Fowler’s (1981) theory provides the spiritual counselor with a model that describes the individual’s approach to his world. It is first important to understand Fowler’s use of the word faith. He is not referring to religion or religious practice; rather, he considers faith to mean the process we use to create meaning and purpose in our lives. Faith is our worldview or our lens through which we view our world.

Fowler states that we, as humans, require meaning. "We need purpose and priorities; we must have some grasp on the big picture" (p. 4). Purpose and meaning inspire us, and they provide our lives with depth and breadth. Fowler believes that faith is a growing, developing, lifelong process that evolves as the consciousness and wisdom of the individual evolves. In other words, our faith changes and evolves as we change and evolve.

Many individuals turn to religion to find the elements that provide faith and meaning, however Fowler says that faith is more personal than religion. It speaks to the underlying ‘why’ of our existence. Religion provides the tradition upon which faith is based, and faith is the passion behind the tradition. Faith speaks to ways of believing. It is one’s passion and trust in the beliefs, not the beliefs themselves. Faith comes from the heart, and it is our interaction with the unseen and unknowable (Fowler, 1981).

Fowler says that faith is a commitment to something. It is a putting or placing of trust in some value-laden thing that is external to self. Therefore, faith implies relationship, because it speaks to ‘another.’ The object that we choose as our object of commitment defines us and shapes our identity. Whether this object is an object of a great tradition, such as God, or whether it is a transcendent quality, such as love, the way we place ourselves in relation to that object tells us who we are (Fowler, 1981).

According to Fowler (1981), faith is largely mysterious. We live in it and are internal to it because it represents our very way of interacting with what is external to us, and it therefore defines us in our relationship to the world. We cannot deny its effect on us. We can only try to understand its effect and determine how we choose to interact with it. As long as we inhabit a body and exist on the planet Earth, we must interact with the things external to us. Briefly, faith can be defined as our worldview or our belief about the meaning and purpose of life. It defines us as a separate identity. It helps us understand ourselves through our relationship to what is external to us. It also helps us recognize that we are separate beings with a separate ego and identity.

Infants inhabit what Fowler calls undifferentiated faith, and it is not included in the six-stage model. The infant does not initially recognize itself as separate from the caregiver. The infant’s major task is to differentiate itself from its environment and the people and objects in that environment. Through its interactions, the infant must contend with trust and abandonment. If thwarted, a lack of trust will follow the individual throughout life, and he will struggle with self-trust and his ability to trust his own judgment. He will lack the courage to pursue independence, and he will feel alienated and isolated. The infant also forms what are called pre-images of God (Fowler, 1981).

This stage spans Erikson’s development of autonomy and initiative. At this stage of faith, the young child has developed language to communicate her needs and an understanding of object permanence. The outer world is now predictable, and the child uses speech to begin organizing the world into meaningful units. The child asks why, which is the eternal quest of man to know and understand. This is the beginning of faith development, and the experiences and images of this stage will have powerful long-lasting effects on one’s entire life (Fowler, 1981).

The young child sees the world through her own eyes and is not able to step into the shoes of the other. "The child’s thinking is fluid and magical" (Fowler, 1981, p. 123). Much of what children know about the transcendent is learned from others, and generally, the child follows the belief of the parents. She imagines God, angels, and other holy figures as people in fairy tales. The child is ready for the next stage when concrete operational thinking begins to emerge because she is able to sort out what is real and what is make-believe.

This stage is characterized by a more orderly worldview where the real and make-believe world are effectively separated. The image of God corresponds to the child’s image of the parent, and the child believes that God acts as parents do. This is the age of reciprocity and fairness (as noted by Kohlberg), and God is viewed the same way. Use of narrative and story is the way that someone at this stage organizes meaning. Those who tell long stories, in an attempt to explain their world, are acting with stage two faith (Fowler, 1981).

Children tend to respond to religious stories and rituals literally, rather than symbolically. Their beliefs are based on authority focused outside themselves, and they take on the beliefs, stories, and observances of the community. Beliefs are interpreted literally, and symbols are one dimensional, much like Piaget’s concrete operational thinking (Fowler, 1981).

One who is stuck in this stage may end up being overcontrolling, perfectionistic, or have a literal sense of badness as reflected in Erikson’s stage three. The danger of this stage lies in the strong power of imagination. Overemphasis on taboos, devils, images of terror, and destructiveness can possess the imagination of the child or adult who sees the world through stage two faith (Fowler, 1981).

Transition to stage three begins when the individual recognizes that stories contradict each other, and he begins to reflect on what this means. Movement is marked by a maturity of thought and an ability to reflect on these larger meanings. Formal operations thinking makes this shift possible (Fowler, 1981).

With the development of formal operations thinking, the adolescent can now conceive of ideal people and communities. He can reflect on things and think them through. He now begins to step outside his life story and reflect on its meaning. The adolescent worldview can be very idealistic, very judgmental, or both. The adolescent is also capable of constructing formal meanings about the world, and he is able to hold a larger worldview. He can step outside himself and view life from that perspective, and he can begin to place meaning on his own life story (Fowler, 1981).

People in stage three place authority outside self. Images and values, although larger and constructed in idealistic ways, are largely unexamined. People at this stage tend to accept society’s views without questioning too deeply, and most adults remain in this stage for life. The teenager imagines God to be much like a friend or companion, because the young teen wishes to have a relationship with a god figure who knows and values him on a personal level (Fowler, 1981).

