…stories of growth and stages of belief…
Fowler based his stage theory on empirical research done early in his career where he and his students interviewed hundreds of people about their beliefs. The thought processes that came into play in developing Faith Development Theory (FDT) were heavily influenced by Fowler’s study of Read the rest of this entry »
Ok, in the last post I mentioned there were some new developments I was finding out about that cast some question on the validity of stage theory. It is taking me a while to work through how those might influence my work on this blog.
Well, by now I have decided the best thing to do is to present the dilemmas as they appear to me now. I am going to do my best to share those developments one by one over time. Bear with me as I backtrack a little bit to create a base on which to build this discussion.
For today, I will just start with James Fowler. He was the one who mainly did the original research about the religious stages. It was in 1981 that his main book, Stages of Faith was published. This book detailed six stages a person might go through as they grow in faith. His stages mirror what a person would experience as he develops normally from childhood on - as opposed to some of the other theorists whose stages reflect points at which a typical adult might find himself to be stuck.
For the purpose of this blog, I did not want to spell out Fowler’s six stages one by one because, while they do more or less agree with the four stages I have been referring to (remember? The Lawless, The Faithful, The Rational and the Mystic?) the way they are numbered does not correspond and I am afraid it would cause confusion. You can find a nice summary of each of Fowler’s stages, using his numbering system at http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/fowler.htm.
Anyway, Fowler’s stages begin with a childhood stage based upon imagination and magic, such as would be typical of a child. They move through several more stages including one based upon conformity and the need for a source of external authority, such as a church (our “Faithful” group,) one where reliance upon reason and an internally based authority is primary (our “Rational” group) and then onto two higher levels where the primary concerns reach beyond the person himself and his immediate society, out to increasingly broader, more global issues (our “Mystic” group.) At the highest stage Fowler discussed a person will even risk personal harm – think Ghandi or Mother Teresa - for the sake of others.
I am going to leave the discussion there and will pick up on it in the next post - to appear soon.
Ok. Sorry I have not been posting much here lately. A combination of a couple of personal situations I have had to tend to and - some new interesting factors I came across in the theory - have been holding me up.
The personal factors are now in better control - I hope. My father in law has moved in with me, requiring some but not a great amount of care; my two sons in college have needed more of my assistance arranging a few matters. That plus the fact that my husband is now in Alaska for a year (was called to active duty from the Army reserves) has been draining some of my emotional energy.
All along while I was dealing with that, some ladies in one of my writing groups introduced me to a concept that may conflict a bit with this stage theory. And then thanks to some information I am getting courtesy of a professor in Australia who is doing current research on my topic, I am learning there are a whole lot of other factors to consider here! I am putting a lot of energy into studying the conflicting data. It may be a while before I have something intelligent to share with you - but it will be interesting, that I can promise!
Thanks for your patience - and stay tuned!
Margaret Johnston
Leaving the Church
The hardest thing I’ve ever done was to leave the church I loved and accept an existence with no god and no eternity.For my entire life, until I was a mother, I had no doubts that I was a member of the one and only true Read the rest of this entry »