Faith Development Theory

Roehlkepartain, E.C., King, P.E., Wagener, L., & Benson, P.L. (2006). The handbook of spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Th

al (2005) suggest that minimal evidence and research has been conducted on spiritual development, however, they hypothesize that spiritual development is a dimension of human life that is as important as cognitive, social, or emotional development and interrelated to each other. It is a dimension that is a person's effort to mix various aspects of development. Spiritual development introduces questions about the nature of spiritual change, transformation, growth, or maturity through life phases or stages. The authors emphasize that "understanding the continuity of childhood and adolescence is as vital to understanding spiritual development as it is to recognizing the phases and stages that are part of that process" (Roehlkepartain et. al,

James Fowler developed his stages of faith after conduction in-depth interviews of 359 people. The sample subjects were predominately white, with equal numbers of males and females and included a wide range of ages, from three and a half to 84 years old. Fowler’s interviews consisted of 30 plus questions regarding the subject’s life experiences, relationships, values, commitments and religion. After analyzing the responses, Fowler placed each subject in one of six faith stages. The responses indicated that as the subject’s age increased, so did their stage of faith (Hutchison, 2015).

In the documentary “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero,” a number of people were interviewed about how their religious beliefs or non beliefs, were challenged since the events of September 11th. The interviews with priests, rabbis, family members of victims, survivors, lay people, atheists and agnostics, this documentary explores how Americans’ spiritual lives may have changed since the event. When a tragic event happens, people would either grow closer to god or outgrow god. To those people who do not believe in a god, these actions will just prove their beliefs. In the beginning of the film, people immediately started to question God. Some of them started to question why would a god so mighty approve this kind of actions. Dr. Michael Brescia, who is a physician who saw pictures of people jumping off the building, "I wonder how many of them thought if there was a God. And if there was a God, why me? Why this? And where am I going to go?” This kind of questions always come up when something catastrophic happens. Others, however, did not ask any questions and just accepted what has happened. Kim Coleman, who lost her daughter said, “God knows something I don’t, God knows best and knows better than we do.” There were also a couple of people who were not so sure what to think of god anymore. Rev. Joseph Griesedieck, a priest who volunteered at Ground Zero said, “the face of God was a blank slate for me. God couldn't be counted on in the way that I thought God could be

In this narrative we meet three women who come from different walks of life. Each one of them has a different religion, but they all have one thing in common. That is that they all have children and want to explain to them about their different religions, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks as many children had questions and were left perplexed.

Advertisements are an important vehicle designed to promote or help sell a product, service or idea (Young, 2014, p.35). As a dimension of IMC, advertising is “…most often associated with offenses that attract attention from critics and regulators alike” (Young, 2014, p.34). This can be

Some adults may live much of their lives with a literal faith. Stage three is group faith Young people start to value the importance of friendship and often come to view God as one who treats them much like a trusted companion. Stage four is person faith. People strengthen their faith by questioning earlier beliefs. Stage five is mystical faith. At this stage of faith the awareness of God’s inner presence leads one to become more aware that God also dwells in others. Interfaith dialogue now becomes not a threat but an opportunity for new understanding. Stage six is sacrificial faith. Jesus, Dorothy Day, and Archbishop Romero are examples of this sacrificial faith. Such people display radical and consistent commitment to the doing of God’s will that is uncompromised by concern for personal security.

Pipes and Lee, in Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy seeks to provide parents with a framework for passing a lasting Christian legacy to their children. Of course, they do so with a decidedly conservative underpinning one would expect from Southern Baptist ministers and they make no excuses for doing so. Pipes and Lee lay out a plan in six chapters where parents can pass on their faith to their children and reverse the trend of them leaving the church upon turning 18. Beginning with Healthy Families in Chapter One and concluding with sharing the message in Chapter Six, Pipes and Lee provide and outline filled with helpful tips and ideas on how families can grow closer

God calls us to serve and to do everything with love (1 Peter 4:10, 1 Corinthians 16:14). As a Student Affairs (SA) professional, my main goal is to help students discover their calling and equip them to better serve the world while integrating their faith. Smith (2004), states why it is important to serve as a mentor during a critical adult faith development stage. In The Council for the Advancement of Standards and Higher Education (CAS), CAS has incorporated faith, spirituality and religion into the standards and competencies that they advocate for individuals working as educators in the student affairs field ( Smith, 2004). In the CAS masters-level graduate program for student affairs standards (2004) the authors spoke to the essential need to incorporate spirituality.

Presented with the task of assessing someone’s faith development required the answers to three essential questions. How has social learning played a part in the individual’s religious development? How has attachment played a part in the individual’s religious development? Upon answering these questions we must then evaluate the stages of faith development in which the individual is in according to James Fowler and David Elkind. After thorough evaluation has occurred the question pertaining to the role of doubt can then be answered. With these questions in mind, the theory that religious beliefs and adherence to spiritual faith are ultimately tested and proved during adolescence was the driving thought throughout the process of interviewing

Target has a corporate social responsibility plan to show the legacy of giving and service. Rothaermel (2014) explains that Target embraces social programs, such as, promoting minorities and minority women into the supply chain. Target is fostering equality in society; this begins by creating a diverse workforce. Target is engaging the community to strengthen relationships and teach ethical treatment to others (Target, 2016). Rothaermel (2014) discusses corporate citizenship, where an organization philanthropic responsibilities are evident thorough ethical practices and giving back to society. Target encourages their employees to volunteer in local community programs. Target is interested in the community stakeholders and is committed to supporting communities by giving five percent of its profits, which has added up to more than $4 million each week (Target, 2016).

One argues that today we have a crisis of belief, not a crisis of faith. To explain this crisis, I will briefly examine the relationship between faith and belief, explain why cultural shift is important to note when trying to understand religious issues, go into detail on the three hallmarks of each of the two cultures by showing how they compare to each other, show how Tillich’s notion of correlation deals with this idea of culture and a crisis of belief, and explain how Marsh’s notion of a “theology of negotiation” (33) fits with Lonergan’s definition and allows him to argue that film can help us raise theological questions.

The Dynamics of Faith is an in-depth look at what faith is from a theological perspective. Tillich seems to be replying to all of the writers we have read thus far and placing their arguments within the context of faith. Nowhere is this more apparent than on page 24, in his discussion of community. He rightly acknowledges that faith is usually seen in its sociologic setting. He then proceeds to sort out the different claims, saying that

Spirituality and religion play a significant role in shaping the lives of individuals. Regardless of whether you follow the practices of an organized religion, simply believe in the spiritual life force or claim to not ascribe to religious or spiritual traditions, all of these paths affect the way an individual interacts with the world around them. One of the major influences of religion or spirituality is on one’s ability to cope with difficult situations. Whether it is the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, religion and spirituality can have monumental effects on how the individual responds to stressful or traumatic

The concepts of religious faith, theology, belief and spirituality are all interconnected and very easy to get mixed up. This is because they all have something to do with the other. Richard P. Mcbrien explains how religious faith, theology, beliefs, and spirituality are all connected. Theology follows faith and belief follows Theology. Faith is our personal knowledge of God through human experiences and our openness to his love. Theology is our understanding of faith as revealed by God and our articulation of it. Beliefs are accepting these theological conclusions as true even without clear and convincing evidence. Spirituality is the practice of these beliefs, letting the spirit guide ones life. Although it’s easy to mix up the meaning of faith and belief or get confused the difference in understanding faith in Theology and being filled by God in your spirituality it’s pretty easy to grasp once you see how each influences the other.