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Kohlberg's Stages Of Moral Development
Topic Started: Jan 21 2010, 03:43 AM (368 Views)
gerard

KOHLBERG'S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
compiled Rachel M. Cory, 1986
Implications for Theology
Lawrence Kohlberg was amoral philosopher and student of child development who died in 1987. Hewas at one time, director
of Harvard's Center for Moral Education. His special area of interest was the moral development of children - how they develop
a sense of right, wrong, and justice. Kohlberg observed that growing children advance through definite stages of moral
development in a manner similar to their progression through Piaget's well-known stages of cognitive development. His
observations and testing of children and adults, led him to theorize that human beings progress consecutively from one stage to
the next in an invariant sequence, not skipping any stage or going back to any previous stage. These are stages of thought
processing, implying qualitatively different modes of thinking and of problem solving at each stage.
These conclusions have been verified in cross-cultural studies done in Turkey, Taiwan, Yucatan, Honduras, India, United
States, Canada, Britain, and Israel.
An outline of these developmental stages follows:
Kohlberg's concept of consecutive stages of moral development is rich with theological implications. An application of his
theory to the story of God's dealing with ancient Israel, offers a rational explanation of actions on God's part which
may seem harsh or unduly severe from our perspective.
An application of Kohlberg's stage theory is especially relevant to current discussions of the gospel, the atonement, the Law,
and the true character of God.
KOHLBERG'S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
A. PREMORAL OR PRECONVENTIONAL STAGES: Behavior motivated by anticipation of pleasure or pain.
STAGE 1: PUNISHMENT AND OBEDIENCE:
Avoidance of physical punishment and deference to power. Punishment is an automatic response of physical retaliation. The
immediate physical consequences of an action determine its goodness or badness. The atrocities carried out by soldiers during
the holocaust who were simply "carrying out orders" under threat of punishment, illustrate that adults as well as children may
function at stage one level.
STAGE 2: INSTRUMENTAL EXCHANGE:
Marketplace exchange of favors or blows. "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Justice is: "Do unto others as they do
unto you." Individual does what is necessary, makes concessions only as necessary to satisfy his own needs. Right action
consists of what instrumentally satisfies one's own needs. Vengeance is considered a moral duty. People are valued in terms
of their utility.
B. CONVENTIONAL MORALITY: Acceptance of the rules and standards of one's group.
STAGE 3: INTERPERSONAL CONFORMITY:
Right is conformity to the behavioral expectations of one's society or peers. Individual acts to gain approval of others. Good
behavior is that which pleases or helps others within the group. "Everybody is doing it." One earns approval by being
conventionally "respectable" and "nice." Sin is a breach of the expectations of the social order. Retribution, however, at this
stage is collective. Individual vengeance is not allowed. Forgiveness is preferable to revenge. Punishment is mainly for
deterrence. Failure to punish is "unfair." "If he can get away with it, why can't I?"
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STAGE 4: LAW AND ORDER:
Respect for rules, laws and properly constituted authority. Defense of the given social and institutional order for it's own sake.
Responsibility toward the welfare of others in the society. "Justice" normally refers to criminal or forensic justice. Justice
demands that the wrongdoer be punished, that he "pay his debt to society," and that law abiders be rewarded. "A good day's
pay for a good day's work." Injustice is failing to reward work or punish demerit. Right behavior consists of maintaining the
social order for its own sake. Authority figures are seldom questioned. "He must be right. He's the Pope (or the President,
or the Judge, or God)." Consistency and precedent must be maintained.
STAGE 4 ½:
Between the conventional stages and the post-conventional Levels 5 and 6, there is a transitional stage. College-age students
that have come to see conventional morality as relative and arbitrary, but have not yet discovered universal ethical principles,
may drop into a hedonistic ethic of "do your own thing." This was well noted in the hippie culture of the l960's. Disrespect
for conventional morality was especially infuriating to the Stage 4 mentality, and indeed was calculated to be so.
C. POSTCONVENTIONAL OR PRINCIPLED MORALITY: Ethical principles
STAGE 5: PRIOR RIGHTS AND SOCIAL CONTRACT:
Moral action in a specific situation is not defined by reference to a checklist of rules, but from logical application of universal,
abstract, moral principles. Individuals have natural or inalienable rights and liberties that are prior to society and must be
