Reimagining Fowler’s Stages of Faith: shifting from a seven stage to a four step framework for faith development

ABSTRACT

Since 1981, James Fowler’s stage model of faith development has provided researchers with a framework for understanding the ways in which people develop belief systems over the course of their lives. Despite its helpfulness, there are several notable areas of critique that can be levelled against the model, including its lack of parsimony, heavy reliance on structural-developmental design, and lack of responsiveness to diversity. This article revises Fowler’s stage model into a process model, reducing the seven stages of his original design into four process steps that occur during belief formation and re-evaluation. These four steps – religious socialisation, early questioning, exploration and engagement, and refinement – can offer researchers a meaningful and parsimonious path for understanding the process of belief formation, transition, and maintenance. Implications and future directions are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Faith development theory
• religious socialisation
• religion
• worldview

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Jones

Benjamin Jones is a marriage family therapist who is studying the ways that belief and value conflict are navigated in family systems, particularly in parent-adolescent relationships. His passion is for helping families have these conversations well. He holds a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and is currently working on a doctorate in couple and family therapy at Kansas State University.