Developmental Revelation
Developmental Revelation
by Ken R. Vincent
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child, but when I
became a man I put away childish ways.” (I Cor. 13:11) This familiar passage of St. Paul
describes normal human development.
My thesis is that there is a parallel between the development of the individual and the progress
of whole cultures throughout history and that evidence for this maturation process can be
found in the stories of the world’s religions. Because the Bible documents a 2000-year period
of human development, it is particularly rich with examples of developmental revelation.
There are many approaches to studying human development and religion, and these are
reflected in the research of developmental psychologists like Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Jane
Loevinger, and others. James Fowler, who is both a psychologist and theologian, devised a
compelling list called, “Seven Stages of Faith Development”.
The theory of human development with the most cross-cultural and comparative religious
research to its credit (and my personal favorite) is that of Larry Kholberg. It is the one I have
selected to explore with you in greater detail. To date, the consensus of his research shows
that, when education and socioeconomic status are controlled for, human beings around the
world from all faiths and cultures vary widely among themselves and that no faith or culture is
clearly superior.
According to Kholberg, there are three levels of moral development, each of which has two
stages:
1) Pre-conventional
2) Conventional, and
3) Post-conventional.
It is important to realize that not all people reach all stages of development, neither in the past
nor today.
1) Pre-conventional
The “pre-conventional” level is the most remedial, and its first stage is called the “punishment
and obedience orientation”. This is the stage of pre-schoolers. The child at this stage lacks
the mental structure to understand the rules but does understand rewards and punishment.
Children at this age are not educable, but they are trainable. This is also the moral level of
your dog or cat.
Consider this example: At about age 3 or 4 years, your daughter has figured out that pushing
the chair up to the kitchen counter will allow her to get to the cookie jar. Later, you come into
the kitchen, see the chair and the empty cookie jar with its lid off, and you see the child with
crumbs all over her face. When you ask,, “Did you take the cookies?”, your child gives the
“right” answer—“No, I didn’t take the cookies!” The parent is often devastated, assuming that
his child is not only STEALING but LYING! The parent fails to realize that the child does not
yet make the connection between cause and effect. Thankfully, very few adults remain stuck
at this moral level.
In the Bible, the best-known example of this is the second Creation Story (Gen 2:4-3:24) in
which you might substitute the “forbidden fruit” for the cookie jar. Adam takes no personal
responsibility but blames Eve for giving him the fruit, and Eve blames the snake for her
misbehavior!
In the same story in Genesis, we are introduced to the oldest form of punishment – the
banishment of Adam and Eve from Paradise. As demonstrated in the work of Jane Goodall,
this links us with the behavior of baboons who banish members of their clan for “crimes” of
dominance, sex, and murder.
In the 5,000-year-old Egyptian Book of the Dead, this stage of morality is reflected in the
behavior of the deceased who is expected to lie to the god Osiris in the Afterlife by reciting a
magic formula known as the Negative Confession in which he denies all wrong-doing. We see
this same magic formula in the Christian theology of “Jesus Saves.” All one needs to know is
John 3:16 and/or John 14:6. This is a gross distortion of the teachings of Jesus. Another
Christian theology at this level is Predestination. In predestination, individuals cannot
influence their own salvation and like the small child have no understanding of the reason for
the rules. Before we leave the level of “magic” in human development, it is important to note
that in times of distress, any of us may want a little magic! In Hinduism, it is said that if you die
with the name of the god Vishnu or one of his incarnations like Rama or Krishna on your lips,
all your sins will be taken away. Gandhi, who achieved the highest level of spiritual
development, died with the name of Rama on his lips!
The second stage of “pre-conventional morality” is that of reciprocity. This is the stage most
of us reached in elementary school and is adopted to satisfy personal needs. At this stage,
the rules exist to be manipulated. Children will give favors in order to get similar rewards in
return. They discover that they can make “deals”, i.e., “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch
yours”. A child will say, “I don’t want to play that game. That is YOUR game, and we played
that yesterday. Today is MY turn.” Even in modern times, some adults get stuck at this stage.
