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Eighteenth-century Enlightenment thinkers, often opposed to clericalism and skeptical of religion, sometimes came to express their more emotional responses to the world under the rubric of " the Sublime " rather than discussing " spirituality ".

The spread of the ideas of modernity began to diminish the role of religion in society and in popular thought.

Ralph Waldo Emerson ( 1803 – 1882 ) was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field.

Important early 20th century writers who studied the phenomenon of spirituality, and their works, include William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience ( 1902 ), and Rudolph Otto, especially The Idea of the Holy ( 1917 ).

The distinction between the spiritual and the religious became more common in the popular mind during the late 20th century with the rise of secularism and the advent of the New Age movement.

Authors such as Chris Griscom and Shirley MacLaine explored it in numerous ways in their books.

Paul Heelas noted the development within New Age circles of what he called " seminar spirituality ": structured offerings complementing consumer choice with spiritual options.