protected by society. Retributive justice repudiated. Justice distributed proportionate to circumstances and need. "Situation
ethics." The statement, "Justice demands punishment," which is a self-evident truism to the Stage 4 mind, is just as selfevidently
nonsense at Stage 5. Retributive punishment is neither rational nor just, because it does not promote the rights and
welfare of the individual. Only legal sanctions that fulfill that purpose are imposed--protection of future victims, deterrence,
and rehabilitation. Individual acts out of mutual obligation and a sense of public good. Right action tends to be defined in
terms of general individual rights, and in terms of standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole
society--e.g. theConstitution. The freedom of the individual should be limited by society onlywhen it infringes upon someone
else's freedom.
STAGE 6: UNIVERSAL ETHICAL PRINCIPLES:
An individual who reaches this stage acts out of universal principles based upon the equality and worth of all human beings.
Persons are never means to an end, but are ends in themselves. Having rights means more than individual liberties. It means
that every individual is due consideration of his interests in every situation, those interests being of equal importancewith ones
own. This is the "Golden Rule" model. A list of rules inscribed in stone is no longer necessary.
At this level, God is understood to say what is right because it is right; His sayings are not right, just because it is God who
said them. Persons at this level have accepted God's invitation to "come and let us reason together".
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THE FOLLOWING ARE OBSERVATIONS THAT WERE MADE BY KOHLBERG
FURTHER EXPLAINING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN STAGES.
1. STAGE DEVELOPMENT IS INVARIANT.
One must progress through the stages in order, and one cannot get to a higher stage without passing through the stage
immediately preceding it. A belief that such a leap into moral maturity is possible is in sharp contrast to the facts of
developmental research. Moral development is growth, and like all growth, takes place according to a pre-determined
sequence. To expect someone to grow into high moral maturity overnight would be like expecting someone to walk before
he crawls.
2. IN STAGE DEVELOPMENT, SUBJECTS CANNOT COMPREHENDMORAL REASONING AT A STAGE
MORE THAN ONE STAGE BEYOND THEIR OWN.
If Johnny is oriented to see good almost exclusively as that which brings him satisfaction, how will he understand a
concept of good in which the "good" may bring him no tangible pleasure at all. The moral maxim "It is better to give than to
receive" reflects a high level of development. The child who honestly asks you why it is better to give than to receive, does
so because he does not and cannot understand such thinking. To him, "better" means better for him. And how can it be better
for him to give, than to get.
3. IN STAGE DEVELOPMENT INDIVIDUALS ARE COGNITIVELY ATTRACTED TO REASONING ONE
LEVEL ABOVE THEIR OWN PRESENT PREDOMINANT LEVEL.
The person has questions and problems the solutions for which are less satisfying at his present level. Since reasoning
at one stage higher is intelligible and since it makes more sense and resolves more difficulties, it is more attractive.
For example, two brothers both want the last piece of pie. The bigger, stronger brother will probably get it. The little
brother suggests they share it. He is thinking at level two, rather than at level one. The solution for him is more attractive:
getting some rather than none. An adult who functions at level one consistently will end up in prison or dead.
4. IN STAGE DEVELOPMENT,MOVEMENT THROUGH THE STAGES IS EFFECTEDWHENCOGNITIVE
DISEQUILIBRIUM IS CREATED, THAT IS, WHEN A PERSON'S COGNITIVE OUTLOOK IS NOT
ADEQUATE TO COPE WITH A GIVEN MORAL DILEMMA.
The person who is growing, will look for more and more adequate ways of solving problems. If he has no problems,
no dilemmas, he is not likely to look for solutions. He will not grow morally. In the apple pie example. The big brother, who
can just take the pie and get away with it, is less likely to look for a better solution than the younger brother who will get none
and probably a beating in the struggle.
5. IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE FOR A HUMAN BEING TO BE PHYSICALLY MATURE BUT NOT MORALLY
MATURE.
If a child is spoiled, never having to accommodate for others needs, if he is raised in an environment where level two
thinking by others gets the job done, he may never generate enough questions to propel him to a higher level of moral
reasoning.
6. KOHLBERG BELIEVED THAT ONLY ABOUT 25% OF PERSONS EVER GROW TO LEVEL SIX, THE
MAJORITY REMAINING AT LEVEL FOUR.
The Bible enjoins principles of modesty, humility, and wise stewardship of the money. Application of these principles
might preclude the purchase of expensive jewelry, furs, flashy cars, or other items primarily for show. A person functioning
