Metamodern Christianity | 5. Catechism for a Metamodern Christian

Metamodern Spirituality - A podcast by Brendan Graham Dempsey

Catechism has meant "religious education," especially as a coming-of-age initiation into the fullness of spiritual community and engagement with its mysteries. It has to do with what sort of support and instruction young people and converts receive about their faith as they move into deeper spiritual relationship with God and church. Here I ask, What would a supportive catechism look like for Christians on the path towards a metamodern form of faith? How might religious learning unfold in healthy and sustainable ways such as would foster a kind of Christianity that is truly metamodern in outlook? What are the right developmental moments for literalism, doubt, even atheism, and conviction?


0:00 An Education for Faith

1:55 Grades or Phases of Spiritual Learning

4:32 Age 0-7*: Childhood Enchantment

9:20 Age 7-10: Mythic Literalism

15:12 Age 10-13: Symbolic Belief

21:03 Age 13-15: Reflective Religion

26:24 Age 15-18: Rational Meaning-Making

29:28 Age 18-23: Deconstructive Questioning

41:33 Age 23-27: Integrative Wisdom

50:13 What's Missing?

54:13 Invitation to Keep Learning


*All ages are just rough approximations

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