DB 1 Spiritual Development in Childhood

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Apr 3, 2024

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DB 1 Spiritual Development in Childhood While there were several good theories for how spiritual development takes place in childhood, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory was the one that caught my eye the most (Cashion, et al., 2019). Vygotsky’s theory recognized that spiritual development generally involves mentorship or discipleship development within a community of believers. This theory is the acknowledgement that spiritual formation is not just an internal process. It is not simply the acquisition of knowledge. It is the impact of community. Spiritual development is about the whole person, not just the mind. Disciplines and practices are learned from those who are further along in their spiritual journey. Children learn how to pray, study the Bible, meditate, and worship God from older, mature Christians. Pastors, Sunday school teachers, and youth group leaders help guide young Christians through various stages of life and, therefore, various stages of spiritual development. The community that churches afford young children is unmistakable. It is a wealth of experience, knowledge, and wisdom that cannot be found anywhere else. In my opinion, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory for spiritual development could be applied to other areas of development for a child (Cashion, et al., 2019). As kids, we learn how to live from our parents teaching us or us watching them. Even beyond parents, our teachers, pastors, aunts, uncles, grandparents, older siblings, and more are all people that are more mature and have more experiences that give them the ability to mentor us as kids. The concept of something older and more mature teaching, coaching, and nurturing is seen across every developmental stage. It is not contained to just human development, but also to animal development. Because of the need for maturity and experience in developing the young, it only makes sense that this would apply to spiritual development. Not to mention that a great deal of the Bible is made up of countless people in various stages of spiritual development needing a community of wiser, more mature believers to help them to continue to develop in their faiths ( English Standard Version , 2016). References: English Standard Version . (2016). BibleHub. https://biblehub.com. Cashion, V. et al. (2019).  Lifespan 360: Christian Perspectives on Human Development.  Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
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