The danger at this stage is that true autonomy may be stifled. Individuals will tend to internalize others’ opinions and hold them sacred. Self-reflection and self-judgment will not occur. Stage three begins to break down when serious clashes or contradictions arise between formerly valued sources. As an example, a highly idealized figure, such as a teacher or idol, may do something unacceptable, and the clash of the ideal image with the bad behavior may create a major conflict within the mind of the individual. Having lost the ideal, the individual will begin to look deeper within himself and begin to evaluate once sacred beliefs (Fowler, 1981).

Stage four marks a radical shift from dependence on others to independence and autonomy. This is a stage marked by boundaries. The individual steps outside the community and seeks a sense of self as separate and authentic. The individual begins to mature and look for answers within herself. She steps outside the society that she has inhabited, and reflects on whether she agrees with the community-based set of beliefs. Individuals at this stage begin to shape a new identity and faith, which is chosen rather than inherited from others. The individual essentially relocates authority within herself (Fowler, 1981).

This can be a difficult transition, because the individual is leaving behind the cherished beliefs of others and her group, which may create difficulties for her. As she creates a new identity, it may not necessarily fit with her previously held roles in society. Her life may begin to fall apart (Fowler, 1981).

The stage four individual translates once cherished symbols into conceptual meanings, which implies that symbols lose some of their power and become demythologized. This is especially true of religious symbols, and thus religion may lose much of its power. She reflects on self and ideology, but the danger is that she can become self absorbed and narcissistic about her own chosen set of beliefs (Fowler, 1981).

The person who is ready for transition to stage five becomes disillusioned by purely conceptual thinking and hears the deeper call of the subconscious forces within. Mental concepts can become sterile and flat, and the individual yearns for deeper symbols, myths, and understanding of the paradoxes of the world. The logic of stage four disintegrates as the secret whisperings of the mystical inner world signal time for change (Fowler, 1981)

Individuals at stage five enter into a relationship with paradox. The stage five person moves beyond an either/or, black or white world into the world of the many sided issue. Individuals in this stage of faith often think that things are organically related to each other; and things do not necessarily fit neatly into any particular previously held pattern. The individual moves from independence to interdependence as he opens to the vast diversity of the world. The stage five individual is willing to live with paradox and let it speak. Life becomes multidimensional (Fowler, 1981).

Individuals in stage five are often intrigued by the subconscious or unconscious mind, and it is a fruitful time for meeting the ‘dark side’ of one’s own nature and bringing it into the light. Individuals at this stage are often intrigued with Jung’s process of individuation and the merging of the opposites within the self. Self-certainty of stage four gives way to a child-like naïveté. Individuals revisit their life story and reflect upon it in a deeper way (Fowler, 1981).

Individuals at this stage recognize the multidimensional nature of the world and enter into relationship with the global community, because they do not feel confined by the rules and regulations of their own culture. The stage five person appreciates symbols, myths, and rituals of their own culture as well as those from other cultures, and they are more involved with the ‘family of man’ (Fowler, 1981).

The shift to stage six results from the fact that stage five individuals have one foot in the untransformed world and the other foot in a transforming vision of what might be. Since stage five individuals are also in Erikson’s generativity stage, they begin to contemplate the importance of contribution to the future of humankind (Fowler, 1981).

Individuals who move to the sixth stage of faith are rare. As older adults, they begin to search for universal values, such as unconditional love and justice. Self-preservation becomes less relevant. Mother Theresa and Mahatma Gandhi are examples of people in this form of spiritual development. Individuals at this stage have their eye on transcendent actuality. They have a radical commitment to justice and love, and they give selflessly of themselves. They give themselves to "a transformed world, a world made over and not in their images, but in accordance with an intentionality both divine and transcendent" (Fowler, 1981, p201).

Fowler includes only such notables as Gandhi and Mother Teresa in this category, but I would suggest that stage six individuals are much more prevalent than Fowler believes. These individuals simply work quietly, in their own way, toward the transformation of the world.

Fowler’s stages flow from a Western perspective and can only take us so far, because they imply duality and separation. They imply that we are a unique separate identity in relationship with the world and the ‘other.’ Underhill takes us a step farther into the mystical realm where duality is transcended.

It is important to include Underhill’s stages in our discussion, because they represent a deeper understanding of the transcendent nature. They represent a continuation of Fowler’s stage six faith.

1. The Awakening – this represents the first stage of the mystic, and it is usually the result of a conversion experience. The individual has a profound experience of illumination or deep level of insight into the mysteries of the universe.
2. Purification – this stage represents the time of purification when the mystic seeks a deeper knowing of the Divine. The struggle begins, as the mystic must purify self and let go of the ego to move into more transcendental states of being.
3. Illumination – the mystic gains a foothold and is able to dwell in the illuminated state. One senses the presence of God and possesses an illuminated vision of the world. This may include visions, voices, and states of rapture.
4. Dark Night of Soul – this represents the last crisis and final surrender to the Divine. The ego is dropped.
5. Union with the Divine – this is the state of transcendence, the state of being and becoming and self-surrender (Underhill, 1912).

Gaining an understanding of Fowler’s stages of faith is very important for the spiritual counselor. It allows us to look at life transitions in terms of growth and health rather than sickness and disease. It also provides an important framework for the spiritual counselor, because it gives the counselor an understanding of the way a person’s life is affected by his worldview. Finally, it will help the spiritual counselor understand the client’s struggle with unfinished business that needs to be completed or healed.