the enneagram
Darren Rowse at the Living Room blogged about an online and free enneagram test. I have read a number of books on this ancient spiritual formation tools. In doing so, I have always thought that I was a type eight and so I did the test wondering if I would get the same result.
And indeed I did. Do the free short test yourself here
April 7th, 2003 at 12:15 pm
@ 02/08/2003 16:49:
thanks for the link….looks like you guys are learning the art of blogging at a fast rate….looks great!
D
April 7th, 2003 at 12:15 pm
@ 02/08/2003 20:39:
Great idea putting up the enneagram stuff! I got 2, 5 and 9 even.
By giving me these activities, you’ve already invoved me and got me interested in the site. All in the 1 day!
April 7th, 2003 at 12:15 pm
@ 02/09/2003 15:48:
Welcome to blogdom in Australia. Link from Darren,
Shalom,
Jan
November 4th, 2003 at 8:45 pm
Do you guys realise that the Enneagram is based on a number of ancient mystic traditions - the Sufis, a sect of Islam, Christian Gnosticism, Kabala, a Jewish mysticism, and also assumes that Essence or “God” is all of us and in all of us, as well as the trees, birds, animals and the Universe generally. (Pantheism). The basis is that there is secret knowledge which we have forgotten, which we attempt to compensate with by developing our egos, or personality. If we discover our “type” we discover how we are “compensating” and can then take steps to rediscover our godness, and become part again of the great Essence. Don’t believe me? Visit http://www.enneagraminstitute.com.It might be fun to do, be remember when you play with fire you get burnt.
November 5th, 2003 at 2:33 pm
Tim, I wasn’t aware of all of the background to the development of the Enneagram, but I don’t know that this constitutes “playing with fire”. I believe that there are many ideas which may have been developed by people that I don’t agree with. However, I don’t need to agree with those people to find something like the enneagram interesting and valuable as a tool for understanding myself and others.
November 7th, 2003 at 10:02 am
Hi Dan, thanks for your response. I am curious to know what it is that you have found out about yourself through the enneagram that you couldn’t find out through the Bible. Also, if there are things about you or others that you have discovered that seem contrary to the Bible, which would you take as the authority?
My use of the fire analogy is due to me being a firefighter. So often we deal with kids who play with matches because they think they are fun or are interesting, and really don’t appreciate the potential damage that their “toy” can have on both themself and others.
The enneagram is based on there being secret knowledge about the universe and our true nature, and that God is just some non specific power or entity. It seeks to label you as a “type”. But we know that God is personal, real and loving. God has revealed himself to us completely in Jesus, so that there is no secret about Him, or how we can know Him. Also, in God’s eyes we are not a “type” but created in His image, as unique individuals, who He loves unconditionally.
I have just been on a leadership course with the Qld Fire and Rescue Service, on which we had to complete an enneagram. The course facilitator was right into using them and completely agreed with the sppiritual basis for them. It was a very uncomfortable experience, and I could literally feel the Holy Spirit in me saying that this was not just wrong but evil. That this was stuff from the Devil, that was dressed up to be “helpful” and “an insight into your true self”, but would lead you away from seeking the Truth.
I hope I haven’t come across too hard Dan, but just because something is interesting doesn’t mean that its not just Satan trying to trick us. Remember, Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. He can be like and angel of light to deceive us, and roams the Earth like a lion ready to devour anyone.
God Bless,
Tim
November 7th, 2003 at 10:09 am
I can’t say that I have the same concerns. Perhaps I would if I encountered as you have someone who embraced all of the spiritual background to the enneagram.
However, I thought that using the enneagram was very consistent with my beliefs. As I have used it, this tool is about discerning your individual ways of reacting and interacting with others. I believe that we are all unique, but that does not mean that we do not share some of the same patterns of behaviour, that we cannot learn from each other.
It is one thing to say that the bible is the source of wisdom. It is quite another to say that the bible is the only source of wisdom. The bible teaches me that I am a broken and imperfect individual and that with the help of God I can experience healing and growth. The enneagram happens to be one of the tools that I have used as I have journeyed in that healing and growth.
January 25th, 2004 at 2:07 am
Dear Tim & Fellow Signposts Readers,
I just finished writing a research article exposing the ENNEAGRAM. I could not have better condensed it than what Tim Watkins has done.!!! My commentary in the original documentary is in red, so you must be careful to distinguish my commentary from the defenders of the Enneagram.
As I know that you are already aware that the Roman Catholic Church promotes the Enneagram Personality Profiler via such notables as Fr. William Maestri while it denounces it through such leaders as Fr. Mitch Pacwa. It is most peculiar that from the Pope’s own published position on the Enneagram, that Fr. William Maestri would not be silenced! So, I thought you might like a copy of my review of the Enneagram as to whether it is compatible with Orthodox Christianity.
Sincerely in Christ,
James Sundquist
President
Rock Salt Publishing
*****
Dear Kathy Hurley and Theodorre Donson,
I have just finished reviewing your article “Refuting Rev. Mitch Pacwa’s erroneous negative views of the Enneagram.”
I had already spent years researching Carl Jung and his influence in the Church, so this was a natural sequel. For your convenience I have enclosed your complete article for context. I do not address every point. My responses are in red. But I should also tell you that I have run my responses by a number of discernment ministry Biblical Scholars who also agree with my conclusions. I am sure that you are also aware that the Briggs-Meyers Carl Jung based Personality Profiler is also used in conjunction with the Enneagram. I do not address that in this document. My research on Carl Jung regarding the Church is published in other papers and is also available on various Biblical Discernment websites.
