LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new doctorate at a conservative Baptist seminary will explore the life lessons of the Bible at a time when self-help spirituality is being popularized by celebrities like Oprah.

The spirituality doctorate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary arrives at a time when the cultural interest in spirituality — and disinterest in organized religion — is growing, said Michael Haykin, a church history professor in the seminary's Ph.D. program.

"The way the word (spirituality) is used broadly in our culture, it's very eclectic and it can mean whatever a person wants it to mean," Haykin said. "So we're trying to ground it in a certain context."

Scholars disagree on how to define the term. But it is widely used to refer to devotional practices of religion and the interior individual experiences of believers, according to the book "Christian Spirituality: An Introduction," by Protestant scholar Alister E. McGrath.

Spirituality differs from a purely academic, objective or detached approach to religion, which focuses on identifying key religious beliefs and practices rather than delving into how people experience and practice their faith, McGrath wrote.

Christian spirituality, he wrote, "concerns the quest for a fulfilled and authentic Christian existence, involving the bringing together of the fundamental ideas of Christianity and the whole experience of living on the basis of and within the scope of the Christian faith."

From Beatle George Harrison's embrace of Hare Krishna in the 1960s to Madonna's advocating of Kabbalah three decades later, celebrities have played a major role in introducing lesser-known and non-Christian spiritual practices to the public. Haykin said Americans were not familiar with Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism, before Madonna began talking about it in her music.

"Spirituality is such a buzz word today," said Don Whitney, founder and president of the seminary's Center for Biblical Spirituality.

Whitney said his review of the book "The Secret," touted by Oprah on her talk show, is the most-read article on his Web site. But he said many media-driven forms of spirituality leave out God and Jesus in exchange for a focus on the individual.

Whitney said too many Americans, Christians included, want to accept God "kind of cafeteria-style ... Heaven, yes, no thanks on the hell."

Evangelical and traditional Christians have been fighting the self-help movement since the 1960s.

They argue that obsession with individual betterment is at odds with Christian teachings.