Religion vs. Spirituality

I read an article by Tejvan Pettinger comparing and contrasting religion to spirituality. This article says that religion focuses more on the past with ancient texts and spirituality focuses more on the present. It also says that religion teaches us to fear God whereas spirituality teaches us to love God. Next, the article says that religion says that God is "high in the heavens", but spirituality tells us that God is all around us. Another point the article makes is that religious people only think that their way will lead to salvation, but on the other hand, spiritual people believe that there can be many different approaches to salvation. Lastly, the article says that religion places more emphasis on outer worship, but spirituality places more emphasis on inner worship. Even with all of these differences, Pettinger argues that "religion can embrace spirituality" and "each religion has produced spiritual seekers of the highest order" (Pettinger). After reading this article, I feel that I am more spiritual than religious because although I read the Bible, I believe that others that don't believe what I believe will find salvation and I believe that God is all around us.

Pettinger, Tejvan. "Religion vs Spirituality." Biography Online. 15 Feb 2009 .