I should also point out the Roman Catholicism does not represent Orthodox Christianity for all Christians who support Sola Scriptura as the only and final authority in faith and morals for which the Reformation took place. An though Mitch Pacwa may be accurate in some points regarding the pagan origins of personality profiling. He is in grave error on a number of other points which I will demonstrate. But my main focus is to demonstrate that the Enneagram itself is laced with teachings that are contrary to Scripture. That is the test, not what the Roman Catholic Church ultimately says.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review below. I hope and pray that you take it to heart!
Kindest regards,
James Sundquist
President
Rock Salt Publishing
Religious Accusations Against the Enneagram Proven False
© 2001, Enneagram Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.
By Kathy Hurley and Theodorre Donson
The Enneagram is a system of nine personality types that has been growing in popularity since the early 1970s. Each of the types is associated with one of nine core “passions.” Sometimes called ego-fixations or compulsions, these nine negative emotional states are anger, pride, deceit, envy, greed, fear, gluttony, lust, and laziness. This list largely depends on the tradition of “capital sins” in Christianity, although the Enneagram interprets them psychologically, not moralistically.
The Enneagram describes the nine personality types as patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. By revealing these patterns clearly, the Enneagram is used to guide people in overcoming weaknesses and capitalizing on strengths,
This is not Christian because the Bible tells us to God’s strength is perfected on our WEAKNESS:
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” II Corinthians 12:9
to understand and develop compassion in relationships of all kinds, and to understand oneself in one’s own personal growth and relationship to God.
Catholic theologian Mitchell Pacwa, S. J. wrote extensively during the early 1990s on his interpretation of the Enneagram and how, like Jungian psychology, he believes it is misleading Christians in their search for spiritual direction. His two main statements are an article on the Internet, “Tell Me Who I Am, O Enneagram,” (copyright 1994, Christian Research Institute) and his book Catholics and the New Age (Servant Publications, 1992). He continues to present his ideas on Catholic conservative radio and TV shows.
In mid-2000, the U.S. Catholic bishops’ committee on doctrine issued a document on the Enneagram based on Pacwa’s ideas. It cautions bishops that “the Enneagram has its origins in a non-Christian world view and remains connected to a complex of philosophical and religious ideas that do not accord with Christian beliefs.”
Our Response to Pacwa’s Criticism of the Enneagram
This article is our response to these unfortunate interpretations of the Enneagram. We call these documents “unfortunate” because our own research clearly indicates that the Enneagram has solid roots in the Christian writings of the “desert elders.”
These desert elders to whom you are referring were Gnostics, the first major heresy in the Church, but their beliefs do not accurately portray or reflect Orthodox Christianity. In fact, it was the Gnostics who attempted to integrate Christianity with Greek Philosophy. Paul was opposing this and condemning it in the First Century in his own writings long before the advent of the Desert Fathers of which you speak, who were simply continuing the tradition of the same heresies. There is a Hebrew word for mixing other religions with the true Faith, the word is Makshufot, which means mixture. Not only did the Apostle Paul not mix Christianity with Greek Philosophy he spent his entire campaign opposing this mythology and doctrines of demons that had no power to restrain sin. To suggest otherwise is revisionist history. It is ironic that Father Pacwa would be refuting your personality profile as pagan, when in fact it his own Catholic Church that spawned mysticism in his own Church Fathers.
These men and women, sometimes called the Fathers and Mothers of the Church, lived and wrote in the first five centuries of Christianity. As the first interpreters of the Gospels, they inquired into the inner development of human nature as it progresses toward the experience of God.
Thus, we believe that Pacwa, with the U. S. bishops following him, is placing himself in the strange-but-true situation of encouraging Christians to be suspicious of authentic Christian teaching about the inner life because it appears in a form with which he is unfamiliar and therefore cannot immediately recognize as Christian.
The confusion these documents creates is compounded by the fact that none of them demonstrates an accurate understanding of the Enneagram. Because Pacwa’s article available on the Internet both summarizes his book and is the source document for the bishop’s statement, we will deal with it directly in this response.
False Accusation of Numerology
Pacwa’s document is marred by several erroneous assumptions. For example, it claims that the Enneagram depends on numerology and therefore calls it “divination.” However, the Enneagram uses numbers, not numerology. The dictionary defines numerology as “the study of the occult meanings of numbers and their supposed influence on human life.” Numerology assigns numbers to the letters of the alphabet and offers guidance to people based on the number equivalence of the letters in their names and their date of birth.
Pacwa also claims that the numerology of the Enneagram is based on the search for the “mystical meanings” of recurring decimal numbers. This statement is misleading in two ways. First, possible mystical meanings of numbers is not the same as numerology. I thought you just said that numerology by definition does assign mystical meanings to numbers?
Second, the Enneagram of personality as taught today relies on no such numerical mysticism. It simply uses the numbers one through nine. This is not numerology, just as arithmetic is not numerology. But arithmetic is not numerology because it does not assign numeric values to the soul or personality traits of the soul. But the bottom line that in the end the Enneagram is numerology because it still uses numbers to describe or make determinations about things pertaining to the soul. The Enneagram is no more compatible with Christianity than Astrology. But jus like the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ attempts to integrate astrology with Christianity, the Enneagram does the same thing, and both have their numerology Ouija Board-like charts. And just like the Mandela, the Enneagram has its wheel-like nine-pointed star.
