In Tang’s article Reframing Spiritual Formation and Transformation, he addresses how people change spiritually. He uses developmental and system theories of social sciences to help give us insight into the knowing, acting, and being of spiritual formation and transformation. When considering formation and transformation, the changes can either be first-order which are primary behavioral, or more complex in second-order change which involves one’s self identity and life’s meaning. Second-order change is a new revelation, and can be described as coming as a conviction in knowing. This conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. Both the work of the Holy Spirit and a person’s willful desire to yield to the Holy Spirit is what causes spiritual formation and transformation. Therefore, when formation takes place it provides the environment for transformation to take place, but transformation’s timing is based on the person’s willful desire to yield to the Holy Spirit’s work in their life to transform it to that of Christ. Many times yielding to the Holy Spirit takes place at the point of conflict. Conflict creates anxiety, and it can be both conscious or unconscious.…show more content… Our being is made up of four dimensions which are: self representing mankind, world – representing our world we live in, void – representing the source of our fears, and the Holy – representing the Holy Spirit. The ‘void’ is where the conflict arises, taking many forms such as death, lostness, emptiness in our lived world. Our self tries to provide an answer to the void, but it cannot. The Holy Spirit can only transcend the void for us and restore us to balance from the void. This overcoming with the Holy Spirit’s help along with our willful desire, causes transformation in us and a new way living, seeing, and knowing
