Fowlers Stages of Faith and the Christian Faith - Essay Example

The purpose of this chapter is to present the discussions about Fowler’s Stages of Faith. In this regard, scholarly journals regarding the subject have been used for this chapter. In tackling Fowler’s stages of faith, the definition of faith will be discussed, the influences that help develop Fowler’s stages of faith, Fowler’s stages of faith, and critique to the stages of faith. All of these conceptual clarifications are to be undertaken with the supposition that removing possible ambiguities deemed connected to the concepts may pave for a better understanding of what is faith and the stages of faith and on how there might be a possibility of establishing the connection between Fowler’s faith and Stages of Faith and the Christian faith. 2.1.

FAITH DEFINEDAccording to the Bible, faith is “the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11: 1). In the same manner, Smith (as cited in Fowler, 1981, p 11) defines faith As something deeper, richer, more personal.it is the quality of the person, not the system. It is an orientation of the personality, to oneself, to one’s neighbor, to the universe; a total response; a way of seeing what one sees and of handling what one handles; a capacity to live at a more mundane level; to see, to feel, to act in terms of transcendental reality.

is a quality of human living.On the other hand, faith is not belief since belief is adherence to propositions or statements about the transcendent whereas faith is trust and loyalty to the transcendent (Fowler, 1981, p. 11). Using these definitions of faith, it can be claimed that faith is a person’s assent to the reality of the transcendent whereas belief is how faith is articulated systematically through propositions or statements. Moreover, in this definition of faith, one can perceive a movement of trusting from the material person towards the immaterial, transcendental being realm, reality.

As such, faith, as commonly understood, is something that refers to a person’s acquiescence of the transcendent.