False Presentation of “Essence” and “Personality”
Pacwa denigrates another teaching basic to the Enneagram, essence and personality, by calling it “pantheistic.” The Enneagram claims to describe personality, which perceives reality in an overly subjective manner, and is opposed to essence or a person’s true nature. If it is so subjective, then of what possible mathematical value, let alone moral value can it have? There is not nine types of personality, there are as many unique personalities as there are snowflakes, or as many people who were ever born on the earth. Just as star differs from star in glory, every one unique, so too is every personality.
In criticizing this idea, Pacwa is apparently oblivious to the Christian origin of the word “essence” in this context. It was first used in the 1330s by Gregory Palamas, a canonized saint in the Orthodox tradition. This can’t be Christian either, it is extrabiblical. Yes both Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics canonize saints. But the Apostle Peter says that ALL Christians are saints. Biblically there is no such thing or justification for canonization. Saints are saved sinners who are being sanctified while they live and gloried when they are resurrected. But no man can elevate that status of a Christian once they are dead. God alone, can do that! And just like Roman Catholicism which is always adding to Scripture with its binding traditions, what possible discovery about the meaning of the word “essence” could add anything to the Revelation already delivered to the saints, once and for all! What did all of the saints, including the Apostles, lack for 1330 years since the advent of Christianity, lack that new revelation to Gregory Palamas gave us, when both Paul and Peter declare in their own words we were already given everything we need for our sufficiency in Christ? He explained the nature of God as “essence” and “energies,” or the means by which God communicates with humanity. God does not communicate to man with “energies” but by his living Word, God breathed and verbally inspired. Palamas’ explanation of God is pagan and pantheistic, therefore in grave error. Since humanity is created in God’s image, this teaching evolved to say every human being also has an “essence” or soul and “energies” or personality. These views do not represent Orthodox Christianity. Bible Chapter and Verse please!
Alleged Occult Basis of the Enneagram
Pacwa says the Enneagram has origins in the occult, which most people associate with magic and human use of spiritual powers not lawful to them. However, the ideas that underlay the Enneagram have esoteric origins, not occult ones. BINGO…”esoteric origins” that’s gnosticism, mysticism and Eastern mysticism.
For most people, the word “esoteric” is equivalent to “occult.” In fact, religious traditions use this word in its most basic definition, which is “inner” or “interior.” Esoteric principles teach the inner development of humanity as it yearns for the divine. Spiritual growth, contemplative prayer and the writings of mystics like Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross are all “esoteric.” Yes and they are all unbiblical too, so they can’t be Christian!
Here is what John of the Cross says about God:
“*’My beloved [God] is the high mountains, and the lovely valley forests, unexplored islands, rushing rivers’
John of the Cross
No God is not the high mountains, he is the creator of the high mountains. Anyone worshiping the mountains, thinking they are God is pantheist, exactly what you say the Enneagram is not.
“I saw that God is in all things”
.Julian of Norwich’
No, God is separate from his Creation. If Julian of Norwich’s statement were true, when as the Apostle Peter records that God’s entire creation will melt with fervent heat and be destroyed, God would be destroying himself…an impossibility!
Julian of Norwich also taught that God and Jesus Christ are our mother, a concept found nowhere in Scripture. Source: Julian of Norwich’s “Christ as Mother” and Medieval Constructions of Gender, Thomas L. Long Presented at the Madison Conference on English Studies. James Madison University. March 18, 1995 http://users.visi.net/%7Elongt/julian.htm
Alleged Sufi Basis for the Enneagram
Pacwa claims the Enneagram comes from the Sufis (who teach contemplative spirituality in the Islamic world). Many Enneagram teachers (including ourselves) used to present this erroneous idea. But how could the underlying ideas of the Enneagram be Sufi when the Sufis themselves disavow this claim? To be sure, there are Sufi books on the Enneagram (for example, Laleh Bakhtiar’s three volume work, God’s Will Be Done (KAZI Publications, 1993 and 1994)), but the way they both describe and use the Enneagram barely resembles the presentation of the Enneagram Pacwa refers to. Whether or nor Sufis originated the Enneagram, Sufism is completely antithetical to Orthodox Christianity.
Pacwa states the nine types of the Enneagram fall into three groups of three, associated with the head, the heart, and the gut (often called “the three centers”). Then he claims these three categories of intellectual, emotional and instinctual are borrowed from Sufism.
Yet Plato also taught such a tri-partite analysis of human nature (for example, see his Timaeus). Well Plato was wrong too!! The Bible, and therefore Christianity teaches that man is tri-partite, but the three parts are the Body, Soul, and Spirit. So did the Christian desert elders when they called Christians to three renunciations — in the physical realm (simplicity), emotional realm (virtue rather than the passions), and intellectual realm (relying on divine and not human knowledge to lead a person to God). These Christian desert fathers were heretics for the same reason that Plato was wrong.
Common sense leads to the same conclusion. Each day, when faced with decisions, people ask themselves, “What do I think about it?”, “How do I feel about it?”, and “What will I do about it?” This may very well be true, but therein lies the problem! What we do must be determined by the authority of Scripture and keeping his commandments. These are universal categories. They don’t belong to any one religion or philosophy. Once again, therein lies the problem and why this can’t be consistent with Christianity. Jesus Christ said that I am the way the truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. Does this sound like Jesus was making room for other philosophies and religions? Even the Apostle Paul himself stated that the world’s philosophies had no power to restrain sin!! Further, although they are given different names and appear in many different forms, they are almost universally used by the world’s religions and philosophies.
Because he wrongly believes the idea of the three centers is Sufi, it doesn’t matter if Pacwa was wrong about its source, if it still remains that the Enneagram supports this idea. Pacwa takes exception to the idea that imbalance among the three centers is one of humanity’s basic problems and therefore that balancing the centers is important spiritual work for everyone to do. Yet this was also Plato’s idea and the Christian desert elders built upon it, these heretical early Christian desert elders should be building their house on the rock Christ, not Plato. Plato’s views were antithetical to true Christianity…and who better to know this than the Apostle Paul himself who opposed these Greek Philosophers face to face and tried to evangelized them away from Greek Philosophy, even to the point of tearing his robes. Paul did not borrow from any other philosophy, let alone Greek, but rather said I preach nothing but Christ crucified! saying that when head, heart and body are balanced, people can more clearly hear God and more authentically fulfill God’s will. It also makes common sense that when we learn to think when thinking is appropriate, feel when feeling is appropriate, and act when action is appropriate, we live more whole, wholesome and holy lives. It is impossible to be holy without Christ as our Savior. As to balance qualities or traits in the old man, once again, Paul did not balance the old man, he crucified it and put on the new man of a New Creation in Christ Jesus. Balancing as you describe it is a yin-yang Eastern Religion idea, but it has no place in Christianity.
The Ideas of G. I. Gurdjieff
Pacwa claims that the Enneagram is unreliable because it comes in part from the teaching of George I. Gurdjieff. However, it’s Pacwa’s tactic here itself that is unreliable: guilt by association. One does not authentically judge an idea as good or bad by its association with people, but on the merits of the idea itself. (Pacwa uses the same false argument regarding Oscar Ichazo’s association with the Enneagram; we will deal with Ichazo in a later section of this article.)
By giving only the kind of information about Gurdjieff that causes alarm but not balanced enough to allow readers to decide for themselves what kind of man Gurdjieff was, Pacwa relies on the dishonorable tactic of ad hominem argument, better known today as character assassination.
Well I agree we should not use ad hominim attacks. But since this article is at least in great part devoted to defending whether or not the Enneagram is Christian, then it certainly would be appropriate to ask what both Oscasr Ichazo and Gurdjieff believed about Jesus Christ.
For example, Pacwa claims that Gurdjieff “rejected” the Orthodox faith in which he had been brought up to explore the occult. If Gurdjieff rejected his faith as taught to him in the Orthodox church, then why do Gurdjieff’s ideas dovetail with the Orthodox monastic tradition on almost every major point? The answer to that question is easy. The monastic tradition to a great extent was mysticism. And by Orthodox, I assume you mean Roman Catholic. But Roman Catholicism has a host of traditions that are not Biblical, and therefore clearly not Orthodox Christianity. For more proof go to lighthousetrails.com
Whether you read the writings of contemporary monks and hermits from Mt. Athos (for example, Orthodox Psychotherapy: The Science of the Fathers (Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 1994) by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos),
Psychotherapy is Christian? Read this review:
Psychology vs. Scripture
Psychology counsels no fear of the Lord at anytime in any of its therapies, let alone at the beginning. So there is no wisdom in it. The Bible teaches that there is body, soul, and spirit; psychology says there is only the body and the soul. The Bible teaches us that it is Holy Spirit that will lead us in all truth and that it is sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing even the soul from spirit. Psychology doesn’t even believe in the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches us about our eternal destiny. Psychology offers no hope for eternity. The Bible teaches us to lay up for our selves treasures in heaven. Psychology offers no concept of heaven to lay up your treasures for. The Bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things (our needs) will be added unto us. Psychology doesn’t seek first the Kingdom of God, in fact it never seeks the Kingdom of God. The Bible teaches that our help comes from the Lord. Psychology tells us our help comes from one or more of unproven theories and tens of thousands of psychotherapists whose ideas were drawn from paganism, divination, astrology, humanism, and evolution. The Bible teaches that being lovers of selves is mankind’s problem. Psychology teaches that being lovers of selves is the solution. Bible teaches that we can come freely to drink the waters of life. Psychology charges for it. The Bible offers the opportunity of becoming a new man in Christ. Psychology offers an improved or even damaged version of the old man. The Bible teaches that our strength is perfected in weakness and that in suffering, sin loses its power. Psychology teaches us how to balance our strengths and weaknesses with personality profiles derived from paganism and divination. The Bible esteems the contrite and broken spirit. Psychology esteems self-esteem. The Bible teaches us to rejoice in the suffering or being persecuted with Christ to produce character and overcome the world. Psychology has no interest in Christ’s suffering, our suffering with Christ, or sees any redemptive value in his shed blood. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ believed in demon possession and delivered those possessed. Psychology teaches that there is no such thing as demon possession…so there is nothing to be delivered from. Psychology does not believe we are in a spiritual war, because it does not believe there is any such thing as Satan or his demons. The Bible tells us that we war against principalities in heavenly places. The Bible tells us how to be blessed in the Beatitudes. Psychology doesn’t even comprehend blessing, so it can not offer anyone a blessing because it omits the person required to administer these blessings, that is Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us we can’t produce the fruit of the spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control without abiding in the vine which is Jesus Christ himself. Psychology attempts to bear this fruit by abiding in the teaching of such founders as Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud who opposed Christianity!
