Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning

Shortly after this work was published in 1981 I was engaged in a summer school graduate course on human development at Rollins College. The adjunct professor, an elementary school principal, was highly conversant with the schools and theories discussed by James Fowler in this work at hand. During a break in the ungodly four-hour night class, a student asked the professor if, given the chance to do it over, she would have focused her doctoral efforts in another direction. Without batting an eye, the professor shot back: "Oh yes. Pharmacology." To say that a few somnolent students snapped to attention would be a profound understatement. Her message was clear enough: when studying human development, psychological theory is only one leg of the stool."Stages of Faith" is the first and perhaps best known work of James Fowler, who is particularly remembered in Roman Catholic circles for his influence upon the structure and content of religious education programs and study books for the young. Fowler himself appears to have been profoundly influenced by the study of Paul Tillich and particularly Richard Niebuhr, about whom the author would produce another book years later. Fowler credits both theologians for their seminal systematic work on the distinction between personal spiritual experience and cultic religious belief. [I did find Fowler's omission of Rudolf Otto's groundbreaking work on religious experience from his primary sources as curious.]The scholarly quest for systematic recognition of personal religious experience was a new venture for mainstream Protestant and Roman Catholic academics. The established theories of human development-notably Piaget and Erikson-provided theologians with something of a language for further theorizing. But I suspect that Lawrence Kohlberg's appearance on the scene was perhaps the flash point for scholars like Fowler. Kohlberg's stages of moral development looked for all the world liked psychological theology and practically begged theologians of all faiths to recouch their thinking on religious experience and faith in a new developmental and epistemological framework.This essentially is what "Stages of Faith" tries to do, ponderously at times. Fowler attempts to integrate the thinking of Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg and apply this synthesis to the religious journeys of adults, one of whom is chronicled extensively toward the end of this work. I wish he had used several more actual biographies. Despite the fact that subject Mary's roller-coaster life brings spice to an otherwise admittedly dry read, it becomes clear immediately that Mary is not "typical," so that she becomes a poster child for abnormality. She does not integrate or learn from experience [Piaget], she is dreadfully deficient in meeting age appropriate challenges [Erikson], and her moral reasoning is little more than sensory [Kolhberg]. By the end of the interview Tillich and Niebuhr are at best distant memories. Presumably the merits of a marriage between psychology and theology are in its formative possibilities [hence the great interest in Fowler by Catholic educators and catechists, for example], but Mary regrettably is an indicator of what happens when those opportunities are lost. Our biography here has diagnostic value at best.There is another issue at hand as well, the one raised by my former professor. As I read Mary's case study, I wondered to myself: how would this scattered woman's life be different were she taking Strattera, the new ADD medication for adults? I am not arguing that pills are a panacea, but rather that biology-along with sociology, environment, family structure, economic opportunity, physical or psychological trauma-are critical formative factors in the development of children and adults. In an interdisciplinary study of faith, one must ask just how many disciplines are necessary for a valid synthesis.I was pleased to discover that Fowler published what is described as a revised edition of "Stages of Faith" under a different title in 1999. I will be curious to see where his thinking and research have taken him over two decades.

I can't express how impressed I am with Dr. Fowler's work here. I feel that people like Wilfred Cantwell Smith and James W. Fowler have made amazing contributions to the discourse surrounding religion and faith, and "Stages of Faith" is one such contribution. I have long formulated my own basic theories around such things as the faith-identity triad, the separation of faith and religion, and the unintended presence of faith in science and Marxism, and the subsequent application of them as functional religions. I just never had the verbiage, or the insight, to put these ideas into cohesive arguments and theories. I struggled through my capstone thesis as an undergraduate, wrestling with these ideas, and felt that I made great strides in formulating a solid argument... however, upon reading Fowler, these ideas all came together, and he added many profound insights to what I had (amateurishly) been postulating.I've always known instinctively that the rejection of religio-spiritual experience by material realists was ignorant. What constitutes something as a real experience? Not the belief claims that might become attached to that experience, but the functionality of the experience for the one experiencing it. Put another way, if faith experiences didn't work in some way, if they didn't perform some kind of practical function, we wouldn't employ them as people. As a human being expands, and their faith-identity triads become interlinked with other triads, their understanding of self, other, and the universe evolves and changes, thus propelling them along the stages of faith.Dr. Fowler is a retired professor of theology and human development at Emory University, was director of both the Center for Research on Faith and Moral Development and the Center for Ethics at Emory, is a United Methodist Church minister, and a scholar of the highest caliber. His work builds upon Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development.I know that I've rambled somewhat in this review, and I'm still working through all these ideas, and will be for some time. The bottom line is, Fowler is profound and incredibly astute, and I highly recommend this work.

