Religious Development

Pamela Ebstyne King & Elizabeth M. Dowling

Within in the past decade, religion has gained increased attention within applied developmental science. Questions such as “What is religious development?” and “How does religion affect human development” have entered the scholarly dialogue. The nature of religious development is explored here from a social scientific perspective. Religious development involves the growing relationship between an individual and a particular institutionalized doctrine and tradition related to a divine being, supernatural other, or absolute truth. Religious development is a complex subject, as it involves the development of an individual's capacity to engage with religion. Given that religions generally incorporate specific beliefs, moral standards, practices, communities of fellow believers, and the acknowledgment of a divine or supernatural other, religious development involves many aspects of human functioning. As such, religious development includes an understanding of the cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and spiritual. Religious development not only involves the emergence of these aspects of human An ...

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