Kim's Reviews > The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective

Over dinner one night my friend said, "I'm an Enneagram Type Six, what are you?" From online Enneagram test results, I knew I was a Type One. She went on to talk about the freedom and healing she'd found in knowing her type and what she needed to work on to become a mature and balanced Type Six. That information I didn't find online, but in this book by Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert.

Unlike the familiar Myers-Briggs personality grid, the Enneagram is a cryptic, almost mystical, circle with nine numbered points along the circumference and lines connecting some numbers to others. Each individual strongly identifies with one Type, but there are many variations within a type. Each type also has wings, subtypes, a besetting sin, and directional arrows toward other types that lead to growth or regression.

Rohr eases the reader into the Enneagram's descriptions for each Type and reserves the additional complexities for the latter chapters. He begins by focusing on the besetting, often unacknowledged, sin for each type that keeps us from growing and finding the true self God created us to be. Type Ones struggle with Anger, Twos with Pride, Fives with Avarice, Sevens with Envy, etc. Rohr describes the offsetting fruit of the spirit for each sin, the defense mechanisms that hinder maturity, and the emotional pitfalls for all nine types. The authors share personal experiences, and examples from Scripture and church history that put flesh on each type's description.

Rather than a "this is what I am" kind-of awareness, the Enneagram leads to movement and transformation. Rather than feeling constrained by a four-letter mold, the challenge to readers is to broaden themselves, see their compulsions and habits redeemed, and encounter God (256-257).

Feeling stuck, trapped in ruts you've failed to get out of? Unsure of the path to greater maturity? Rohr and Ebert's book may be the kick in the seat of the pants and the guidebook you need.