Module 9: Capstone Final Paper 2

Faith and Spirituality

Karen Crump

National Louis University

Dr. Dustin Heuerman

HED 632

Faith and Spirituality

Parents put into helping their children understand the concepts that could turn out to be confusing and complicated for their understanding. An excellent example of such situations involves the processing of agreement and difference between Faith, religion, and spirituality. When kids fail to understand these concepts, they become frustrated, opening them up to the possibility of rubbishing their essence in life. Parents guide their children and the young ones under their care to understand Faith, religion, and spirituality because these elements inspire the development of a purposeful and happy life (Flannelly, Weaver & Costa, 2014). Several theories have been advanced to aid the understanding of the development of Faith and spirituality. The proponents of the methods utilized different approaches to explain the evolution of Faith and spirituality. The proponents include Bruce Powers, John Westerhoff, James Fowler, Larry Stephens, Gordon Allport, and others (Newman, 2004). Therefore, this essay utilizes Fowler’s faith development theory to advance the discussion on the drafting of a working theory of student development towards professional experience inspired by Faith, spirituality, and religion.

James Fowler’s faith development theory is a cognitive developmental model that aids the understanding of the processes of spiritual development without the influence of the traditions of an individual (Hvidt et al., 2017). The holistic orientation of the theory examines how one is related to the universe across the life span. It has seven stages. The advancement of my faith development stages and method borrows from different theories and emulates Fowler's approach. For instance, I will use scenes that describe the cognitive processes involved in the advancement of Faith and perceptions of individuals. The theory borrows from my experience and how it shaped my ideologies of Faith.

1st stage: Initial Faith

The stage describes our first encounter with Faith and how we process the idea of God and prayer. It serves an essential role in laying the spiritual foundation (Johnstone et al., 2015). In this stage, the individual lacks control over the information relayed but may experience the inception of the crisis internally.

2nd stage: Conditioning of God’s Love

This stage aims to acclimatize the individuals towards internalizing God’s unconditional love. For instance, the parents separate themselves from the child and give them space to create their perception of God (Kadar et al., 2015). It is a stage that follows the previous step, which focused on aligning individuals towards spirituality. It elicits similarity with Erikson’s stages of development where autonomy goes head to head with shame. Children will not find it comfortable to remain at home when all the members of the family go to church. It also functions as the intuitive-projective Faith that uses gestures and narratives to inspire the imaginations of an individual. It gives rise to the moral emotions that make an individual aware of the taboos, thereby striking a balance between the representation of God and the aspects of life considered to be ungodly.

3rd stage: Literal and conventional Faith

The third stage pools together individuals in the elementary school years to middle adolescence, where an individual move from self-condemnation to the destruction of the Distorted Image of God (Souza et al., 2015). At this stage, one is bound to make mistakes and seek forgiveness from God to avoid the wrath of the parents. Children at this stage begin to apply the truths about God because they are aware of sins and their wages. As time passes, they develop a healthy image of God as their Faith strengthens and instructs them towards obeying the commandments of God and staying away from sin. The lessons about spiritual concepts begin to cement, and they enter to view God as a patient, loving, forgiving, and accepting Father. The driving force at this stage is a belief that allows them to Accept Jesus as the Messiah.

4th Stage: Faith of Identity and Intimacy

Between the age of 12 to 35, people gain salvation or baptism that allows them to accept themselves as temples of God. At this stage, the relationships with God become that of close dependence as people seek the control of the Holy Spirit in their conscience. Teenagers search for their identity while those in their late thirties begin to regret the things they have done in life. They start to drift towards God.

5th Stage: Spiritual Ministry and Universalizing Faith

At the late stage of life, people begin to seek the Kingdom of God because they want to make amends for their sins to have a peaceful transition into the next life called eternity (McKay & Wood, 2019). Some venture into sharing the word of God while others take the spiritual and Faith matters seriously by doing missions, leading Bible studies, and doing charity.

The bottom line of faith and spirituality theory is to aid the development of an explanation that allows individuals to understand how their Faith is shaped by the circumstances they face in their environment when growing up. When people find it challenging to align with the common understanding in the early stages of life, at one point in life, they come back to seek to belong in one of the most appealing religions that suit their Faith and spirituality.

References

Flannelly, K. J., Weaver, A. J., & Costa, K. G. (2014). A systematic review of religion and spirituality in three palliative care journals, 1990–1999. Journal of Palliative Care, 20(1), 50-56.

Hvidt, N. C., Hvidtjørn, D., Christensen, K., Nielsen, J. B., & Søndergaard, J. (2017). Faith moves mountains—mountains move Faith: two opposite epidemiological forces in research on religion and health. Journal of religion and health, 56(1), 294-304.

Johnstone, B., Yoon, D. P., Cohen, D., Schopp, L. H., McCormack, G., Campbell, J., & Smith, M. (2015). Relationships among spirituality, religious practices, personality factors, and health for five different faith traditions. Journal of religion and health, 51(4), 1017-1041.

Kadar, J. L., Scott, A. B., Hipp, K., Belavich, T. G., Butter, E. M., Rye, M. S., ... & Zinnbauer, B. J. (2015). Religion and spirituality: Unfuzzying the fuzzy. In Sociology of Religion (pp. 29-34). Routledge.

McKay, M., & Wood, J. C., (2019). The New Happiness: Practices for Spiritual Growth and Living with Intention. New Harbinger Publications.

Newman, L. L., (2004). Faith, Spirituality, and Religion: A Model for Understanding the Differences. College Student Affairs Journal, 23(2), 102-110.

Souza, V. D. M., Frizzo, H. C. F., Paiva, M. H. P. D., Bousso, R. S., & Santos, Á. D. S. (2015). Spirituality, religion, and personal beliefs of adolescents with cancer. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 68(5), 791-796.