The role and effect of faith crises on spiritual formation in postmodern christianity

Faith crises and their role in spiritual formation, particularly in the light of postmodern Christianity, is an important topic to be studied. The qualitative research in this project addresses the various issues involved in faith crises and their effect on a person's spirituality from a postmodern context. Sixty participants from various backgrounds were interviewed in a semi-structured format utilizing Grounded Theory to allow the information and data to arise from a phenomenological method. The 60 participants were all located in Southern California and ranged in age from 18-70. Although no profession of Christian belief was required to participate, all participants had some form of Christian background. The important themes that arose from this study included the role of experience, the coming to a deeper understanding of one's faith, and the influence of doubt and questioning in shaping one's faith. These themes illustrate that faith crises can be instrumental in one's spiritual formation. Thus, increased awareness of the faith crisis experience in a person's spirituality can have significant benefits. This project highlights that faith is more than a cognitive or verbal profession of faith, but rather faith requires experience from which confidence in God is formed to further develop trust. This experience includes a personalization of faith that is reached through wrestling through a faith crisis and from which spiritual formation proceeds. Therefore, there is value in allowing one's faith to be tested and understanding that God and faith are more than ideas. Faith must become a belief that encompasses one's entire life, which can happen through increasing knowledge and understanding of God as a result of experience. Faith crises provide opportunities for one's faith to grow and one's spiritual formation to develop.