Episode 23: Stages of Faith Development

In this episode, Christopher and Riley welcome back Jana Spangler to discuss stages of faith development as touched on in Episode 20: Navigating a Faith Crisis. For decades, theologians and philosophers like James Fowler, Brian McLaren, and Ken Wilbur have attempted to classify and put a name to the stages of the human faith journey. Jana, Riley, and Christopher discuss the value of these models in helping listeners to understand where they are on the faith development continuum so that they might take solace in knowing their oftentimes isolating faith struggles are a normal aspect of growth and discovery. Christopher, Riley, and Jana take the listener step by step through one of the models of faith development in the context of the atonement and the Perennial tradition, and encourage listeners, as Joseph Smith did, to “stretch”, “search”, “contemplate”, “expand”, and “commune with God”.