Stages of Faith

Based on a recommendation from a friend I started reading developmental psychologist James Fowler’s book “Stages of Faith.” The book is based off six hundred interviews with men, women and children, ranging in age from four to eighty-eight concerning issues of faith. Their religious beliefs span the gamut, ranging from atheist and agnostic, to Catholic; Protestant, Jewish, and based off some of the interview excerpts I would guess some Mormons as well. His research leads him to a framework of faith development that includes six different stages. The following summaries of each of Fowler's stages were copied and pasted from this website, and given that stages zero and one concern infants and young children I figured I would list only the more relevant stages, two through five.

Stage 2 – "Mythic-Literal" faith (mostly in school children), stage three persons have a strong belief in the justice and reciprocity of the universe, and their deities are almost always anthropomorphic.

Stage 3 – "Synthetic-Conventional" faith (arising in adolescence). The majority of the population finds its permanent home in this stage. It is a stage characterized by conformity, where one finds one's identity by aligning oneself with a certain perspective, and lives directly through this perception with little opportunity to reflect on it critically. Authority derives from the top down, and is invested with power by majority opinion. Furthermore, while one can at this stage enter into an intimate relationship with the divine, one's life situations may drive one into despair (the threshold to the next stage). Such situations may include contradictions between authorities, the revelation of authoritarian hypocrisy, and lived experiences which contradict one's convictions.

Stage 4 – "Individuative-Reflective" faith (usually mid-twenties to late thirties) a stage of angst and struggle. At this time, the personality gradually detaches from the defining group from which it formerly drew its identity. The person is aware of him or herself as an individual and must--perhaps for the first time--take personal responsibility for his/her beliefs and feelings. This is a stage of de-mythologizing, where what was once unquestioned is now subjected to critical scrutiny. Stage four is heavily existential, where nothing is certain but one's own existence, and disillusionment reigns. This stage is not a comfortable place to be and, although it can last for a long time, those who stay in it do so in danger of becoming bitter and suspicious people.

Stage 5 – "Conjunctive" faith (mid-life crisis) moves one from stage four's rationalism to the acknowledgement of paradox and transcendence. It is in this stage that, in Washburnian terminology, one chooses regression in the service of transcendence. In this stage a person grasps the reality behind the symbols of his or her inherited systems, and is also drawn to and acknowledging of the symbols of other's systems. In stage five, the world, demythologized in stage four, is re-sacrilized, literally brimming with vision. It is also imbued with a new sense of justice that goes beyond justice defined by one's own culture and people. Because one has begun to see "the bigger picture" the walls culture and tradition have built between ourselves and others begins to erode. It is an overwhelming, ecstatic stage in which one is radically opened to possibility and wonder.

Anybody who has been close to me over the past several years would probably not hesitate to place me neatly within the description of one particular stage (Hint – the most foreboding sounding one). As I have subjected my world view to critical personal scrutiny over this span of time I have at times felt marginalized and perpetually misunderstood by many people close to me. I have managed in some way or another to alienate a lot of people that I love and care about. I suppose this is a natural by product of making the purpose of ones life a full scale ideological battle, both political and religious. I remember in a previous life being largely characterized as a “nice guy” by my peers and felt like a lot of my better attributes were easily recognized. In more recent times it feels like I have had to make an effort to remind people that I really am still a nice guy, that I am still understanding, that I will do whatever I can to help my friends, that I live my life by the golden rule.

As I was reading the book I felt like Fowler’s description of stage 4 was a carbon copy of my mindset over the past two years. His chapter on stage four made me feel like I wasn’t the only one who has gone through what I have. It was that rare experience for which I am always searching: to be understood. The problem is that I’m no longer sure that is the way I want others to understand me. Do I really want to be understood by those at church as a devoted skeptic or cautious believer? More recently, I have wondered why I always feel a need to rationally justify my beliefs and faith to others as if they were complete skeptics. Why do I always feel the need to emphasize my skepticism? Yes, skepticism is a recurring theme and on reflection has been the attribute in which I have often defined myself to others.

The book offers hope in a more objective world view and transcendent approach to faith beyond a stage four. As of recently I feel I have been heading in a more positive direction. Part of this has been the recognition that I don’t always have an answer to why I believe beyond it feels right or good. The recognition that everybody is at different stages of faith in their lives and they don’t need to take the same path as me (although it helps me feel understood =-). It would seem awfully strange if my Mom, the most unquestioning and believing person I know, became a skeptic. Its part of what makes her great. The recognition that in many ways I define myself to others, and therefore have some control over how I am perceived. I envision a time in the near future in which rather than defining myself by struggles I let my more admirable attributes define and speak for me.