*ENNEAGRAM PERSONALITY PROFILE:
SOURCE: Robert Innes, Personality Indicators and The Spiritual Life, Grove Books Ltd., Cambridge, 1996, p.3; The Ennegram is significantly occultic in nature and origin, coming from Sufi, numerology, and Africa New-Age sources. George Gurideff, Oscar Ichazo of Esalen Institute, and Claudio Naranjo are the prominent New Agers who have popularized it, and then introduced it, through Fr. Bob Oschs SJ, into the Christian Church.
If there is any doubt that Enneagram Personality Profile, or Meyers-Briggs Temperament Sorter (Carl Jung) is unbiblical and pagan-based, I invite you to read the following documents:
http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/st_simons/arm03.htm
&
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/temper.htm
modern western interpreters of the tradition like the Englishman Robin Amis (A Different Christianity, Praxis Institute, 1995) or primary sources like Gregory of Nyssa and Evagrius Ponticus, you see that the majority of Gurdjieff’s ideas, images, principles and practices come from the Orthodox monastic tradition. This includes the helplessness of humanity to experience spiritual growth without grace, which Gurdjieff called “higher influence”! Gurdjieff’s main contribution to this tradition was to modernize its language.
Pacwa also says that Gurdjieff eventually settled in Paris, where he taught “esoteric Christianity.” However, that phrase doesn’t pique any interest and he moves on to report Gurdjieff’s other sophisticated beliefs out of context. Esoteric Christianity is the Christian teaching about the inner development of humanity toward the divine, and it definitely was Gurdjieff’s topic.
Gurdjieff had his shortcomings as all people do, and Gurdjieff did study all the world’s religions and philosophies as extensively as he could to find principles and practices that promote humanity’s inner development.
If he did not find these principles in Christ alone, then he was on a wild goose chase, and would hardly meet the Apostle Paul’s definition or belief of what a Christian is.
However, by translating a basically Christian Orthodox theology into terms free from religious pietism, Gurdjieff can be seen as an innovative evangelist, not the purveyor of dangerous non-Christian beliefs as Pacwa states. If Gurdjieff’s ideas are what you state, then he was not a Christian.
A Strange Misunderstanding of Christian Faith
Possibly the most telling statement Pacwa makes is on the nature of Christian faith itself. He says that Gurdjieff taught faith arose “from understanding” which is “the essence obtained from information intentionally learned and from all kinds of experiences personally experienced.” Only understanding can lead one to God and only experience and information allow one to acquire a soul. This approach to faith places Gurdjieff squarely in the Gnostic camp outside Christianity. For Christians, faith is a gift from God; it is available to the brilliant or retarded, the aged or the child, independent of whether a human understands or not. Instead of human understanding leading to God, it is God who comes to humans, offering to dwell within our hearts through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In this paragraph, Pacwa demonstrates a misunderstanding of many things. Most important, he does not comprehend what Gurdjieff means by “understanding.” Stated in its simplest way, understanding in this context is knowledge that is personally experienced; this is the teaching of the desert elders, who also definitely said understanding is the only road to Christian faith. Contemporary Christianity phrases it differently by delineating a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. Knowing about God is theology; knowing God is faith, and knowing God is an experience a person has.
Pacwa seems to be caught in an intellectualized idea of faith — perhaps faith as a set of beliefs, or as assent to certain truths — when he says it is “independent of whether a human understands or not.” For Pacwa, understanding is intellectual understanding.
Gurdjieff, on the other hand, is teaching the tradition from the desert elders: faith happens when you personally experience the God you are taught about. Indeed, this is also the very meaning of the formula used by Pacwa himself when he says God offers “to dwell within our hearts through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.” What does “through Jesus Christ” and “by the power of the Holy Spirit” mean except that Christians experience God personally in their hearts?
Thus, the real meaning of Pacwa’s statement is that Gurdjieff taught the core meaning of faith as described by the desert elders, but then he confuses the issue by misinterpreting the meaning of the word understanding.
He further diverges from an accurate portrayal of Gurdjieff’s teaching by claiming Gurdjieff taught “. . . only experience and information allow one to acquire a soul.” Gurdjieff spoke of understanding as defined by the desert elders above, not information. Further, he didn’t say that we “acquire” a soul but rather that all people are created with a soul “in embryo” which they themselves had to develop. While Gurdjieff’s language may shock us with its originality of phrasing (Is that such a bad thing in itself, or does it make us think in a new way about a familiar truth?), his idea is not dissimilar to traditional Christianity’s goal of “growing in virtue” or “becoming more like Christ” in one’s spiritual life.
Oscar Ichazo’s Influence on the Enneagram
Pacwa deals with Oscar Ichazo in a similar fashion to the way he treats Gurdjieff. A South American seeker, Ichazo’s main contribution to the Enneagram of personality was to accurately lay the nine passions (listed in Christian tradition by the desert father Evagrius Ponticus) around the Enneagram symbol, a nine-pointed star in a circle probably first drawn by Pythagoras. Thus, he created a map for understanding how human beings lose their way to God and find it again.
Ichazo’s particular genius lay in his insight that, of the nine passions described in classical literature (listed above), one is laid as the foundation of the personality. All of them are temptations for everyone, but one creates a veil of illusion that distorts a person’s perception of reality and thus unconsciously misguides his or her thinking, feeling and behaving. Consequently, it misguides a person’s quest for healthy relationships with self, others, the world and God.
However, modern Enneagram books and seminars have little in common with Ichazo’s original work beyond this basic point. Ichazo teaches a complicated set of principles and practices reserved only to the members of his “Arica School”; therefore, these teachings do not affect the modern Enneagram.
Further, if you read Ichazo’s descriptions of the nine personality types
Personality typing in itself has no basis in Scripture. IT is totally pagan in origin:
INSERT
themselves and compare them to contemporary Enneagram books, you see very little agreement. That’s because for the past 30 years, the Enneagram has been exposed to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people who have refined and reshaped the description of the types from their own experience. The modern Enneagram of personality owes its inception to Ichazo but has moved beyond him.
Ichazo holds many ideas that would be considered odd or strange by the average person and teaches beliefs contrary to his Christian upbringing. However, none of these ideas or beliefs have anything to do with the Enneagram as it is presented today by most teachers of the system.
Pacwa’s Misunderstanding of Theological Problems and the Enneagram Pacwa wrongly accuses the Enneagram of presenting errors according to Christian theology. We wish to list these accusations and deal with each as concisely as possible. It should be noted that many of Pacwa’s accusations are “straw man” arguments; the tactic is to misrepresent an idea by weakening it, then to destroy the weakened argument. Jesuit education (which both Mitchell Pacwa and Theodorre Donson received) teaches clearly that guilt by association, straw man and ad hominem arguments are false, misleading and to be avoided.
Jesuit training is not a credential anyway. Jesuits are responsible for killing millions of true Christian martyrs who were running for their lives!
*
Pacwa insists the Enneagram has occult origins. Because Gurdjieff and Ichazo have done some things Pacwa disapproves of, he makes the leap that these practices affect their teaching. This assertion has no basis in fact. Further, the Enneagram as taught today was never taught by Gurdjieff; Ichazo created the basic idea but modern teachers are now so far from his teaching he himself complains about it. There is no occultism in the Enneagram teaching of prominent leaders in the field.
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Pacwa says “some Enneagram experts claim that original sin begins when small children choose their Enneagram type.” Then he launches into how this idea violates Christian doctrine on original sin. First, some Enneagram experts may teach this idea, but not many. Surely, we don’t. It is a speculation for which there can be no proof, so it is not good teaching. Also, few Enneagram presenters teach that people “choose” their type. Again, there is speculation on how we become the type we are, but none of these ideas can be proved.
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Pacwa claims it is erroneous to believe that “humans can undo the effects of this so-called original sin of ego fixation by means of . . . spiritual ‘work.’” The core issue of each type is alternatively called a passion, an ego-fixation, a compulsion, and a psychological addiction to a point of view. No Enneagram teacher we are aware of identifies this aspect of the Enneagram with the Christian concept of “original sin.” Then Pacwa states that “such ‘work’ (to deal with the passion) can never be the removal of original sin,” which is a very different statement than his first statement about undoing the effects of sin. In his own confusion, he confuses the reader. Further, along the way he denigrates the value of spiritual “work,” which the desert elders teach is the very heart of Christian spirituality. They say that dealing with the passions (as named by the Enneagram) is humanity’s most important spiritual work because through it people clarify their souls so that they can progress in understanding the communication of God to humans. SORRY That is the job of Scripture is called sanctification, and only the Scripture can sanctify us. Adding the Enneagram is adding unto his word which is already sufficient to the perfecting of saints! His Word alone is the method by which God communicates to humans.
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Pacwa states, “Another theological error is the claim that Jesus our Lord possesses the virtues of all nine types within Himself.” We are aware of only one small book and one chapter in another book that use this idea. It is not an important part of anyone’s teaching on the Enneagram of which we are aware. Making as much of this idea as Pacwa does is the equivalent of throwing a red herring into the discussion.
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Pacwa disagrees that there are “nine faces of God” of which each Enneagram type is a distortion. He claims “God does not have nine faces. . . . [T]here are three coequal persons in the one God [and] these three persons are neither multiplying nor subdividing into nine faces.” Pacwa apparently does not know that the source of this image of the “nine faces of God” is the mystical Hebrew teaching called the Kabbalah.
So you say the Enneagram is not occult. Well the Kabbalah is the most occultic book on the earth. And most definitely not Christian. Nine faces of God? This reminds me of Benny Hinn, the false prophet and teacher who said that there was not a Trinity by NINE parts of the Godhead.
The Christian perspective of which we are aware both respects its Jewish roots and respects the Jewish faith as a sister faith to Christianity. No respected Orthodox Biblical Scholar respects or believes the Kabbalah. It is totally anti-thetical to Christianity!!! It is another gospel of which the Apostle Paul himself would say anyone who preaches it should be eternally damned! Also, the word “faces” is a metaphor for “attributes.” These terms are used interchangeably in the Kabbalah. Thus, the Enneagram relies on ancient Kabbalistic tradition for saying there are nine faces of God. This is the most damning thing you could say about the Enneagram and proof in your own words that it is completely inconsistent with Orthodox Christianity! We will deal with Pacwa’s problem with distorting the face of God in the next point.
