ISSN 1538-1080
DOI:10.58717/ijhc.01

Developing Faith in The Transcendent: Approaches and Stages of Development

Developing Faith in The Transcendent: Approaches and Stages of Development

While faith can help us to develop and deepen our sense of spirituality, it may also hinder us from finding our own, personal beliefs and spirituality. At its worst, it may also lead to conflicts between people of differing faiths. Therefore, understanding how faith develops is of vital importance at this time when there are major conflicts between peoples of differing faiths in various geographic, cultural and religious communities conflicts that threaten the continuation and perhaps even the survival of life as we know it on this planet. Faith is based in logical truths and faith is based in the heart known directly rather than deduced through reason. Our personal and collective challenge is to seek the healing balance between the two ways of experiencing an d practicing our faith. Numerous components of can be identified within the broad contexts of faith: A. There are three broad approaches for developing faith: 1. Accepting what we are told 2. Logical reasoning 3. Intuitive, experiential knowing B. James Fowler identifies six stages in developing faith: 1. Basic faith (Fowler: Intuitive-Projective Faith) 2. Mythic-Literal Faith 3. Faith based on popular idols (Fowler: Synthetic-Conventional Faith) 4. Faith by personal choice (Fowler: Individuative-Reflective Faith) 5. Faith through inner knowing (Fowler: Conjunctive Faith) 6. Faith anchored in transcendent awareness (Fowler: Universalizing Faith) C. Personality types and stages of faith D. Societal stages of awareness parallel the stages of faith Each approach and stage has its advantages and drawbacks. None can be proven as valid beyond question without prior assumptions or. Each of these five stages can be experienced through any or all of the three broad approaches to experiencing faith. Each will be colored by our personality styles

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