Undeceptions with John Dickson
Jul 19, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 17 segments
**The West might be becoming less ‘religious’, but according to many it’s becoming a lot more ’spiritual’.** **In fact, “spiritual but not religious” is described as a “rapidly growing faith group”…
John DicksonHost
Michael S. HortonGuest
I would tell someone who's kind of working through these things, struggling through these things, spirituality is like nailing Jell-O to the wall.
Um, it's all mix and match, make it up as you go, cafeteria, whatever helps you.
But Christianity is, is a historical claim, and so it's either true or it's false, but it's not something you can make up.
It's not something you can add to your Buddhism or to your, uh, Islam or to, you know, your spirituality.
You often hear people say, "I'm spiritual, but not necessarily religious." The philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are spiritual beings having a human experience." I believe we are all, in our own way, searching for a deeper connection to that spiritual side in order to elevate our lives.
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, producer, author, actress, and also one of the great proponents of being spiritual but not religious.
And that clip is from an episode of her TV show Super Soul Sunday, which ran for 10 years until 2021, where she talked to her guests about spirituality.
Way back in 2002, Christianity Today published an article titled The Church of O, naming Oprah as one of the most influential spiritual leaders in America.
The Oprah Effect has been described as a key factor in mainstreaming the New Age movement.
Fast-forward, and now we're reading newspaper headlines like, "Are we in the middle of a spiritual awakening?" And, "Spiritual but not religious: Inside America's rapidly growing faith group." A 2023 study from the Pew Research Center found that 22% of Americans would describe themselves as spiritual but not religious.
And it's been Christianity's dancing partner, although maybe we should say sparring partner, down through the ages.
Where does the spiritual but not religious concept come from? What does it say about us humans? And why do so many people see it as preferable to Christianity? I'm John Dickson, and this is Undeceptions.
Every episode at Undeceptions, we explore some aspect of life, faith, history, science, culture, or ethics that's either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten.
With the help of people who know what they're talking about, we're trying to undeceive ourselves and let the truth out.
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I would tell someone who's kind of working through these things, struggling through these things, spirituality is like nailing Jell-O to the wall.
Um, it's all mix and match, make it up as you go, cafeteria, whatever helps you.
But Christianity is, is a historical claim, and so it's either true or it's false, but it's not something you can make up.
It's not something you can add to your Buddhism or to your, uh, Islam or to, you know, your spirituality.
You often hear people say, "I'm spiritual, but not necessarily religious." The philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are spiritual beings having a human experience." I believe we are all, in our own way, searching for a deeper connection to that spiritual side in order to elevate our lives.
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, producer, author, actress, and also one of the great proponents of being spiritual but not religious.
And that clip is from an episode of her TV show Super Soul Sunday, which ran for 10 years until 2021, where she talked to her guests about spirituality.
Way back in 2002, Christianity Today published an article titled The Church of O, naming Oprah as one of the most influential spiritual leaders in America.
The Oprah Effect has been described as a key factor in mainstreaming the New Age movement.
Fast-forward, and now we're reading newspaper headlines like, "Are we in the middle of a spiritual awakening?" And, "Spiritual but not religious: Inside America's rapidly growing faith group." A 2023 study from the Pew Research Center found that 22% of Americans would describe themselves as spiritual but not religious.
And it's been Christianity's dancing partner, although maybe we should say sparring partner, down through the ages.
Where does the spiritual but not religious concept come from? What does it say about us humans? And why do so many people see it as preferable to Christianity? I'm John Dickson, and this is Undeceptions.
Every episode at Undeceptions, we explore some aspect of life, faith, history, science, culture, or ethics that's either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten.
With the help of people who know what they're talking about, we're trying to undeceive ourselves and let the truth out.
