Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The four stages of Christian faith

This is a model which attempts to describe stages of a persons personal spiritual growth process. It has been helpful to me<some of the time anyway> when interacting with people who might view life differently than I do...this is a link to more background to Peck's work:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck


Scott Peck postulates that there are four stages of human spiritual development:
Stage I is chaotic, disordered, and reckless. Very young children are in Stage I. They tend to defy and disobey, and are unwilling to accept a will greater than their own. Many criminals are people who have never grown out of Stage I.
Stage II is the stage at which a person has blind faith. Once children learn to obey their parents, they reach Stage II. Many so-called religious people are essentially Stage II people, in the sense that they have blind faith in God, and do not question His existence. With blind faith comes humility and a willingness to obey and serve. The majority of good law-abiding citizens never move out of Stage II.
Stage III is the stage of scientific skepticism and inquisitivity. A Stage III person does not accept things on faith but only accepts them if convinced logically. Many people working in scientific and technological research are in Stage III.
Stage IV is the stage where an individual starts enjoying the mystery and beauty of nature. While retaining skepticism, he starts perceiving grand patterns in nature. His religiousness and spirituality differ significantly from that of a Stage II person, in the sense that he does not accept things through blind faith but does so because of genuine belief. Stage IV people are labelled as mystics.
Scott Peck argues that while transitions from Stage I to Stage II are sharp, transitions from Stage III to Stage IV are gradual. Nonetheless, these changes are very noticeable and mark a significant difference in the personality of the individual.

I also liked this outline of emotional development also from the above link:

Discipline
In his epoch making book The Road Less Traveled, Scott Peck talked of the importance of discipline. He described four aspects of discipline:
Delaying gratification: Sacrificing present comfort for future gains.
Acceptance of responsibility: Accepting responsibility for one's own decisions.
Dedication to truth: Honesty, both in word and deed.
Balancing: Handling conflicting requirements. Scott Peck talks of an important skill to prioritize between different requirements -- bracketing.
Peck�s book begins with the profound truth that �Life is difficult!�. We must attest to the fact that life was never meant to be easy, and that it is nothing but a battlefield of problems. We can either moan about them or solve them. It is here that the vital role of discipline assumes significance.
Peck defines discipline as the basic set of tools we require to solve life�s problems. These tools are delaying gratification, assuming responsibility, dedication to the truth, and balancing. These are techniques of suffering, means by which we experience the pain of problems in such a way as to work through them and solve them successfully, learning and growing in the process. Most of us do not want to wrestle with our problems because of the pain involved. Yet, it is only in grappling with our problems that life has its meaning.

Amazing what folks will shift their attention to when sex is no longer a driving force.

Didn't mean YOU in the above post, it concerned the transitions.

There's a StageV. That's when people turn into sheeple.

Guess what stage 99% of the flocks might be in ...

Might be a pun there....

So, do you want a Sigmund Freud thread....his attention was on sex most of the time IIRC the rest of the time was largely focused on cocaine and cigars.... what a party guy....

More here:
http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/cocaine/
On April 24, 1884, Sigmund Freud ordered his first gram of cocaine from the local apothecary.

It was not to be his last. He'd read about coke, it was supposed to be great for fatigue. So great, the German army used it to stave off exhaustion[1], and he thought it might help out a few of his patients suffering nervous disorders. Like most people who purchase their first gram of coke, he was rather shocked - it cost him a small fortune. One tenth of his monthly salary to be precise. And again, like new kids in the cocaine game, the first thing he did was take a dose himself.

Then another. And another.

He sent some to his friends; he sent some to his fiancee, Martha Bernays, who lived some miles away, saying:

I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you are forward you shall see who is the stronger, a little girl who doesn't eat enough or a big strong man with cocaine in his body. In my last serious depression I took cocaine again and a small dose lifted me to the heights in a wonderful fashion. I am just now collecting the literature for a song of praise to this magical substance

I can't help but wonder it the only meaning of life is what one ascribes to it.

2ndwind - very interestiong. Thanks for posting. I would add to stage IV (or maybe it's a stage V) that one reaches a point where he is secure in his belief and comes to a point where he can "relax and enjoy" who he is and what he believes without the doubt and constant self-evaluation and criticsm that often takes place in the beginning stages. I probably did a poor job of stating that. Best, John

Thanks 5sdad, I think it was Peck who also spoke about people at stage IV are able to detach themselves from from the arguments 95% of Christians get caught up in over the 5% of Scripture that causes the most contention.... Thats a loose paraphrase coming from my middle aged memory which has not had its espresso yet.... off to fix the espresso deficit now....

its hard to take serious, anything regarding religion, that has as it's source, Wikipedia.
Any whack job can post, or change info there. Maybe a more studied and serious course could be found for this?

Freud should have turned that high powered intuition inward and asked what causes a cokehead to likes fat girls.

Mannlicher, what has you in such a crusty mood today? I had just read this on fish280' s thread:
"Amazing thought process. Simply amazing............

See ya fish"

Bristoe, spot on question

Dang Bristoe you are smart. You just asked and answered your question.