Obviously, this level includes primitive religions in which an animal or human is sacrificed as a
bribe to the gods with the understanding that the gods will do (or not do) something for the
worshipers. Also, the idea in the Hebrew Bible that the righteous will always prosper, and that
if something bad happens to you, it’s because you have sinned belongs at this level. Some
years ago, a student told me of working at an affluent church school that did not admit
handicapped students; because it was evidence that their parents had sinned. In the Book of
Job, Job’s friends express this view. The Prayer of Jabez is a “give me” prayer and at this level.
In the Bible, this level of morality is also represented in the law of “an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24). Getting stuck with this mentality can lead to barbarism and
reminds us of the relentless retaliatory strikes we hear about on the evening news between the
Israelis and Palestinians. Unless people are encouraged to higher levels of thinking, in the
words of Martin Luther King, we are all at risk of becoming “blind and toothless”. The only
good thing about this rule is that you are only allowed to take one eye for one eye and one
tooth for one tooth.
Many of those to whom Moses preached were no doubt at either the first or second stage of
“pre-conventional” morality – largely equivalent to that of today’s small children. It also
appears that the people addressed by Mohammed 2000 years later were at this level.
2) Conventional
The next level of moral reasoning is the “conventional” level which is reached by most people
in adolescence; most adults never progress beyond one of its two stages. The first of these
stages is the “good boy/nice girl” phase in which “right” behaviors are the ones that please
the person’s reference groups, including family, friends, and peers. This is the first stage that
goes beyond the manipulation of others for personal gratification and includes a genuine
consideration for others. It is the first level at which the Golden Rule can be understood, if not
practiced.
In the Bible, the beautiful story of Ruth reflects this level of development when she declares,
“Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and
your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16) Although this love passage is sometimes used for modern
weddings, Ruth is not saying this to her husband – she is addressing her mother-in-law,
Naomi. Ruth wants to remain with her mother-in-law because she loves her --- not because
she thinks Naomi’s God is superior!
This is the stage where the need for a personal god is strongest. In Hinduism this is the
devotional path exemplified by the worshipers of Lord Krishna. “Krishna, Krishna, Hari, Hari”:
Krishna, Krishna, Redeemer, Redeemer. In Christianity, we see this manifested in those kind
and loving people that model their lives on Jesus. One is reminded of the words of the
beautiful old hymn, In the Garden: “and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I
am his own…”
The second stage of the “conventional” level of morality is compatible with the view of “law and
order”. At this stage, morality is defined as “doing one’s duty” and “obeying the rules”. At this
stage, rules are “right” because they have been formulated by one’s superiors – a prophet,
king, judge, president, or priest. This represents a step upward because, for the first time, the
values of society as a whole are placed above the needs of the individual, his close family, or
his friends. This is the mentality of “my country right or wrong”.
In the Bible, this is the mentality of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17) and represents the
stern but fair God of Moses and Mohammed.
Returning to ancient Egyptian religion, the concept of the justice of weighing of the departed
good deeds is reinstated. As in Christianity, it co-exists with magic (e.g., The Book of the Dead’’
s magic formula of Salvation and Christianity’s “Jesus Saves”). The story appears of a
grandson of Rameses II named Sa-Osiris, who is a seer, and his father. They were watching a
funeral procession in which a rich man was being carried with his elaborate belongings to a
princely tomb. Shortly after this, they observed the funeral of a poor man wrapped only in a
cloth who was being taken for burial in the desert sand.
The Egyptian prince remarks to his son that he hopes for a good funeral in preparation for a
glorious afterlife, but his seer son remarks that all things are not as they appear to be. He
puts his father into a trance, and the two are transported to the land of the dead where the evil
rich man is suffering a hellish fate and the righteous poor man is being comforted by Osiris,
Isis, and the Egyptian gods, and is living afterlife in regal splendor.