at level six would have no problem applying these principles. Persons functioning at a level four on the other hand, might
make rules about "jewelry" (in a church for instance) or red dresses, or cosmetics. But they might not even notice a flashy car
or the lady who wears a new dress every single week. Those things aren't on the list. If Kohlberg's observation is true, then
level 6 thinkers would be in the minority. They might even be misunderstood and persecuted by a level 4 majority (Christ
being the primary example).
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THEOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
How was God to deal with human beings functioning just barely at level two. Onemillion slaves, not yet freed from the lash.
To them "good" was more to eat and rest, and escape punishment. How is He to convince them to follow Him out into a desert
wilderness, to face the most hostile tribes of people then on earth, to believe that He will lead them to a "land flowing with milk
and honey." More importantly, how is God to teach moral principles to such a group of people.
It is apparent to some students of Scripture, that God stooped to reach those people where they were. He began
by using reasoning they could accept: level one reasoning.
These slaves, functioning at level one, could be stimulated to think at level three if it presented a better solution to their
problem, (and there were many "problems" in the Sinai desert.)
At stage one a ruler establishes his right to rule by displays of power and vengeance upon his enemies. He rules by threat of
punishment and hope of reward.Mercy, or failure to punish, is seen as evidence ofweakness, notmorality by stage one standards.
God first established His credentials to rule Israel by acts of vengeance upon the Egyptians, and by mighty, spectacular
miracles. "I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God." (Deut. 29:6 NIV) Each of the plagues of Egypt was
directed at an object to worship to the Egyptians - the River Nile, the frog (a fertility symbol), the cattle, the sun, the “first born”
(They were considered dedicated to the gods.).
Inmany instances this situation ofGod vs the other "gods" (Dagon for example, the god of the Philistines), was involvedwhen
God acted in seemingly destructive ways.When we realize that these civilizations were for themost part functioning at level two,
or at best level three, the picture becomes clear. If God had done nothing when directly challenged to prove Himself, He would
have lost hope of any further influence over those peoples. To initiate a connection with Himself, a point of contact, from which
to begin a reeducation He had to use forceful means. It is evident that sometimes these means involved the death of many people
(the 185,000 Assyrians for example). If God had done nothing. Or worse If God had tried to use level 5-6 reasoning, the people
would have judged Him weak and unworthy of worship. His word would fall upon no receptive ear. The story of Israel is the
story of a Father guiding, not one child, but a whole nation of moral children (a whole world of moral children) from childhood
to maturity.
Instances of this type of direct confrontation between God and the pagan gods, or between God and individuals who wished
to challenge His right to be their God and to rule them, include:
The plagues of Egypt (Exodus 4-13)
The death penalty laws given by God to young Israel (Lev. 20)
The punishment (death) of Nadab and Abihu for their rebellion(Lev.10)
The Tribe of Levi blessed by God for killing idolaters at Sinai. (Exodus 32-34)
The fiery death executed upon the followers of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num.l6)
The 50,000 slain who looked into the Ark after it was returned by the Philistines. ( I Sam. 6:19)
Sampson verses the Philistines in the temple of Dagon. (Judges 16)
The Soldiers of the King of Samaria vs Elijah the prophet (II Kings 1:1-17)
The mocking juveniles versus the prophet Elisha (II Kings 2:24)
The Valley of Jehoshaphat when the enemy was confused into fighting against each other. ( II Chron. 20)
The command to kill in war with assurance of victory. (Joshua 6:17)
Fifty days after Israel was rescued from Egypt God appeared to them on Mt. Sinai. The people were terrified of the thunder
and the glory. Moses, who apparently was functioning at a higher level, tried to explain that there was no need to be afraid. The
people preferred a mediator. They said, "Moses, you go talk with God, and come tell us what He said." ( Exodus 20:18).
God gave them His law in the form of ten simple, concrete rules, punctuated with threats of punishment. He deliberately
portrayed Himself as a angry, jealous ruler, threatening not only to punish the disobedient, but the children for the parents' sins,
(a concept which leaves us aghast but would seem perfectly normal to the pre-conventional mind). (Exodus 20:5). Today we
almost automatically reinterpret these words to refer to the working to cause and effect, but this does violence to the context in
which it was given and would have been a meaningless concept to a pre-scientific culture.
5 K.S.O.M.D.
