Holy Spirit and leading to the Father. To the heart of the Trinity.
5- The organization is the group of forgiven sinners called to be saints, just as you and me, the creed is the result of the mystic experience and the Bible and the Tradition are the inspired Word of God to the church through the daily experience.
To conclude:
We lack the real understanding of the church and its teachings.
We lack the real definition of terms.
The enemy is fighting the church, but the gates of hell shall not prevail against it cause the cornerstone and the head is Jesus Christ himself.
By: Samer Hanna, based on my studies, readings and own opinion.