This shows the development of morality and justice in the Egyptian religion, and some
Christian scholars think this is the origin of the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel
of Luke (Lk 16:19-31). The main point here is to underscore the great antiquity of the belief
that salvation is by works. The idea that your good deeds must outweigh your bad deeds is
found in all the worlds’ major religions. In ancient Egypt it is Anubis, the jackal headed god,
who holds the scales of justice, in Christianity it is the Archangel Michael, in Islam it is the
Archangel Gabriel, in Zoroastrianism it is the angel Rashnu, and in both Hinduism and
Buddhism it is the yamadoots of the god of death Yama. In the Eastern Religions, Yama
presides over both your fate in the intermediate state between death and rebirth, and your
reincarnation. It is worth noting that salvation by works is the predominant message in the New
Testament with 389 of the 551 verses supporting it on the lips of Jesus himself. The Unitarian
William Ellery Channing called it “salvation by character”.
According to Kholberg, MOST of humanity will remain at this “conventional” stage of moral
development.
3) Post-conventional
Only one-third of humanity will reach the “post-conventional” level of morality. The first of its
two stages is called, “the democratic social contract”, and one-fourth of modern adults achieve
this level. To these people, rules are obeyed because there is a consensus of the electorate.
Also, the rules can be CHANGED whenever the majority of people agree to change them. The
government of the United States is based on this level of morality, as were (to some extent) the
governance of the early Christian church which, among other things, ordained women (Rom 16:
1). While God’s laws are unchangeable, the ways religions operate can and do change. Also,
Process Theology fits here (i.e., the idea that God has endowed the Universe with free will and
that we are co-creators with God). While Process Theology is a hot topic in today’s divinity
schools, the idea that we are co-creators with God in helping bring about the perfection of the
world is as old as Zoroaster. In the New Testament, you find this idea in Acts 3:20-21 and II
Peter 3:11-13.
The final stage of “post-conventional” moral development is that of the “universal ethical
principle”, and only about 10% of humanity functions at this level. It recognizes a universal
connection to nature, to each other, and to God. At this stage, the rights of each individual
are as important as the rights of the majority, and the individual follows the dictates of his or
her conscience while at the same time being aware of the rights of others. This person is
aware that what is “right” and what is “legal” may not be the same and that the dictates of
conscience must be followed.
This stage is epitomized by the Golden Rule, often associated with Christianity but present in
virtually all of modern mainstream religions. Zoroaster does not need to give his followers a
commandment that prohibits murder --- he does tell them that their good thoughts, words, and
deeds are required to help God defeat evil in this world. Lao Tzu says, “Respond to anger
with virtue”, and the Buddha tells us to, “Overcome anger by love; overcome evil by good.”
Within Islam, the sect called Sufis strives to reach a sublime level of mystic union with God. A
Sufi motto is, “It’s not the letter, it’s the spirit”. In Judaism, this highest level is epitomized by
the Book of Isaiah. Gandhi’s tactics of civil disobedience were a good example of “post-
conventional” thinking leading to action, making the world better.
In the Bible, the whole of Jesus’ message of love and kindness speaks to this highest level.
Think of the difficulty of his simple-sounding formula: “Do unto others as you would have them
do to you…Judge not… Forgive and you will be forgiven.. Blessed are the peacemakers…
Turn the other cheek… Let him who is without sin cast the first stone … Love your enemies…It
is not what goes into your mouth but what comes out that is important”. You may recall from
stories in the New Testament that Jesus himself encounters people who clearly could not
comprehend his message. More than once he simply refers them back to the Ten
Commandments (Matt 19:16-20, Mk 10:17-20, Lk 18:18-20) or to the two Great
Commandments, i.e., to love God and to love your neighbor (Matt 22:37-40, Mk 12:28-34, Lk
10:25-28). At the highest level: forgiveness is yours for the asking (Matt 6:12;7:7-11) and
salvation is Universal (Matt 18:14,Lk 3:6; I Tim 4:10; Heb 10:15-17). Every mystic knows that
we will all be reconciled with God, and Universal Restoration is a minority theme in all the world’
s religions. Zoroaster, Jesus, and Bahaullah mention universalism directly; the Rabbis of the
Midrash tell us that one cannot stay in Hell over one year! In the Hadith, Muhammad predicts
that there will be a time when Hell is empty of humans. In Eastern religions, reincarnation
offers the hope for universal redemption.