Grace builds on nature and perfects it. Consequently, we may expect the human person to have psychological predispositions for faith development--some would call it "hard wiring." Building on the work of distinguished developmental psychologists, Fowler describes the psychological characteristics of faith as the human person grows and matures. This work parallels classic developmental descriptions of spiritual maturation--for example, St. Teresa's Interior Castle. Faith moves a person from a magical and ego-centered view of the world (normal in early childhood) to an increasingly inclusive outlook able to accept paradoxes and ambiguity to a universalizing view that some would call redemptive. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. , Dag Hammerskjold, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta would be example of psychologically mature faith. Just as "On Death and Dying" has helped many to face into the process of dying, the insights of this book should help many to face into the changes and crises that are a normal part of coming to a mature faith.

Stages of Faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning by James W. Fowler, Harper Collins, 1981, 348 ff.Each person's faith is unique, yet faith is also universal. It is fundamental, mysterious, and infinitely varied. So says James W. Fowler in the introduction to his most popular work, `Stages of Faith'. He is a minister in the United Methodist Church, Professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and Director of the Center for Ethics there. In this book he is suggesting that individuals develop their faith throughout life in a similar way that Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development and Lawrence Kohlberg suggested stages of moral development.Some authors, like Michael Barnes, disagree fundamentally with Fowler's thesis. Furthermore, to Fowler `[f]aith is not always religious in its content or context' - another concept that Barnes takes issue with. Fowler points out that many animals `are endowed with far more set and specific instinctive guidance systems than we are.' But what Man seems to possess uniquely within the animal kingdom is conscious awareness: we require meaning in our lives. He recalls Wilfred Cantwell Smith's distinction between faith and belief: faith is our relationship with the transcendent from which beliefs are fashioned. This distinction is of prime importance in Smith's (and thence Fowler's) writing. Faith develops from our relationship with the world and other people; yet it seems then that faith, a opposed to belief, should indeed apply only in a religious context, for beliefs can be purely secular.The seven stages of faith are given on p.52 of the book and are then elaborated on in the remaining chapters. The `baseline' for development of these stages of faith is the state during the first two years of life before an infant is capable of defining any meaning for faith. The first stage of faith proper is the trust that the infant has in those who nurture him or her - again nothing to do with religion. This Fowler describes as the intuitive-projective faith of the 3-7 year old. The mythic-literal stage from 7 to 12 years of age in primary school is characterised by pictures of anthropomorphic deities. From age 12 to adulthood our synthetic-conventional faith is characterised by conformity with that of our friends and/or family in our quest for personal identity. In our late twenties and thirties we begin to question our beliefs as to whether or not they are genuine and meaningful. We begin to take responsibility for our beliefs. This doubt reaches a climax in that period often described as the `mid-life crisis' in which we must resolve any inconsistencies in our belief system. The final stage represents `enlightenment' when we believe we see clearly what our life-path was all about and look back on achievements and try to make good any deficiencies in accordance with our faith.This is a challenging and thought-provoking book, whether or not you agree with the central thesis. It isn't an easy read but I found it well worth the challenge.Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, U.K.; and The World as Spirit published by Fairhill Publishing, Whitland, West Wales, 2011. Understanding Religion and Science: Introducing the Debate. Michael Horace BarnesUnderstanding Religion and Science: Introducing the Debate. Michael Horace Barnes

Fowler 's scientific methodology is atrocious but his book is nevertheless fascinating and illuminating, integrating science and religion in a constructive way. Of great value to anyone interested in religion or psychology and no doubt of value pastorally as well.

Fascinating and enlightening without any dogma.

This will be useful for my degree course

Classic.