tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243869605763252988.post3048043891392232022..comments2019-11-27T13:44:55.408-08:00Comments on Todd Hansink (Meditations): Stages of FaithTodd Hansinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04299102226139894381noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243869605763252988.post-9497812300697168112011-01-03T12:15:03.066-08:002011-01-03T12:15:03.066-08:00Dear Anonymous,
My intention was not to write a b...Dear Anonymous,<br /><br />My intention was not to write a book review per se, hence my omission of descriptions of the stages. I figured this information would be on a need-to-know basis. Those who have never suffered religious cognitive dissonance find very little value in a book such as this. Fowler is not hubristic. On the contrary, his purpose is to comfort those who have experienced an involuntary and disconcerting religious paradigm shift.<br /><br />Let me give you an example of the kind of person that might really benefit from reading this book. Last week I ran into a woman that I don’t know very well in the store. She told me that her cleaning lady found her Bible and put it next to her night stand and she wondered if it was a sign that she should rekindle her faith. Then she confided that she didn’t think that she could ever believe again.<br /><br />Whereupon I immediately said, “Sure you can believe again. Though you’ll probably never believe the same way you did before, you can develop a new way of believing, a more mature way. It can be an exciting new challenge to strive for a new level of belief.”<br /><br />She looked at me with a surprised face like I had just given her a good idea. Essentially I had given her the essence of Fowler’s book.<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Stages-Faith-Psychology-Development-Meaning/dp/0060628669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294083211&sr=8-1Todd Hansinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04299102226139894381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243869605763252988.post-48705387844484128482011-01-02T22:08:39.707-08:002011-01-02T22:08:39.707-08:00I suspect that most faithful people (I'm think...I suspect that most faithful people (I'm thinking of some born-gain friends) would immediately be suspicious of a book with this title. The idea that someone would classify faith in any way would probably offend them. Doing so presumes a sense of knowledge beyond faith--that the writer must believe that he has the tools to witness and analyze faith from a higher ground. They would probably call his position hubris. <br /><br />You don't identify the character of each stage, even in summary form, so it's impossible to know your journey. I imagine, however, that his stages of faith lead to a more accepting, big tent, view of religion--a more catholic one. I would like to read this book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com