Life Stories and Faith Development

Abstract

This research focuses on the individual's belief development process within the framework of life events and the changes that occur in this process. The research was designed with qualitative research method and phenomenological approach design. Data on belief development were collected using James W. Fowler's semi-structured interview questions consisting of four sections and twenty-five items. The research was conducted with 10 people of different gender, age, education, religion and denomination living in Adana province. 10 participants' faith development processes were analyzed. Through the data obtained through these interviews, important themes that make up the life story were identified and the factors affecting faith development within these themes were mentioned. This study aims to present the data collected on faith development to the reader through seven main themes in a narrative style. Among these themes, a total of seven main themes were identified: parental attitudes, critical life events, religious education, critical view of religion, approach to religiosity, distancing from belief in God and communication with God. Faith development is influenced by the external environment and the internal processes of the individual. What happens in the external environment shapes the individual's belief starting from the family environment, friends and teachers into which the individual is born.  Important life events that the individual experiences, such as crises, losses, marriage, becoming a parent, affect his/her inner world. The sociocultural environment, values, beliefs, customs and traditions, and social expectations are among the other factors that affect the individual outside his/her family and inner world. In the research, life events that will affect a person's life in general and the effects of these events on belief development were mentioned. All of the individuals participating in the study received religious education, indoctrination or advice from their parents or people around them during childhood. As a result, they said that they believed in God and prayed during their childhood, but their beliefs changed over time due to their experiences and they moved away from religious beliefs. On the other hand, participants who felt that their beliefs were strengthened and they felt closer to God due to the sad events they experienced were included in our study.  It was found that parental attitude or critical life events did not affect faith development. When the effect of faith development on life stories was analyzed, it was revealed that religion was generally evaluated from a social perspective. Although there were participants who criticized the essence of religion, i.e. religion itself, the majority criticized the way they lived their religion. The behaviors and attitudes of people living religion were among the important factors affecting faith development. The conception of God changes depending on the religious perspective. It has been observed that individuals who move away from religion also question about God.