James Fowler’S Slides
- 1. James Fowler’s Stages of Faith Development
- 2. Infancy and Undifferentiated Faith Pre-stage: Undifferentiated faith are the seeds of trust, courage, hope and love. Quality of mutuality between caregivers and infant Rudimentary awareness of self/others prior to language skills Foundational to further faith development
- 3. Intuitive- Projective (preschool) Thinks of God Imagination and fantasy explain unknowns Imitation of faith of others God-image forming in likeness of parents Tradition provides language for God & faith
- 4. Mythic-Literal 1 st grade to Early Teen Membership important to identity Relies on stories, values, rules of authorities Stories explain how world works Stories taken as literal and factual Authority figure overrides personal perspectives
- 5. Synthetic-Conventional Adolescence Onward 1 st Move toward personal faith Choosing beliefs, values, behaviors for self Choices not done reflectively/critically Choices come from community’s norms Authority figures remain important
- 6. Individuative-Reflective Young Adult Onward Personal commitment to beliefs, values, & actions Becomes reflective/critical of community’s faith Self becomes a source of authority– ownership is elevated Uncomfortable w/ tensions between beliefs-chooses one to resolve tension
- 7. Conjunctive Mid-Life Onward Able to hold together different perspectives Things are not so clear cut—getting at truth requires a lot of angles Openness to mystery—post critical outlook Open to truths in other traditions
- 8. Universalizing Age Unknown Decentered from Self Sees the world through the experiences and faith of other people Values others with love Creator has for creation Transcends interests of one community James W. Fowler, Stages of Faith: the Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning, Harper Collins-1981.
- 9. Other Recommended Readings Robert Coles, The Moral Life of Children, The Atlanta Monthly Press, 1986. Robert Coles, The Spiritual Life of Children, Houghton Mifflin, 1990. William L. Hendricks, A Theology for Children, Broadman Press, 1980. John Westerhoff, Will Our Children Have Faith? Seabury Press, 1976.
Editor's Notes
- #2: Jame's Fowlers' Stages of Faith Development