When we look at religions in modern times, it is clear that some have a broad appeal and
others have a more narrow appeal. I think that the greatest risk for individual believers is to
get “stuck” in a religious community that does not value personal growth. I have personally
met people (including some ministers) whose intellect and spiritual experience have awakened
them to a higher level of morality but whose congregations have discouraged or prohibited
them from their pursuit.
In her analysis of the behavior of believers, the historian Laina Farhat-Holzman contends that
some religious movements are accepting of persons at all levels of development and
consciously make room for 1) those who base their belief on the “magic” of holy relics, 2)
those whose religion is confined to ritual, and 3) those who struggle to understand the
teachings of their prophets. Two excellent examples of religions that span the range of moral
development from the lowest to highest levels are Roman Catholic Christianity and Hinduism.
In scholarly literature, the results of objective studies are mixed when analyzing the differences
between denominations or religions. The most consistent finding has been that
fundamentalists have a lower level of moral development than liberals. Interestingly, this
appears to be true for those liberals professing no religion, as well as for those who practice
Christianity or another religion. Some fundamentalist Christians have charged that these
attempts at objective measurements have been biased; however, I believe that there is an
alternate explanation.
Developmental psychologists have known for some time that people can truly understand only
the moral stages just above and just below their own. Moses was above the masses of Jews of
his time but NOT so far ahead that they could not understand him. Jesus was speaking to a
more sophisticated group morally, one that had already been socialized by the “conventional”
rules of Moses. In other words, Moses HAD to happen BEFORE Jesus could happen. If Jesus
had confronted the people of the Exodus with, “Love thy neighbor…”, his message would not
have been understood by them.
Often we religious liberals are hard on fundamentalists whom we accuse of being literal,
concrete, and rule-bound. However, I must come to their defense with regard to this fact:
these “conventional” people with specific messages are the ones most able to appeal to those
at the level of “pre-conventional” morality and help raise them up. Although we reject their
religious message and viewpoints, it is good to remember that humanity must crawl before it
can walk. Years ago, an optimistic friend of mine questioned a fundamentalist who explained
that, “We are fundamentalists because we NEED the tight controls of a ‘Thou Shalt Not’
morality; otherwise, we would go wild!”
Another important truism for religious liberals to remember is that ALL children must pass
through ALL stages of morality. No matter how intelligent your child may be, her moral maturity
cannot be inherited at birth! All children need to experience structure and kindness so that
they can develop to the stage where the Golden Rule can be understood and, ultimately, to
the level where it can be lived. Research into how to accomplish this is mixed, but activities
which require reasoning and exploration of moral issues appear to foster a progression toward
the “post-conventional” level. Adults who have had an opportunity in college to explore moral
issues must continue to find forums for discussion, reasoning, and moral growth. I think that
this is an excellent challenge for Sunday Schools and Adult Education programs in our
churches!
In closing, I’d like to express my own opinion about developmental revelation expressed in the
Biblical stories. Although the stories of the Old Testament are part of our literary culture,
Christianity has wallowed too long in their primitive “pre-conventional” morality. And although
there is nothing more beautiful than the declaration of St. Paul that “love is patient and kind”,
many churches have allowed themselves to stagnate in his largely “conventional” message.
In the recent past, a movement has been gradually growing which takes seriously the “post-
conventional” morality of the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. In my view, this should be the
predominant message heard in our churches, inspiring people to “climb up” to the next rung
on the moral ladder. But it’s easier to worship Jesus than to follow his teachings. The “post-
conventional” morality of Jesus demands that we live in the Kingdom of God RIGHT NOW –
that it is possible to be ONE with the Father. In the Gospel of Luke (17:21), Jesus proclaims
that, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” We need to call it forth for the sake of ourselves, for
the sake of all humanity, and for the sake of our whole planet.
