Is the use of the word the phrase, “I am spiritual but not religious” an attempt to get “the warm cozy feeling” of religious life without making the intellectual commitment to what is the central question: Does God exist?” Adam Frank suggests the those who struggle to integrate their science with their theology reformulate the question. Not “science and spirituality but science and the sacred”.
“Sacred,” he says “is an ancient word whose roots are in Roman temple architecture. ‘Sacer’ could mean ‘set apart’ and was the interior of a pagan temple where visitors needed to be attentive to the needs of the gods. Outside you could do anything you wanted, including selling Grateful Dead T-shirts. Inside you were expected to pay attention to a different quality of experience.
Adam Frank is Professor of Astrophysics at University of Rochester. His area of interest are Astrophysics: Star Formation; Evolved Stars; Gas Dynamics; MHD; Computation Science Writing; Philosophy of Science; Science and Religion. He is the author of The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate.