Have We Been Spiritual But Not Religious Forever?

Michael Horton’s Shaman & Sage: The Roots of “Spiritual but Not Religious” is not a quick read, which means that for the past few months, I’ve been carrying the book around and taking it out to read in spare moments: at coffee shops, sandlot baseball practices, the playground, etc., not to mention airplanes and trains. The title, I found, attracted a startling amount of attention from a startlingly wide range of people: tattooed, cropped-headed baristas; suburban dads at the park; Roman Catholic priests; middle-aged women waiting at the hair salon. People were curious about the book, and when I explained the premise, many of them had further thoughts or follow-up questions, even though they (as they explained themselves) didn’t read much or have a background in philosophy or history. I don’t live in a particularly intellectual urban area; most of the people in my small city are accountants, lawyers, and consultants, not professors or artists. But something about the words “shaman” and “spiritual” caught their eye and sparked their interest.