Ken R. Vincent, Ed.D. is the Webmaster for the UNIVERSALIST HERALD.
by Ken R. Vincent
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child, but when I
became a man I put away childish ways.” (I Cor. 13:11) This familiar passage of St. Paul
describes normal human development.
My thesis is that there is a parallel between the development of the individual and the progress
of whole cultures throughout history and that evidence for this maturation process can be
found in the stories of the world’s religions. Because the Bible documents a 2000-year period
of human development, it is particularly rich with examples of developmental revelation.
There are many approaches to studying human development and religion, and these are
reflected in the research of developmental psychologists like Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Jane
Loevinger, and others. James Fowler, who is both a psychologist and theologian, devised a
compelling list called, “Seven Stages of Faith Development”.
The theory of human development with the most cross-cultural and comparative religious
research to its credit (and my personal favorite) is that of Larry Kholberg. It is the one I have
selected to explore with you in greater detail. To date, the consensus of his research shows
that, when education and socioeconomic status are controlled for, human beings around the
world from all faiths and cultures vary widely among themselves and that no faith or culture is
clearly superior.
According to Kholberg, there are three levels of moral development, each of which has two
stages:
1) Pre-conventional
2) Conventional, and
3) Post-conventional.
It is important to realize that not all people reach all stages of development, neither in the past
nor today.
1) Pre-conventional
The “pre-conventional” level is the most remedial, and its first stage is called the “punishment
and obedience orientation”. This is the stage of pre-schoolers. The child at this stage lacks
the mental structure to understand the rules but does understand rewards and punishment.
Children at this age are not educable, but they are trainable. This is also the moral level of
your dog or cat.
Consider this example: At about age 3 or 4 years, your daughter has figured out that pushing
the chair up to the kitchen counter will allow her to get to the cookie jar. Later, you come into
the kitchen, see the chair and the empty cookie jar with its lid off, and you see the child with
crumbs all over her face. When you ask,, “Did you take the cookies?”, your child gives the
“right” answer—“No, I didn’t take the cookies!” The parent is often devastated, assuming that
his child is not only STEALING but LYING! The parent fails to realize that the child does not
yet make the connection between cause and effect. Thankfully, very few adults remain stuck
at this moral level.
In the Bible, the best-known example of this is the second Creation Story (Gen 2:4-3:24) in
which you might substitute the “forbidden fruit” for the cookie jar. Adam takes no personal
responsibility but blames Eve for giving him the fruit, and Eve blames the snake for her
misbehavior!
In the same story in Genesis, we are introduced to the oldest form of punishment – the
banishment of Adam and Eve from Paradise. As demonstrated in the work of Jane Goodall,
this links us with the behavior of baboons who banish members of their clan for “crimes” of
dominance, sex, and murder.
In the 5,000-year-old Egyptian Book of the Dead, this stage of morality is reflected in the
behavior of the deceased who is expected to lie to the god Osiris in the Afterlife by reciting a
magic formula known as the Negative Confession in which he denies all wrong-doing. We see
this same magic formula in the Christian theology of “Jesus Saves.” All one needs to know is
John 3:16 and/or John 14:6. This is a gross distortion of the teachings of Jesus. Another
Christian theology at this level is Predestination. In predestination, individuals cannot
influence their own salvation and like the small child have no understanding of the reason for
the rules. Before we leave the level of “magic” in human development, it is important to note
that in times of distress, any of us may want a little magic! In Hinduism, it is said that if you die
with the name of the god Vishnu or one of his incarnations like Rama or Krishna on your lips,
all your sins will be taken away. Gandhi, who achieved the highest level of spiritual
development, died with the name of Rama on his lips!
The second stage of “pre-conventional morality” is that of reciprocity. This is the stage most
of us reached in elementary school and is adopted to satisfy personal needs. At this stage,
the rules exist to be manipulated. Children will give favors in order to get similar rewards in
return. They discover that they can make “deals”, i.e., “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch
yours”. A child will say, “I don’t want to play that game. That is YOUR game, and we played
that yesterday. Today is MY turn.” Even in modern times, some adults get stuck at this stage.