Belief that God punishes children for their parent's sins was chronic in Israel, persisting to the time of Christ. When the
disciples saw a blind man they asked, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?"When Christ pronounced a blessing upon the poor,
the persecuted, and the meek, this seemed incredible, because these were the very ones thought to be living under God’s
punishment. If you were prosperous, it was a sure sign that you were right with God, because He was blessing you. (The three
friends of Job held this belief.) Perhaps the wording of the 2nd commandment - “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me (Exo. 20:5),” strengthened belief in this doctrine. So also,
Noah’s curse upon Canaan for the sin of Ham (Gen. 9:25). Speaking against the belief was the plain statement of the Lord, “The
fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to
death for his own sin” (Deut 24:16). Ezekiel spends a whole chapter arguing vigorously against the people, who protest that it
is unjust for God not to punish children for their parents's sins Ezekiel chapter 18, see also Jeremiah 31:29-30). Apparently God
had decided it was time to deal Israel them at a higher level.
Today, we understand the words of the second commandment tomean that thewicked habits and unbelief of the Fathers were
passed down by teaching and example, to their children who then suffered the consequences. In the time of Moses, the “law”
of cause and effect might not have been so understood by a nation of slaves.
After the conquest of Canaan the spectacular displays of power ceased, perhaps because God no longer wished to deal with
men at this level. He was seeking to draw them into a higher level of functioning. They however, returned to their idols, in true
stage one fashion, as soon as their fear abated. God demonstrated in this way, for all who care to observe, the futility of
punishment as a learning tool. Punishment only buys time, until other positive reinforcement techniques can effect permanent
changes in behavior.
What was God to do with such a people, when they adopted the pagan gods, even sacrificing their own children on the red
hot arms of Dagon. He did the only thing that could be done under the circumstances: He punished them severely, "in furious
anger and great wrath," as they perceived it. (Deut. 19:28) At stage 1 they expected Him to do this, or He would have appeared
weak in their eyes, hardly worthy of notice, let alone obedience and worship. To be taken seriously at all, God had to punish. By
this time in Canaan however, God did not punish them directly, He simply withdrew His protection, and allowed them to be
beaten by their many enemies (II Chron. 29:8-9). When they returned to God and burned their idols, God rescued them again
and again. Israel was a tiny nation, which could not have survived without God's special protection.
Ezekiel states the stage 1 and 2 reasons: "So I will spend my wrath upon them, and they will know that I am the Lord, when
their people lie slain..." (Ezekiel 6:12,13)
God clearly runs the risk of appearing to gain some sort of satisfaction or catharsis from avenging Himself on His enemies,
as would a heathen deity. Look at Micah 5:15 : "In anger and in wrath I will execute vengeance." Or Ezekiel 5:13: "Then my
anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged." In the Old Testament, we see God saying, in
effect: "Because you aren't sufficiently afraid of sin, I will have to make you afraid of Me, lest you destroy yourselves and the
hope of all future generations."
God had problems over and over with men interpreting His mercy as weakness and a license to do as they pleased without
consequences. "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." (Deut. 29:19) At stage 2, and in amore sophisticated
way at stages 3 and 4, God's mercy is challenged as unjust. "Where is the God of justice?" "It is vain to serve God...evildoers
not only prosper, but when they put God to the test, they escape" (Malachi 2:17, 3:14,15) Even the prophet Jeremiah
remonstrated with God. "I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" ( Jer. 12:1).
God's tantalizing answer in verse 5 says, in effect, "Jeremiah, this is too advanced for you to understand." (Jer. 12:5). "For My
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord." ( Isa. 55:8)
The problemof God'smercy to thewicked is not resolvable at lower stage thinking. It doesn't even arise as a question at stages
5 or 6. Isaiah even says that God shows mercy "because He is just" (Isa. 30:18), a totally incomprehensible statement to early
stage moral reasoning.
Stage one is partly characterized by an inability to generalize from principles to their application. Rules are understood very
concretely, so they have to be spelled out in complete detail. An example of such detailed instruction is found in the 2nd, 4th, and
especially the 10th Commandments. After God has told the Israelites not to covet their neighbor's house, lest they assume that
they are left free to covet his other possessions, the Lord adds, "your neighbor's wife or his manservant." But if God had stopped
