According to Fowler, stage one Intuitive-Projective faith, is a “fantasy-filled, imitative phase” (342) in which the child is influenced by the examples, moods, actions, and stories of

their relatives’ faith. In this stage, which generally occurs in children ages three to seven, faith is related to feelings and senses that are associated with certain memories; the child is not taught the beliefs of faith but rather observes the examples of faith set by those in the family environment [Fowler]. An example of this stage can be found in an early chapter of Blood Brothers when Elias hears the news that his father is bringing home a lamb for a dinner feast. Elias immediately makes the association of the lamb with the celebration of Easter. He has observed during his early years that the only time his family eats meat is during special occasions like Easter. Elias associates Easter with the feeling of happiness and a time of celebration. Another example of stage one can be seen in the associations Elias makes with the comfort he finds sitting in his mother’s lap and hearing stories about Jesus. The main factor leading to the transition into the next stage of faith is the development of concrete operational thinking. As the child mentally develops he or she wants to know more about how things are and also the need for clarification between what is real and what is not [Fowler]. Therefore Elias’ transition from stage one to stage two is more or less as a result of mental development.

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