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Pacwa says that God is sovereign and no one can distort the face of God. However, Christianity teaches that humanity is made in the image and likeness of God. Orthodox Christian theology says that in Adam and Eve’s fall from Eden humanity retained God’s image but the likeness was distorted. It is true that Orthodox Christianity teaches, because the Bible teaches that this likeness was distorted because of the Fall. But it also teaches that only Jesus Christ can remove this distortion because sin is the distortion and the wages of sin is death and only by the shedding of Christ’s perfect blood is their any remission of sin. The rest of the perfecting process, or if you would, the clearing up of the distortion of the image can only be done by sanctification which can only be done through His Word, not by an Enneagram or ANYTHING man has invented! With your concept of Orthodox Christianity, all we need is a face lift or a little plastic surgery to fix up the old man…no need to become a new man, reckoning the old man as dead to pass from death unto life to become a New Creation in Christ! And even as a Christian we still live in mortal corruptible bodies, so we do not see through the glass (mirror) clearly, but a distorted image. The distortion will be lessened in the process of Sanctification, which the Enneagram or nothing but Scripture can accomplish, but there will always be some distortion until we see Him (Christ) face to face. Then we will see him perfectly in our gloried bodies when he gather the Elect up to meet him in the air with perfect glorified bodies. BUT NOT UNTIL THEN!
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” I Corinthans 13:12
“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” I Corinthians 13:9-10 KVJ
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” I Thessalonians 4:15-18
This is the teaching to which Pacwa, a Christian theologian, inexplicably objects. In the language of Christian theology, the Enneagram says that every human being is created to live out an attribute of God in the world, but due to the sinfulness of humanity that attribute becomes distorted by egocentricity into a passion or compulsion. The Christian journey is to regain this lost attribute and thus to “share the life of Christ” with the world. No the Christian journey is to die to self and count it all as filthy rags, just as the Apostle Paul said. There is NOTHING to regain.
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Pacwa objects to saying that the distorted face of God is a demon, as do some Enneagram teachers, and says doing so “moves beyond absurdity to blasphemy”; he also says that “we humans cannot free ourselves from the demons; God delivers us from them.” Here Pacwa once again demonstrates his unfamiliarity with the teachings of the desert elders, the first Christian interpreters of the Gospels. Certainly some of the first interpreters of the Gospels were heretics, as these desert elders you describe, but most early Christians were authentic believers in the Scripture. The Apostle Paul would have marked these very desert elders as heretics! And the Apostle Peter himself said that no Scripture is open to private interpretation is these desert elders did. Remember, a face of God is the same thing as an attribute of God (explained in point 5 above), which can also be called a virtue. This statement is completely unbiblical. Moses saw God face to face, but no man has seen him face to face since. The Scripture itself says that NO man has seen of the face of God since Moses! And when Moses saw his face, he did not see nine faces. And no man will see God’s face, no, not even Christians until we are in our glorified resurrected bodies when we see him face to face when Jesus Christ returns in glory. What Chapter and Verse did you get that idea from in the Bible? The opposite of virtue is in contemporary language is vice; the desert elders called it a “passion.” They regularly referred to the passions as demons and interpreted the Gospel stories of Jesus casting out demons as instructions to Christians on how they should handle the passions when they experience them. This too is completely wrong. Demons were fallen angels, fully formed created beings. Your very teaching of the Enneagram in fact would qualify as a doctrine of demons and seducing spirits, the very thing Paul warned about in the Last Days. If the desert elders taught this, then they were complete heretics. Again we find Pacwa disagreeing with ancient Christian teaching because it appears in a form with which he is unfamiliar and which he has not sufficiently researched. The ancient Christian teaching that matters is what the Bible clearly teaches.
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Pacwa claims that the “‘occultic’ Enneagram figure” (a nine-pointed star in a circle) has determined the idea that “only nine basic types exist.” He says there is no objective reason for this conclusion. However, in 1993 we the authors of this article wrote a book (My Best Self, Harper San Francisco) that explained why there are nine types. The explanation has to do with the three centers and how we use them to perceive reality and to respond to our perceptions in our daily lives. Groups of three types use one of the three centers as a lens through which to perceive reality. Other groups of three types use two of the three centers to figure out how they will respond to their perceptions. The result is a mathematical conclusion: three ways of perceiving reality times three ways of acting on our perceptions equals nine types. And that is why it is numerology which the Bible says is an abomination to God. To explore this idea more completely, see our information on our website on Breakthrough Enneagram (r), or see our latest book, Discover Your Soul Potential.