there, Israel would have concluded that it would be permissible to covet the "maidservant", so God spells that out too, and "his
ox, nor his ass." Redundantly He adds "nor anything that belongs to your neighbor."
6 K.S.O.M.D.
This detailed instruction is what makes the first four books of the Bible so lengthy. At stage 6, the Law may be summed up
in two statements: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind, and thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself." (Luke 10:27) and (Deut 6:5, Lev 19:18). These are not New Testament concepts. They are as old
as the Law. It's just that they could not be understood when they were first spoken. The people were morally immature.
After the golden calf debacle at Sinai, God begins to relate to Israel more at the stage 2 level of marketplace bargaining and
mutual exchange. He makes an agreement or "covenant" with them: If they obeyed God, He would cause them to prosper, and
if they disobeyed then they would not prosper, and might be cut down by their enemies. ( Deut. 7:6-26)
Many of the civil and criminal laws were based on the preconventional concept of justice. "Show no pity: life for life, tooth
for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Deut. 19:21) God made provision to soften the brutality of stage 1 "blood vengeance"
by providing "cities of refuge" where a man could flee who had unintentionally killed someone. (Deut. 19:6) Intention counts
at stage 2, so the "avenger of blood" (a classic preconventional phrase!) would have to be functioning at
stage 1, where intention did not count. Of course the premeditated murderer was not safe even in the city of refuge. He would
be safe only until a proper trial was held. Then he would be executed.What a far cry from "Love your enemies. Do good to them
that hate you", spoken by Christ. But that was level 6.
The cities of refuge gradually fell out of use, as such, as the people matured. By the time of Christ, we see the people
comfortable in their conventional morality, but cheating the poor and abusing the powerless because everybody does it. (Stage
3)We see them carrying out a multitude of ceremonial observances, some not even given by God, just to make sure that they are
being obedient to the Law. (Stage 4) God says through the prophet Amos: "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand
your assemblies...but let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream!" (Amos 5:21,24) God is trying
to lead them to the heart of the Law, and not just the letter. He would rather have them "act justly and love mercy" than to bring
Him "thousands of rams with ten thousand rivers of oil." (Micah 6:6-8)
Justice at the conventional levels (3-4) is understood in the sense of what we commonly mean when we talk about "criminal
justice." Justice demands that a lawbreaker be punished, that the penalty must be paid. In Ezekiel's time the people protested that
God was unjust if He did not punish a wicked man who had repented (Ezekiel 18:25). God's answer was, "But if a wicked man
turns away from the wickedness he has committed...he will surely live, he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of
the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?" ( Ezekiel 18:27-29)
Listed in Lev. 20, is the penalty for adultery - death by stoning. But Christ Himself forgave the woman caught in the act of
adultery, and she began a process of rehabilitation. Here again is contrasted stage two level thinking with stage 6. In fact all of
Christ's teaching was level 6 or level 7.
At stage 4, the saying "a good day's work for a good day's pay" is a truism. In the parable of the workers (Matt. 20:1-16),
those who worked only one hour were paid the same as those who had worked all day (unjust?). Christ confronted the Pharisees
with the contrast between conventional justice and God's justice. Those who come to Christ at the last hour will receive the same
reward, the same eternal life, as those who have walked with Christ all of their lives.
In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, the conventional respectability of the Jewish ruling class came under fire. The
publican had a true heart repentance and love of God, and so was acceptable and savable. The Pharisee had only outward form
and ceremony (level 4 morality). He felt no need of God, and so could not grow morally. He was self-satisfied. No question or
problem called for a higher level solution. In the time of Christ the fear of a punishing God had generated a compulsion for rule
making, and a backbreaking mass of regulations covering every detail of living. Much of the teaching of Christ seems to have
been directed at weaning the people away from mechanical rule keeping. The Pharisees were threatened because they felt He
didn't have enough respect for the rules (or for themselves).What they did not perceive was the higher stage thinking (level 5-6)
that He was trying to lead them towards.
The Sermon on theMount, (Matt. 5) is an excellent example of level 5-6 morality. It is heavy with principle not prescription,