Obviously, this level includes primitive religions in which an animal or human is sacrificed as a
bribe to the gods with the understanding that the gods will do (or not do) something for the
worshipers. Also, the idea in the Hebrew Bible that the righteous will always prosper, and that
if something bad happens to you, it’s because you have sinned belongs at this level. Some
years ago, a student told me of working at an affluent church school that did not admit
handicapped students; because it was evidence that their parents had sinned. In the Book of
Job, Job’s friends express this view. The Prayer of Jabez is a “give me” prayer and at this level.
In the Bible, this level of morality is also represented in the law of “an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24). Getting stuck with this mentality can lead to barbarism and
reminds us of the relentless retaliatory strikes we hear about on the evening news between the
Israelis and Palestinians. Unless people are encouraged to higher levels of thinking, in the
words of Martin Luther King, we are all at risk of becoming “blind and toothless”. The only
good thing about this rule is that you are only allowed to take one eye for one eye and one
tooth for one tooth.
Many of those to whom Moses preached were no doubt at either the first or second stage of
“pre-conventional” morality – largely equivalent to that of today’s small children. It also
appears that the people addressed by Mohammed 2000 years later were at this level.
2) Conventional
The next level of moral reasoning is the “conventional” level which is reached by most people
in adolescence; most adults never progress beyond one of its two stages. The first of these
stages is the “good boy/nice girl” phase in which “right” behaviors are the ones that please
the person’s reference groups, including family, friends, and peers. This is the first stage that
goes beyond the manipulation of others for personal gratification and includes a genuine
consideration for others. It is the first level at which the Golden Rule can be understood, if not
practiced.
In the Bible, the beautiful story of Ruth reflects this level of development when she declares,
“Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and
your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16) Although this love passage is sometimes used for modern
weddings, Ruth is not saying this to her husband – she is addressing her mother-in-law,
Naomi. Ruth wants to remain with her mother-in-law because she loves her --- not because
she thinks Naomi’s God is superior!
This is the stage where the need for a personal god is strongest. In Hinduism this is the
devotional path exemplified by the worshipers of Lord Krishna. “Krishna, Krishna, Hari, Hari”:
Krishna, Krishna, Redeemer, Redeemer. In Christianity, we see this manifested in those kind
and loving people that model their lives on Jesus. One is reminded of the words of the
beautiful old hymn, In the Garden: “and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I
am his own…”
The second stage of the “conventional” level of morality is compatible with the view of “law and
order”. At this stage, morality is defined as “doing one’s duty” and “obeying the rules”. At this
stage, rules are “right” because they have been formulated by one’s superiors – a prophet,
king, judge, president, or priest. This represents a step upward because, for the first time, the
values of society as a whole are placed above the needs of the individual, his close family, or
his friends. This is the mentality of “my country right or wrong”.
In the Bible, this is the mentality of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17) and represents the
stern but fair God of Moses and Mohammed.
Returning to ancient Egyptian religion, the concept of the justice of weighing of the departed
good deeds is reinstated. As in Christianity, it co-exists with magic (e.g., The Book of the Dead’’
s magic formula of Salvation and Christianity’s “Jesus Saves”). The story appears of a
grandson of Rameses II named Sa-Osiris, who is a seer, and his father. They were watching a
funeral procession in which a rich man was being carried with his elaborate belongings to a
princely tomb. Shortly after this, they observed the funeral of a poor man wrapped only in a
cloth who was being taken for burial in the desert sand.
The Egyptian prince remarks to his son that he hopes for a good funeral in preparation for a
glorious afterlife, but his seer son remarks that all things are not as they appear to be. He
puts his father into a trance, and the two are transported to the land of the dead where the evil
rich man is suffering a hellish fate and the righteous poor man is being comforted by Osiris,
Isis, and the Egyptian gods, and is living afterlife in regal splendor.
This shows the development of morality and justice in the Egyptian religion, and some
Christian scholars think this is the origin of the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel
of Luke (Lk 16:19-31). The main point here is to underscore the great antiquity of the belief
that salvation is by works. The idea that your good deeds must outweigh your bad deeds is
found in all the worlds’ major religions. In ancient Egypt it is Anubis, the jackal headed god,
who holds the scales of justice, in Christianity it is the Archangel Michael, in Islam it is the
Archangel Gabriel, in Zoroastrianism it is the angel Rashnu, and in both Hinduism and
Buddhism it is the yamadoots of the god of death Yama. In the Eastern Religions, Yama
presides over both your fate in the intermediate state between death and rebirth, and your
reincarnation. It is worth noting that salvation by works is the predominant message in the New
Testament with 389 of the 551 verses supporting it on the lips of Jesus himself. The Unitarian
William Ellery Channing called it “salvation by character”.
According to Kholberg, MOST of humanity will remain at this “conventional” stage of moral
development.
3) Post-conventional
Only one-third of humanity will reach the “post-conventional” level of morality. The first of its
two stages is called, “the democratic social contract”, and one-fourth of modern adults achieve
this level. To these people, rules are obeyed because there is a consensus of the electorate.
Also, the rules can be CHANGED whenever the majority of people agree to change them. The
government of the United States is based on this level of morality, as were (to some extent) the
governance of the early Christian church which, among other things, ordained women (Rom 16:
1). While God’s laws are unchangeable, the ways religions operate can and do change. Also,
Process Theology fits here (i.e., the idea that God has endowed the Universe with free will and
that we are co-creators with God). While Process Theology is a hot topic in today’s divinity
schools, the idea that we are co-creators with God in helping bring about the perfection of the
world is as old as Zoroaster. In the New Testament, you find this idea in Acts 3:20-21 and II
Peter 3:11-13.
The final stage of “post-conventional” moral development is that of the “universal ethical
principle”, and only about 10% of humanity functions at this level. It recognizes a universal
connection to nature, to each other, and to God. At this stage, the rights of each individual
are as important as the rights of the majority, and the individual follows the dictates of his or
her conscience while at the same time being aware of the rights of others. This person is
aware that what is “right” and what is “legal” may not be the same and that the dictates of
conscience must be followed.
This stage is epitomized by the Golden Rule, often associated with Christianity but present in
virtually all of modern mainstream religions. Zoroaster does not need to give his followers a
commandment that prohibits murder --- he does tell them that their good thoughts, words, and
deeds are required to help God defeat evil in this world. Lao Tzu says, “Respond to anger
with virtue”, and the Buddha tells us to, “Overcome anger by love; overcome evil by good.”
Within Islam, the sect called Sufis strives to reach a sublime level of mystic union with God. A
Sufi motto is, “It’s not the letter, it’s the spirit”. In Judaism, this highest level is epitomized by
the Book of Isaiah. Gandhi’s tactics of civil disobedience were a good example of “post-
conventional” thinking leading to action, making the world better.
In the Bible, the whole of Jesus’ message of love and kindness speaks to this highest level.
Think of the difficulty of his simple-sounding formula: “Do unto others as you would have them
do to you…Judge not… Forgive and you will be forgiven.. Blessed are the peacemakers…
Turn the other cheek… Let him who is without sin cast the first stone … Love your enemies…It
is not what goes into your mouth but what comes out that is important”. You may recall from
stories in the New Testament that Jesus himself encounters people who clearly could not
comprehend his message. More than once he simply refers them back to the Ten
Commandments (Matt 19:16-20, Mk 10:17-20, Lk 18:18-20) or to the two Great
Commandments, i.e., to love God and to love your neighbor (Matt 22:37-40, Mk 12:28-34, Lk
10:25-28). At the highest level: forgiveness is yours for the asking (Matt 6:12;7:7-11) and
salvation is Universal (Matt 18:14,Lk 3:6; I Tim 4:10; Heb 10:15-17). Every mystic knows that
we will all be reconciled with God, and Universal Restoration is a minority theme in all the world’
s religions. Zoroaster, Jesus, and Bahaullah mention universalism directly; the Rabbis of the
Midrash tell us that one cannot stay in Hell over one year! In the Hadith, Muhammad predicts
that there will be a time when Hell is empty of humans. In Eastern religions, reincarnation
offers the hope for universal redemption.
