Program / Course 26: Comprehensive Assessment / Lesson 7.1
What you will learn
- Recall and write down the beliefs you held at the start of your studies.
- Compare them with the beliefs you hold now, topic by topic.
- Mark each belief as unchanged, deepened, qualified, reversed or newly formed.
- Be honest about the limits of memory when reconstructing an earlier view.
The big idea
A map of theological development sets out, topic by topic, what you believed when you began and what you believe now. Each belief is marked as unchanged, deepened, qualified, reversed or new. The map is built from your own records where you have them, and from honest memory where you do not, and it says which is which. It is private. No one sees it, no one grades it and no outcome is expected: a student may find that much has changed, or very little.
Key terms
- Theological development
- Change over time in what a person believes about God and the Christian faith, and in how they hold those beliefs.
- Deepened
- A belief that is the same in content but better understood or more firmly held.
- Qualified
- A belief that is still held but with limits or conditions that were not seen before.
- Reversed
- A belief replaced by its opposite or by a different view.
- Baseline
- The starting point from which later change is measured. Here, your view at the start of the program.
- Hindsight bias
- The tendency to remember earlier views as closer to present ones than they were.
Background
Most people who study seriously change in some ways. Some find their beliefs strengthened, some find them complicated and some find them overturned. All of these are legitimate outcomes of study, and this program does not aim at any one of them. It is a program of instruction in which students read many views, and it does not tell the student what to conclude.
The first difficulty in mapping change is memory. People tend to remember their earlier selves as holding views closer to their present ones, which is called hindsight bias. The best protection is written evidence: notes, a statement of faith from the start of the program, an assignment from an early course, a letter or a journal. Where you have such a record, use it. Where you do not, say so, and mark the entry as remembered.
The second difficulty is knowing how to describe the change fairly. A student who has moved away from a position may describe it too harshly, and one who has moved toward one may describe the earlier view too lightly. The remedy is to describe the earlier belief in the words you would have used at the time, and to state the reasons you then held it. The aim is understanding, not self congratulation or self reproach.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Gather your records
Collect any notes, assignments, statements or journal entries from your earlier studies. Date them if you can. Note which topics they cover. These are your evidence. Where there are none, you will rely on memory, and you should say so.
Step 2: Choose the topics
List ten to fifteen topics, such as: the nature of God; the Trinity; Jesus; the resurrection; the Bible; salvation; sin; the church; the sacraments; prayer; suffering; other religions; science and faith; last things; authority.
Step 3: Fill the two columns
In the first column, write what you believed at the start, in words you would then have used. In the second, write what you believe now. Keep each to a sentence or two. Where you were unsure, write that.
Step 4: Mark the change
In a third column, mark each row: unchanged, deepened, qualified, reversed or new. In a fourth, mark the source of your earlier entry: record or memory. Count how many of each.
Step 5: Look for a pattern
Read down the columns. Which topics changed most? Which not at all? Is there a theme, such as growing humility, greater interest in tradition or more attention to evidence? Write a short summary of what you see, as a description and not as a judgment.
- What records do I have of what I believed at the start?
- Which beliefs have not changed, and have I examined them as carefully as the ones that did?
- Which beliefs have deepened?
- Have I reversed any belief, and how do I describe my earlier view fairly?
- Where might hindsight bias be affecting my account?
- What pattern do I see in the changes?
Examples
A row on the Bible
Start: I thought the Bible was simple to read and that every part had a plain meaning (remembered). Now: I think it is a collection of different kinds of writing that needs careful reading. Change: deepened and qualified. (A constructed example.)
A row on tradition
Start: I had no interest in church history (recorded in a note from the first course). Now: I read the early Fathers regularly and value the creeds. Change: new. (A constructed example.)
A row with no change
Start and now: I believe God created the world and cares for it. Change: unchanged, though I understand more of the different ways Christians have explained creation. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic thought describes the development of doctrine in the church as growth in understanding of what was given, as in Newman’s account. The idea can be applied to the individual: faith matures while remaining the same faith.
Orthodox
Orthodox writers speak of the spiritual life as a path of growth and healing, with repentance as a continual turning. Change in one’s understanding is seen as part of that path and not as a break from it.
Protestant
Protestant traditions often place weight on conversion and on growth in sanctification, and many encourage testimony about how God has led a person. Others call for constant reform of the church and the believer by Scripture.
Psychological
Studies of faith development, such as the work of James Fowler, describe stages through which many people pass. These descriptions are debated and should be used as a loose aid and not as a measure of anyone’s maturity.
Why it matters
A map of development helps a student see what study has actually done. It also teaches humility about the past and the present: views change, and the reasons for change are worth knowing.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Study should end in a firmer faith.
Correction: The program does not predict or aim at any particular outcome. Faith may deepen, be qualified, be tested or change in other ways. The student’s task is to describe it honestly.
Misunderstanding: Changing one’s mind shows weakness.
Correction: It can show that one has learned. What matters is whether the change followed good reasons and was honestly examined.
Misunderstanding: I remember clearly what I used to believe.
Correction: Memory is unreliable here. Records are better, and where there are none, entries should be marked as remembered.
Knowledge check
What five marks can be given to a belief in the map?
Unchanged, deepened, qualified, reversed and new. Unchanged means the same belief held in the same way, deepened means better understood or more firmly held, qualified means held with new limits, reversed means replaced by a different view, and new means a belief not held at all at the start.
What is hindsight bias and how can it be reduced?
It is the tendency to remember earlier views as closer to present ones than they were. It is reduced by relying on dated records such as notes and statements, by describing the earlier view in the words used at the time, and by marking each entry as recorded or remembered.
Should the map aim at showing growth?
No. It aims at accuracy. Some beliefs may have deepened, others may have been qualified or reversed, and some may be unchanged. A student who changes little is no less honest than one who changes much. The map describes, and no one grades it.
Who sees the map?
Only the student, unless the student chooses to share it. It is kept in the student’s own notebook, not submitted to the site, and carries no certificate, credit or degree.
Think it through
- Which change on your map surprised you most?
- Which belief do you suspect you have not examined enough?
- How would you have described your starting beliefs to a friend then?
- Is there anything you would rather not write down, and why?
Independent assignment
A development map
In your own notebook, write a table of ten to fifteen topics with four columns: start, now, kind of change and source (record or memory). Add a paragraph of about 200 words on the pattern you see. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 volumes) On the development of doctrine over time, as a parallel to personal development.
- Augustine of Hippo, Confessions A classic account of a person’s change of mind and heart.
- Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction A survey to help name your positions.
- 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child. On growth in understanding.
- Philippians 3:13 Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth.