Abstract

One prominent image of the Christian life in Scripture is that of a journey homeward. Consistent with Scripture and the developmental sciences, Christian spiritual authorities through history have developed various journey paradigms with associated phases or stages and transitions. Constructive paradigms are not linear and rigid in form, but might be represented as upward trending spiral movements that permit digressions, reversions, stopping places and advances on the way. Such paradigms and stages serve valuable heuristic functions in assisting pilgrims to assess where they are on the journey and how to progress in maturity as well as insights for guiding others on their journeys of faith.