Book Review (Part 2): Finding Faith
In the first part I didn't mention my favorite part of the book, which is a chapter called, "How Does Faith Grow.” In this chapter McLaren comes up with a system that labels the stages of faith a person might go through (it fits fairly well with my experience).
Stage 1 - Simplicity
Stage 2 - Complexity
Stage 3 - Perplexity
Stage 4 - Humility
Simplicity - Being right means belonging to the right group, everything can be known, and the group's authorities know everything.
Complexity - Truth is found by using the right methods. Most everything can be known, but it sometimes takes a lot of work to find. Authorities are coaches that can help you grow.
Perplexity - Everything is uncertain, except uncertainty. Truth may be impossible to find. Authorities are of little or no help and may be purposefully manipulative for the sake of their power.
Humility - Truth can be understood to various degrees, there's a lot of mystery. People should practice the saying, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, diversity; in all things, charity." Authorities are people like ourselves.
The various stages have different strengths and weaknesses (and views on things, of course); Stage 4 has the strengths of the previous 3 stages, but also risks having the weaknesses of the previous 3 stages. People are normally led to the next stage by faith crises (often unwillingly) - which often tend to make people think that they're losing their faith (except I guess the one from 3 to 4).
These stages won't cover everyone, of course, but I think it provides a helpful framework to look at things. I think unreflective people may stay in stage 1, but that a lot of people stay in stage 2 (maybe after a brief foray into stage 3, that is solved by finding better experts or authorities). Unfortunately, people in stage 3 may give up on their faith. I wouldn't recommend it, but perhaps as McLaren suggests, it's sometimes a necessary thing to go though to get to stage 4.
Other than that chapter, I'm not sure that this book really told me much I didn't know. However, it did make me feel better about not having as much certainty as I would like. One thing I found weird was that McLaren was somewhat systematic in his approach until he got to monotheism, but after that all he offered in Christianity's defense was his personal testimony.
I don't know how this book would do with non-believers (especially those with no Christian background), but I would highly recommend it for people from Christian backgrounds who are in stage 3.
Technorati tags: Finding Faith Brian McLaren Apologetics Faith Spirituality Stages of Faith
Stage 1 - Simplicity
Stage 2 - Complexity
Stage 3 - Perplexity
Stage 4 - Humility
Simplicity - Being right means belonging to the right group, everything can be known, and the group's authorities know everything.
Complexity - Truth is found by using the right methods. Most everything can be known, but it sometimes takes a lot of work to find. Authorities are coaches that can help you grow.
Perplexity - Everything is uncertain, except uncertainty. Truth may be impossible to find. Authorities are of little or no help and may be purposefully manipulative for the sake of their power.
Humility - Truth can be understood to various degrees, there's a lot of mystery. People should practice the saying, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, diversity; in all things, charity." Authorities are people like ourselves.
The various stages have different strengths and weaknesses (and views on things, of course); Stage 4 has the strengths of the previous 3 stages, but also risks having the weaknesses of the previous 3 stages. People are normally led to the next stage by faith crises (often unwillingly) - which often tend to make people think that they're losing their faith (except I guess the one from 3 to 4).
These stages won't cover everyone, of course, but I think it provides a helpful framework to look at things. I think unreflective people may stay in stage 1, but that a lot of people stay in stage 2 (maybe after a brief foray into stage 3, that is solved by finding better experts or authorities). Unfortunately, people in stage 3 may give up on their faith. I wouldn't recommend it, but perhaps as McLaren suggests, it's sometimes a necessary thing to go though to get to stage 4.
Other than that chapter, I'm not sure that this book really told me much I didn't know. However, it did make me feel better about not having as much certainty as I would like. One thing I found weird was that McLaren was somewhat systematic in his approach until he got to monotheism, but after that all he offered in Christianity's defense was his personal testimony.
I don't know how this book would do with non-believers (especially those with no Christian background), but I would highly recommend it for people from Christian backgrounds who are in stage 3.
Technorati tags: Finding Faith Brian McLaren Apologetics Faith Spirituality Stages of Faith
posted by Freethinker at 4:38:00 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, and sometimes there come a "crisis of belief" where we choose to believe in something when we have no other legs to stand on
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