Faith Beyond Belief: Stories of Good People Who Left Their Church Behind is not a book against religion. Rather, it invites readers to consider a broader spiritual perspective. Based on the work of twelve theorists in a field that could be called Spiritual Development Theory, this book uses ten true stories from real life people to illustrate how a person might move through the specific spiritual development stages described by the theorists. Author Margaret Placentra Johnston feels that if only spiritual development could become part of the basic knowledge of our culture, and people were encouraged toward the type of spiritual maturity described by the theorists, we would have a far better society.