Spiritual and Religious: The Gospel in an Age of Paganism

by N.T. Wright

"I'm spiritual but not religious." It's a phrase that's often used to explain why, although they don't go to church, people still feel that life must have some kind of transcendent meaning.

But what does this "spirituality" consist of? In Spiritual and Religious N. T. Wright argues that, whether people realize it or not, they are often simply reverting to forms of ancient paganism that are very similar to those that confronted the earliest Christians.

With his characteristic verve and incisiveness, Wright traces the parallels between the worldviews of the first and twenty-first centuries, and shows how a better understanding of God as Trinity can breathe fresh life into our understanding and preaching of the gospel today.

He concludes this prophetic book with a call to contemporary Christians to make a clear

"Are we to compromise with paganism, to assimilate, to water down the distinctives of Christian faith in order to make it more palatable? Are we to retreat into dualism, into a private 'spiritual' religion which will assure us of an other-worldly salvation but which will leave the powers of the present world unchallenged. . . ? Or are we to worship the God who is Father, Son and Spirit, and to find in that worship a renewed courage, a renewed sense of direction, and a renewed hope for the future?"

192 pages, Paperback

Published April 29, 2025

About the author

N. T. Wright is the former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England (2003-2010) and one of the world's leading Bible scholars. He is now serving as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. He has been featured on ABC News, Dateline NBC, The Colbert Report, and Fresh Air, and he has taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill, and Oxford universities. Wright is the award-winning author of Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, The Last Word, The Challenge of Jesus, The Meaning of Jesus (coauthored with Marcus Borg), as well as the much heralded series Christian Origins and the Question of God.

He also publishes under Tom Wright.

Reviews

[Adam Bloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate this book. On the one hand, there are so many astute and profound connections and near-perfectly worded ways to explain some deep Christian truths. On the other hand, there's a fair bit that I think is either very poorly worded or just bad to start with. Wright's theological background is obviously different than mine, but I've appreciated that--even though we may disagree how to do so--he wants to submit to Jesus and His Word, and yet there are some weird things in this book that just feel off (the description of Jesus' temptations, for example, seem to indicate that Wright believes Jesus did not know He was the Messiah until some time after the temptations). This book is great for a preacher/pastor/etc for extracting quotes, but I'm unable to recommend it to others.

[Robbie Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Christ-follower who genuinely cares about engaging with the people around you for the good of the world and the glory of God, this book will have something for you. It's written in a way that made it a super easy listen, but there's so much that I'd like to continue to digest that I ordered a physical copy to highlight and loan out to friends. Thankful for this timely book that was deeply encouraging to me.

[fleegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It’s a great start of a book, I wish it was a little more detailed or that it went deeper. I cannot put my finger on why this book felt rushed or incomplete, but it did.
I did appreciate the prayer to the trinity he cobbled together in the epilogue. I’m adding that to my life.
So if you like reading N. T. Wright by all means read this. If you’ve never read him before please start with another one first.