Higher Stages? A Christian Perspective on Kohlberg‘s Theory of Moral Development

Biblical teaching cannot easily be harmonized with the content of Kohlberg‘s theory, especially his hierarchy of moral reasoning which considers self-interested pursuit of reward, avoidance of punishment, and seeking to please God as lower, relatively inferior forms of moral reasoning. The Christian Scriptures present people with a broad spectrum of valid reasons for doing what is right, and these reasons do not fit easily within Kohlberg‘s progressive hierarchy of higher and lower stages of moral reasoning.1

  1. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/papers/ets/2005/Moroney/Moroney.pdf []
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