James Fowler's Stages of Faith

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James Fowler's Stages of Faith
By Kyle Jones Travis Robichaud
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Biography
Was Professor of theology and Human Development
at Emory University, he was also director of
Center for research on faith and moral
development and Center of ethics
Wrote several books but his best know is Stages
of Faith
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Stages of Faith
Stage 1- ages 3-7
Projective faith
-Fantasy filled stage
-First aware of death/sex
-Self aware and egocentric (Im the center of
the world)
-Heavy influences
Pro(copy stage 3 pro)
Con (copy stage 3 con)
- Child can be heavily influenced by examples,
stories, and actions, By mainly parents
-Limited or no logical though allows for
unrestrained fantasies
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Stages of Faith
Stage 2 ages 7-13
Literal Faith
- Beliefs, attitudes, morals are met with literal
interpretations
-Faith begins to have more meaning
Pro
Can connect stories and myths To personal
experiences.
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Stages of Faith
Stage 3 ages 14-mid-twenties
Conventional Faith
Faith must provide a connector between the
involvements in ones life (family, work, friends
etc)
Faith must provide a basis for identity
Con
Pro
Must- Not everyone Practices religious
faiths- What about people who do Not??? This
Theory does Not apply to them
Very good tool for understanding Faith
development in humans.
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Stages of Faith
Stage 4 25-40
Reflective Faith
Need to take burdens, responsibilities,
commitments, lifestyles etc seriously
Con
Pro
Being to critical of self
Critical reflection of self
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Stages of Faith
Stage 5 40
Conjunctive Faith
Look over what was suppressed or unrecognized in
stage 4
Look into ones deeper self- knowing who you
really are
Pro
Realize true meanings of Who you are
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Stages of Faith
Stage 6 Rare
Enlightenment
Moksha
Nirvana
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Stages of Faith
Importance
The importance of the stages of faith is its
values it has on society. It helps humans develop
over time to believe in what they think is right.
It helps people realize there point at which
there at in life and what they should be
expecting from that point.
The End