When we look at religions in modern times, it is clear that some have a broad appeal and
others have a more narrow appeal. I think that the greatest risk for individual believers is to
get “stuck” in a religious community that does not value personal growth. I have personally
met people (including some ministers) whose intellect and spiritual experience have awakened
them to a higher level of morality but whose congregations have discouraged or prohibited
them from their pursuit.
In her analysis of the behavior of believers, the historian Laina Farhat-Holzman contends that
some religious movements are accepting of persons at all levels of development and
consciously make room for 1) those who base their belief on the “magic” of holy relics, 2)
those whose religion is confined to ritual, and 3) those who struggle to understand the
teachings of their prophets. Two excellent examples of religions that span the range of moral
development from the lowest to highest levels are Roman Catholic Christianity and Hinduism.
In scholarly literature, the results of objective studies are mixed when analyzing the differences
between denominations or religions. The most consistent finding has been that
fundamentalists have a lower level of moral development than liberals. Interestingly, this
appears to be true for those liberals professing no religion, as well as for those who practice
Christianity or another religion. Some fundamentalist Christians have charged that these
attempts at objective measurements have been biased; however, I believe that there is an
alternate explanation.
Developmental psychologists have known for some time that people can truly understand only
the moral stages just above and just below their own. Moses was above the masses of Jews of
his time but NOT so far ahead that they could not understand him. Jesus was speaking to a
more sophisticated group morally, one that had already been socialized by the “conventional”
rules of Moses. In other words, Moses HAD to happen BEFORE Jesus could happen. If Jesus
had confronted the people of the Exodus with, “Love thy neighbor…”, his message would not
have been understood by them.
Often we religious liberals are hard on fundamentalists whom we accuse of being literal,
concrete, and rule-bound. However, I must come to their defense with regard to this fact:
these “conventional” people with specific messages are the ones most able to appeal to those
at the level of “pre-conventional” morality and help raise them up. Although we reject their
religious message and viewpoints, it is good to remember that humanity must crawl before it
can walk. Years ago, an optimistic friend of mine questioned a fundamentalist who explained
that, “We are fundamentalists because we NEED the tight controls of a ‘Thou Shalt Not’
morality; otherwise, we would go wild!”
Another important truism for religious liberals to remember is that ALL children must pass
through ALL stages of morality. No matter how intelligent your child may be, her moral maturity
cannot be inherited at birth! All children need to experience structure and kindness so that
they can develop to the stage where the Golden Rule can be understood and, ultimately, to
the level where it can be lived. Research into how to accomplish this is mixed, but activities
which require reasoning and exploration of moral issues appear to foster a progression toward
the “post-conventional” level. Adults who have had an opportunity in college to explore moral
issues must continue to find forums for discussion, reasoning, and moral growth. I think that
this is an excellent challenge for Sunday Schools and Adult Education programs in our
churches!
In closing, I’d like to express my own opinion about developmental revelation expressed in the
Biblical stories. Although the stories of the Old Testament are part of our literary culture,
Christianity has wallowed too long in their primitive “pre-conventional” morality. And although
there is nothing more beautiful than the declaration of St. Paul that “love is patient and kind”,
many churches have allowed themselves to stagnate in his largely “conventional” message.
In the recent past, a movement has been gradually growing which takes seriously the “post-
conventional” morality of the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. In my view, this should be the
predominant message heard in our churches, inspiring people to “climb up” to the next rung
on the moral ladder. But it’s easier to worship Jesus than to follow his teachings. The “post-
conventional” morality of Jesus demands that we live in the Kingdom of God RIGHT NOW –
that it is possible to be ONE with the Father. In the Gospel of Luke (17:21), Jesus proclaims
that, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” We need to call it forth for the sake of ourselves, for
the sake of all humanity, and for the sake of our whole planet.
Ken R. Vincent, Ed.D. is the Webmaster for the UNIVERSALIST HERALD.
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