Fowler's Stages Of Faith Development

To numerous people in society, the view of faith is in relation to religion. However, James Fowler’s theory can be used to comprehend the development of any religious faith. Converging on traditional Christian Judaic thought he brings together the psychological and educational work of Piaget, Kohlberg and Erikson to construct the stages of faith development.

In view of faith, Fowler deems it as an anthropological necessity. It involves the “making, maintenance, and transformation of human meaning” becoming an integral part of a person’s character or personality (Fowler 15). A person utilizing faith will feel sense in the world as having unity becoming connected with the environment around them. Through symbols, rituals, and beliefs of religious

Moreover, it can be an individual’s way of seeing themselves in comparison to others against a background of shared meaning. According to Fowler’s view of faith, he proposes seven stages of development. Beginning with stage zero, between birth and two years, this is the undifferentiated faith stage where a child learns to put their loyalty towards the “environment……of relationship with those providing consistent primary care” (Fowler 28). The next stage of one is called intuitive-projective is in which children are developing the skills needed for imagination. In this stage children are self-focused and “deep and long-lasting images can be formed” which can lead to a “permanent cast on the emotional funding of faith” (Fowler 28). Mythic-literal faith is the second stage and it

The first problematic issue Fowler acknowledges is the limitation in Piaget and Kohlberg’s differentiation and dichotomy between cognition and affection. Fowler sees it as not possible to efficiently separate the two through the study of faith development. However, he does contrast the logic of rational certainty and logic of conviction. Another concern mentioned regarding Piaget and Kohlberg’s view of faith development is the confining understanding role of imagination in knowing. Imagination is critical to Fowler as it engages in a significant role in his understanding of faith because of its relation to one’s Ultimate Environment. A third concern Fowlers criticizes is the “lack of attention to one’s socially constitute self as it influences faith development” (The Human Person slide 24). The development of faith is a serious matter and must not be overlooked as our preceding actions and decisions form our character in addition to the stories by which we live. Not only that, but it must consider that people have become socialized which is profoundly formed by the shared meanings of certain groups or classes. Lastly, a difference noted is that Fowler is more dependent on Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development for his theory than Piaget or Kohlberg. The reason being is that Erikson’s stages aid to broaden