What do people mean when they classify themselves as "spiritual but not religious"?

I would say generally that it implies that they don't wholeheartedly embrase any particular religion but they take 'bits & pieces' out of specific religions that they like & reject what they don't like.

For example, they may like the Hindu philosophy of reincarnation, the Muslim belief that Jesus wasn't the Son of God, the Catholic believe in transubstantiation & the pagan idea that trees & bushes have spirits. Such a person would be spiritual but not religious.

On the Day of Judgment, however, these believes will stand for nothing because their sins would not have been covered. Only the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, can forgive sins through His unique sacrafice on the cross.

Some would include:

1. Christians who feel that saying they are "religious" is about the trappings of a church and not about their direct relationship to Jesus.

2. Theists who are not aligned with a particular church.

3. Agnostics who do not know if there is a God or not, but believe in a higher power, even if it is a humanistic one.

4. People who lean towards non-theistic religions (such as pagan) but don't affiliate themselves with any one. Perhaps find magic or joy in a garden.

5. Possibly even Atheists who believe in an entirely non-supernatural power of the human spirit, like how someone can be brave enough to write a novel that changes the world.

In my experience it has generally meant that they believe there is a spiritual side to life (which they do not understand), but they cannot understand the concept of an omnipotent, benevolent God and they have not liked what they've seen of the traditional church. It can simply be that they have not searched deeply.

They mean that they do not know what they mean. They establish a contradiction and try to define themselves by it. It is completely impossible to be Spiritual and not be Religious, they are bound together as the same thing. One cannot exist without the other.

What they probably mean is that they say they do not subscribe to a *particular* Religion (I'm Religious but I'm not Roman Catholic), but they cannot *not* be Religious if they are Spiritual.

They mean that they are not entirely materialists and believe this life is not purely physical. They may or may not believe in gods or an afterlife. They definitely have a soulful side. It depends on the person.

They believe in God but do not adhere to the customs that accompany a religion (going to church, evangelizing etc.)

from a christian standpoint, jesus never came to establish a religion but to restore our relationship with the father. john 17. religion is mans attempt to get to god. relationship is gods love offered to us in the person of his son jesus. john 3.16. god wants to know all of us personally but it takes the blood of christ to cleanse away what hinders that because sin separates us from god. isaiah 59. you can receive jesus today and begin knowing your heavenly father personally. simply call on jesus wherever you are and receive him as your lord and saviour, rom 10.9 to 13. chrislandwer@yahoo.com

I think it means they want to be religious, but they've also been bullied by militant atheism into being ashamed of their religious desires, so they find new, more "trendy" outlets for their spirituality which the atheists won't bully them for.

im a christian and think spirits can be good or bad im both but like the lord Jesus allot ive seen spirits before can be good and can be bad dont let it get out of hand

Generally, it's a sort of cafeteria style pick and choose. They don't want anyone to tell them what to do or how to do it. So they divest themselves of religion.

I used to attend a bible study. There was a deacon who attended as well. He called it "swimming around in your own belly button looking for answers."