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Pacwa objects to practices such as assigning Enneagram types to public figures and using the Enneagram casually to type friends and family members leading to “the trivialization of relationships.” Here we are in agreement with Pacwa. People know their Enneagram type through self-awareness; no one can decide for you what type you are. Thus, the practice common to some Enneagram teachers of using public figures as examples of Enneagram types is dubious at best. What one knows about public figures is from a distance, unless they also happen to be personal friends or relatives. People assign them an Enneagram type from the outside, often by looking at only a few salient features they present to the world. Who but they and their personal associates know what they are really like? One might develop a personal opinion about another person’s Enneagram type, but only the person him- or herself knows for sure. IF the Enneagram is subjective as you state earlier, not even the person himself can know his traits with certainty. Only God knows this! Only God knows the complete personality labyrinth of the inner most being. You also assume that the Enneagram personality premise or nine-pointed star is even true in the first place. People should confine expressing these opinions to their personal circle and not make them part of their public teaching. The case is similar with one’s family members and friends. All too often, people make judgments that so-and-so is this type or that type based on insufficient knowledge. However, just because the Enneagram can be misused in these ways doesn’t invalidate the entire system. Human knowledge will always be misused. For example, Christian theology has been used to justify the Crusades and the Inquisition; (Yes and it was the Roman Catholic Church, not true Biblical Christians who inspired the Crusade, and it was Jesuits, the same Order as Father Pacwa that inspired the Inquisition) those justifications do not invalidate Christian theology. True enough, but Christian Theology, i.e., the Doctrines of the Apostles can certainly be used to invalidate the Enneagram and all Personality Profiling and should be used to test it. Rather, the people who created the justifications are judged by society and by history to have made a mistake and fallen short of their ideals. This is the wrong goal, it is not whether we fall short of our own ideals as subjective as they are, but rather that we fall short of the Glory of God; and the Enneagram falls short because it is unbiblical.
The Enneagram in a Christian Context
Thus, we believe that the Enneagram is not only compatible with Christian beliefs, it actually has evolved from them. Christian beliefs and practicing them does not need to evolve into anything. It is the end in and of itself, as Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, there isn’t anything after the End. Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints….there is no AFTER all to evolve too. Evolution of Christianity is an oxymoron. Further, it is based on human experience. While it has not been the subject of much strict modern scientific research, it has been exposed to and refined by the experience of thousands if not millions of people. Its authenticity comes from its accurate insight into human nature. Once again, this is biblically backwards. Authenticity is determined by testing the spirits, to see if they be of God, being a good Berean to see if any teaching is supported or prohibited by Scripture. The Bible already reveals everything we need to know about human nature, or the sin nature and what to do about it. In this regard, the Enneagram fails the test. This knowledge is helpful in self-understanding, which is the first step on the spiritual path according to many teachers of the spiritual life like Teresa of Avila. Therefore it supports healthy relationship with self, others, the world and God. That’s why spiritual directors and seekers are attracted to it. No. Wrong again. The first step on the spiritual path is to fear the Lord. That is the beginning of wisdom. Then repentance and acknowledgement that Jesus Christ, the Creator is their Savior and Redeemer and Sanctifier. Of course, people are attracted to your definition of spiritual path, because it makes man the author and finisher of our spiritual path or salvation rather than the Lord. People are not attracted to the Rock of Offense, which is Jesus Christ himself, because man is not basically good, only God is good. Man is a sinner with a heart that is wicked and deceitful above all things. Only the Blood of Jesus can wash him white as snow. Jesus said the highway to Hell is wide and most choose it, only a few choose the narrow way (Christ alone). There is nothing attractive about the Cross and true Christians must pick up the Cross and follow him. That is the first and last step to the true spiritual path. Not the Enneagram. The core teaching of the desert elders lies in the nine passions,
the deserts elders core teaching is wrong if it thinks that demons that TALKED to Jesus whom Jesus cast out are passions! This alone makes them heretics not Orthodox Christians! the three centers, centers is a Kundalini idea, drawn directly from Hinduism NOT Christianity and the role of grace in the process of spiritual growth. An increasing number of Enneagram teachers, including ourselves, concentrate on these principles and eliminate unnecessary complications of the system like the “arrows” (to which Pacwa objects) and “wings.” In this format, the modern Enneagram provides a practical access to the earliest Christian teaching about the development of the human soul in its yearning for the divine. Wrong again. The human soul, unless redeemed, has no yearning for the divine, as the Scripture (and therefore Christianity) states that NONE seek after God. But many seek the divine in the sense of following Satan’s own aspirations to become God, or as Jesus said “many will come in my name and say that I am the Christ.”
In addition, acknowledging the weakness of desert elders’ severe attitude toward the body, we, along with other Enneagram teachers, have updated this spirituality if it is truly Christian, it does not need updating, Scripture got it right in the first place. In fact one of the marks of a false teacher is adding and/or subtracting from Scripture, particularly in the Last Days. with respect for the beauty and value of physical reality. In this context, the Enneagram is an accurate mirror and guide on that ultimate of Christian journeys, the journey of the human person to God. This was Satan’s offer to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and what got us into trouble in the first place. No the Enneagram is a blind guide. Father Pacwa is a blind guide. It ironic that one false teacher attempts expose another false teacher. Neither are Christian or compatible with Christianity but are what the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ himself stated: “The blind leading the blind, both end up in the ditch.” Finally no Christian journey can take you the end of the journey to God himself. It is God himself as Jesus Christ returning to the earth to gather the elect from the four winds and changes them from corruptible to incorruptible bodies, and he will do so without the help of Enneagrams.
In conclusion the very title of your book “Discover your Soul Potential” Using the Enneagram, could not be further from the truth of what is written in Scripture. The soul has NO potential in this life or the life to come without being born again. Even upon using the Ennegram, you are still dead in your trespasses. Contrary to Scripture a person is not basically good but simply needs help from taking an Enneagram to restore himself to wholeness are simply fix what is stuck so you can be in proper alignment. Reading, believing and obeying the Bible is the answer to the problems and fulfillment of the soul, not the Enneagram counterfeit gospel.
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