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Faith development and Teresa'sInterior Castle

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Abstract

James Fowler's model of faith development is compared with the course of development described by St. Teresa of Avila in her classic work,Interior Castle. Both Teresa and Fowler drew their models from the study of individual lives. The paper first presents a brief summary of Fowler's model, then goes through the different levels of development described by St. Teresa, comparing each of them with corresponding stages in Fowler's model. The paper concludes that, though these models were developed in different cultures, centuries apart, they appear to describe a similar course of religious or spiritual unfolding.

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References

  • Fowler, J. W. (1975, October).Some Uses and Limits of the Structural Developmental Perspective in Psycho-historical Study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Milwaukee, WI.

  • Fowler, J. W. (1977, August).Faith and the Structure of Meaning. Paper presented at the annual meeting of American Psychological Association, San Francisco.

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  • Fowler, J. W. & Keen, S. (1978).Life-Maps. Waco TX: Word Books.

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  • Kavanaugh, K. & Rodriguez, O. (Eds.). (1979).Teresa of Avila: The Interior Castle. New York: Paulist Press.

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  • Meadow, M. J. (1992). Personality maturity and Teresa's Interior Castle.Pastoral Psychology, 40(5), 293–302.

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  • Teresa of Avila (1961).Interior Castle. E. Allison Peers (Translator). New York: Image Books.

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  • Teresa of Avila (1979).Interior Castle. Kieran Kavanaugh & Otilio Rodriguez (Translators). New York: Paulist Press.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Box 35 Mankato State University, P. O. Box 8400, 56002, Mankato, MN

    Mary Jo Meadow (Professor of Psychology and Director of Religious Studies)

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  1. Mary Jo Meadow
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Additional information

This paper is a revised version of one originally delivered to Division 36, “Psychologists Interested in Religious Issues,” at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

References to Teresa'sInterior Castle in this paper are given by section (“Mansions”) and chapter within section so that the passages can be found in any translation.

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Meadow, M.J. Faith development and Teresa'sInterior Castle . Pastoral Psychol 41, 377–384 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01032817

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01032817

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