Those who venture through these pages will find a veritable gold mine for the task of theology today, especially in the realm of apologetics.
Michael Horton, Shaman and Sage: The Roots of the “Spiritual but Not Religious” in Antiquity, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Hardcover. 528 Pages. List price: $64.99
In his latest book, Shaman and Sage, renowned theologian and apologist Michael Horton takes up the phenomenon of "spiritual but not religious" that has gripped the modern Western world and given rise to the flood of New Age spirituality. Horton helpfully demonstrates that, far from a modern phenomenon, "spiritual but not religious" has roots in antiquity, from as early as the 6th century BC. From the mystic cult of Dionysius through the classic philosophy of Plato, Horton traces the movement of secularization from mythos to logos, from myth to reason, and claims that secularization does not produce a naturalist anti-spirituality but rather a mystic hyper-spirituality.
By a thorough investigation of the poets, philosophers, playwrights, and shamans of the ancient world, Horton lays the root of modern "spirituality" in the antique mysticism that characterized both Orpheus and Plato, the shaman and the sage, who divinized the self/world, dislocating the individual from a bounded and concrete body, station, or location, and establishing him as an autonomous, heavenly being with an immortal soul determined to transcend the physical into what is spiritual. What was characteristic of the mystic shamans of old did not die to secularization but was simply reincarnated in the philosopher sages who became the founders of the Western civilization we live in today— a civilization that is still "spiritual but not religious."
This book is a masterpiece and a true stroke of genius, though it is not for the faint of heart. Its historical breadth and philosophical depth merit its description as a magisterial treatment of intellectual history. Readers will be aided in their labors by prior knowledge of antique religion, mythology, theater, and philosophy. However, those who do venture through these pages will find a veritable gold mine for the task of theology today, especially in the realm of apologetics.
Though couched in antiquity, the book seeks to elucidate the current spiritual milieu, recognizing that while history might not repeat itself, it does often rhyme. By touring the past, the Christian of the present is better prepared to defend the faith before a hostile world bent on the same old desire for personal autonomy and transcendence from bonds of the body, society, and common morality. As such, it equips modern Christians to speak both charitably and prophetically to the secularized world, properly diagnosing the spiritual "enthusiasm" endemic to our age that emphasizes individual and mystical experience and rightly proclaiming the remedy of true freedom from our true bondage in Christ alone.
When Christianity imbibes the doctrines of the "spiritual" world, it begins to lose its robust biblical teaching, especially concerning the dignity of the body, the blessedness of suffering and trial, and a true biblical hope for the resurrection of the dead and life in the new creation.
Shaman and Sage also serves as a sober warning that though the "spiritual but not religious" phenomenon doesn't trade as such, it is, in fact, a sort of alternative religion and one that is corrosive to Christianity. When Christianity imbibes the doctrines of the "spiritual" world, it begins to lose its robust biblical teaching, especially concerning the dignity of the body, the blessedness of suffering and trial, and a true biblical hope for the resurrection of the dead and life in the new creation. Modern "spirituality" is perhaps the most caustic, however, regarding our assurance of salvation. The mystical emphasis on internal, experiential, intuitive, and immediate knowledge of the divine completely undercuts the external word of God, which is our sure and certain foundation for hope. Outside of God's Word, in oneself, there is nothing but hopeless doubt or vain confidence, both of which will crumble under the weight of the law. Scripture alone is a true refuge and strength in all temptation and trial.
I'm looking forward to the subsequent volumes in this trilogy on the Divine Self. If you're looking for an academic treatment of our cultural context and the "spiritual but not religious" phenomenon, I can't recommend Horton's work enough.