yet some would use this, in true stage 4 fashion, as amore rigorous rule book, providing more detailed regulations on such things
as divorce and remarriage. To do this is to miss the overall intent of the sermon.
Christ's teaching and example of Sabbath keeping provides another example of the superiority of principles over rule keeping.
The statement "the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" revealed a level 5-6 understanding of the nature of
rules. Rules are valid only insofar as they promote the freedom and value of persons. God knew that human beings needed time
with Him, time to consider who they are, time to turn attention to their relationship with their Heavenly Father. Level 6 people
have no problem enjoying the Sabbath Day. It is at level 1-4 that the Sabbath seems a duty to be performed.
7 K.S.O.M.D.
At stage 5-6, commands become promises. "Thou shalt not murder", becomes "I can stop hurting myself or others through
the power of God in my life." What wonderful good news! This is righteousness by faith.
At level 6 God's commands just make good sense. For instance God' commanded Israel not to eat fat or blood under any
circumstances. (Lev. 7:22-27) Just think what health benefits would have come from adherence to this prescription. Level 6
individuals see God as the one who tells you to do, what you would want to do anyway, if you knew what was really good for
you. And He doesn't just tell you to do it, He helps you do it.
Jesus’ healing of the paralytic illustrates wonderfully the concept of forgiveness at level 6. The young man was paralyzed,
a consequence of his own foolish choices. His friends let his bed down through the roof, right at the feet of Jesus in the middle
of a great crowd. Jesus said to him simply "Your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees questioned this statement, because to them
forgiveness is a legal maneuver and unjustly releases the guilty party from punishment. So Jesus then said “Which is easier to
say, ‘your sins are forgiven’, or ‘get up and walk.’” You see, healing the damage done by sin is what forgiveness is all about.
It is not just juggling the heavenly books so Uncle Harry can get in. Forgiveness means giving Uncle Harry a "new heart (or
mind)," healed now from the damage done by sin.
Kohlberg suggests that there may be (I believe there is) a level 7.Whether it stands totally outside of the other moral stages,
I do not know. Stage 6 implies a perfect equivalence of duties and rights. "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Do unto others as
you would have themdo unto you." The stage 6 person believes hemay expect of others the same things that he iswilling to give
to them. But the love of the saints goes beyond expecting anything of others. Agape acts are of grace, without regard for
merit or return. They go a giant step beyond. This is a self-sacrificing love. Agape love creates value in its object. This is why
the command to "Love one another as I have loved you,"was a "new commandment." This iswhy Christ said, "Youmust be born
again."
Stage development exhibits a phenomenon called lateral decollage. That is, it may take a person just reaching Stage 5, for
example, a long time for the implications of his new way of thinking to filter out into all areas of his thinking. Since religious
thought is often tightly compartmentalized, with its own jargon and thought forms, insulated from the rest of our thinking,
theological concepts may take on a life of their own and be relatively impervious to advancements in the rest of our thinking. In
other words, a person's theologymay lag at least one stage behind the rest of his thinking processes. Thismay explain why highly
educated personsmay have very primitive theological notions, orwhy successful businessmen or even educatorsmay not be able
to relate to their own children at home.
A great many of the problems within the church may be explained by these differences in stage thinking. Level 4 people are
anxious that the rules be kept, while level 6 persons who want to discuss general principles, are called "liberal." Level 6 persons
may become very bored with legalistic sermons aimed at level 4, or with level 2 -the fiery hell and damnation threats, while level
4 members feel threatened by questions which seem to undermine the authority of God and His Law or His church.
ThoseChristianswho are functioning at higher levels ofmaturitymust realize that stage development is normal and necessary.
They must not be prejudiced towards those who are functioning at lower levels, who cannot understand many of those things
which the more mature take for granted. They must be patient, seeking to draw others towards a higher level of understanding
without belittling them or diminishing their current experience in faith. To do this is to work with God.
The story of Israel,miraculously written down and preserved for 3,500 years, is the story of God andman, inminiature. God's
efforts to save men from themselves, to lead them to greater understanding, to pull them into a relationship with Himself, are a
