A Description and Evaluation of the Cognitive Approach to Religious Development

The cognitive approach to religious development is an approach focused on the development of understanding religious notions and the thinking method for religious doctrines throughout life, especially during childhood and adolescence, suggesting some phases and prescriptions for developing piety and religious education. In the present article, this approach has been described briefly and has been evaluated along five lines of attributing a magical thinking to childhood, an anthropomorphic image of God in childhood, the level of effectiveness for findings from Christian doctrines, the relevance of a developmental-cognitive framework for determining the phases of piety, and sufficiency of the reasons for delaying teaching religion to children.