revelation of His character. Reading this story, we may consider the evidence, and decide for ourselves if God truly loves us.
8 K.S.O.M.D.
STAGE THEORY AND THE ATONEMENT
The sacrifice ofChrist,His substitutionary death, “theAtonement,” takes on greater and deepermeaning at each level ofmoral
development. God chose the perfect way to win mankind back to Himself. He chose an act which could be understood and
accepted at each level of development, an act which while comprehensible to the person at level 2, takes on greater and greater
significance at each level.
Level 1: Man sinned and offended God. God responded with angry vengeance taking the life of Jesus.
Level 2: God somehow struck a bargain with the Devil, a market place exchange of Christ's life, paid as a ransom to the Devil,
in trade for the devil's releasing his hostages. In the popular version, Satan found out too late that God had conned him,
when Christ rose from the dead.
Level 3-4 : The Law must be kept. Man broke the Law. Someone had to pay the penalty. "The wages of sin is death." Jesus
paid that penalty. The integrity of the Law was maintained.
(Let me here say that I believe that there is a true level four understanding of why the Son of God had to become a
human being, live a life of perfect loyalty to God his father, and then be murdered - the victim of Satan and evil
men. Satan’s claim to dominion of the earth is based in large part upon a level four argument. He is the great legalist. He
claimed that Adam and his posterity had rebelled againstGod every bit as Lucifer himself did. Because of this, Satan claimed
dominion over the human race. He claimed this earth as his kingdom. When Jesus Christ was born a human being, and then
lived in perfect obedience to His father’s will, “even unto death,” the Father could then give to Christ the dominion of the
earth. Satan could not point to any rebellion in Christ as a reason why God the Father should not thus give to Christ the
dominion.)
Level 5-6: He demonstrated that separation from God is death. ("Why have you forsaken me?") Since we separate ourselves
from Him, not He from us, He is not our executioner. He allowed Satan to play out his hand, exposing his selfish
character for all bothman and angels to see, and thus erasing all sympathy for the accusations of the fallen foe.God's
character was vindicated.
Level 7: Atonement becomes at-one-ment. God did what it took to win our love and trust. His love for us is greater than any man
can comprehend, that the eternal God of the universe should so value a human being, that He would die to win his love.
Neither God, nor His law, defined as the eternal principles upon which He bases His government, change, but our
understanding of His law changes, and God speaks to us at each level of our understanding. It is a mistake to cling to
expressions appropriate to an earlier age of understanding, regardless of how valid and useful they were in their own
context, when more appropriate expressions exist. But we must be patient with our brethren who perhaps are just
beginning theirmaturing process, and allow the pastor to preach for themsometimes. For even as God was laying down
detailed concrete rules for the Israelites, He was already looking forward to the day when He would "write His laws on
our hearts."
May God bless you, as you search for a new and deeper understanding of His word.
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ReallyOrnery

gerard:

Kohlberg is pure nonsense, as compiled by Rachel M. Cory.

RO
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gerard

wow...such a compelling arguemnt and evidence lol.

wondering, because i honestly never see it....do you offer anything OTHER than a critical spirit and contention here RO?

wow.
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ReallyOrnery

gerard
Jan 28 2010, 04:17 PM
wow...such a compelling arguemnt and evidence lol.

wondering, because i honestly never see it....do you offer anything OTHER than a critical spirit and contention here RO?

wow.
gerard:

Evidently I did something that you failed to do; indeed, I read the article, which remains pure gobbledygook; consequently, the best compelling argument and evidence against it is the article itself.

RO
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Beancounter

I could not read that endless article. Try posting it without lines consisting of two words and then starting another line. I am not a masochist.
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gerard

Well RO...if anyone is foolish enough to just take someone's word for it that it is gobbledewhatever......that is their own choice.

If you knew anything about sociology....you would see how interesting the paralleles presented in scripture match up with his 'stages'.

RO....you can SAY whatever you want.....that however does not make it what you say....and certainly so without ANY evidence given as to why.

It appears that if anyone offers anything actually fo substance here...you seem offended it wasn't YOu that posted it...

oh well.
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