Enneagram - Why is this popular?
from Watchman Fellowship
"The Enneagram is an occult oriented chart or diagram with many
points and lines inside and touching a circle. The chart purports to
describe nine different personality types, and therefore, nine approaches to
the perception and response to reality...And the most important myth is that it can be adapted to fit
Christianity. Catholic charismatic lecturer Dorothy Ranaghan has written a
well-researched booklet, A Closer Look at the Enneagram, and asks the
important question, "If the enneagram is unscientific, esoteric, taken from
a contemporary sycretsit version of Islamic mysticism and tainted with the
occult, how is it that many Christians have bought into the system so
wholeheartedly?" (p. 37)"
It's big in Catholic circles. From Saint Mike's"Out of nowhere, the enneagram burst onto the Christian scene and became very popular with publishers and retreat houses. The enneagram is a circular diagram on which personality types numbered one through nine are symbolically represented at nine equidistant points on the circumference. The numbers are then connected by arrows in significant pathttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifterns which point the way to health (integration) or to neurosis (disintegration). Each human personality is said to fall into one of these nine types." Quoted from "The New Age: A Christian Critique" by Ralph Rath
How Does the big C church feel about this?
"The Vatican recently released the document called "Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the New Age." It specifically identifies the following as New Age: Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Yoga, Enneagram, Wicca, the Higher Self, the True Self, ALC's, the "god within," and TM (Transcendental Meditation). Many of these beliefs or practices have made their way into retreat centers, workshops, or parish programs. Good Catholics attend these events trusting them to be good Catholic programs. However, the Vatican document states that these new age beliefs and practices cannot be accepted by those who are faithful to Christ and his Church. The document also named some of the writers who had the most influence on New Agers. They were Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin, and Thomas Merton." From Catholic Culture
What is its history?
"First, the Enneagram is derived from a groups called the Sufis, who are a mystical offshoot of Muslims that follow various pagan spiritualities, as will be described. Two non-Catholic men, George Gurdjieff and Oscar Ichazo, were primarily responsible for bringing this system into Western culture in modern times." OLW
Finally some excellent questions by Mitch Pacwa, writing in the Christian Research Institute Journal...
"Even if one demythologizes the occultism, or assumes good will among those who are ignorant of the occultic roots, one must nonetheless demand an examination of this system by psychologists and behavioral scientists. What is the evidence that a resentful perfectionist (one) should seek the virtue of the happy-go-lucky planner (seven)? Why should the vengeful, power-hungry person (eight) become a helper (two) rather than seek other virtues? Besides faith in the antiquity of the system, which it does not possess, how can anyone know the best virtues to pursue for any individual type? No research has been done in this regard, yet enneagram experts suggest specific spiritual goals based on this system to their students in parishes and retreat houses. The lack of scientific study should set off alarms for anyone interested in this approach to spiritual growth...Besides these scientific and psychological problems with the enneagram, Christians have many theological difficulties with it. The frequent use of such occult practices as divination and spiritism in Gurdjieff and Ichazo immediately throws up a red flag. In Deuteronomy 18:9-15 and many other Scripture passages, God our Lord forbids such pursuits. Most of the "experts" I know, however, avoid the occult or know nothing about its presence in the enneagram's background. Despite this avoidance or ignorance, theological problems appear in enneagram workshops across the country."
What does Mitch Pacwa know?
"I was one of the first teachers of the Enneagram in this country," he reports, "and I learned it in Chicago from Father Bob Ochs. I taught it to Father Richard Rohr in his kitchen! Now he is an Enneagram expert with books and tapes, hopping across the country giving workshops."
Why am i writing about this?
Stay tuned.
"The Enneagram is an occult oriented chart or diagram with many
points and lines inside and touching a circle. The chart purports to
describe nine different personality types, and therefore, nine approaches to
the perception and response to reality...And the most important myth is that it can be adapted to fit
Christianity. Catholic charismatic lecturer Dorothy Ranaghan has written a
well-researched booklet, A Closer Look at the Enneagram, and asks the
important question, "If the enneagram is unscientific, esoteric, taken from
a contemporary sycretsit version of Islamic mysticism and tainted with the
occult, how is it that many Christians have bought into the system so
wholeheartedly?" (p. 37)"
It's big in Catholic circles. From Saint Mike's"Out of nowhere, the enneagram burst onto the Christian scene and became very popular with publishers and retreat houses. The enneagram is a circular diagram on which personality types numbered one through nine are symbolically represented at nine equidistant points on the circumference. The numbers are then connected by arrows in significant pathttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifterns which point the way to health (integration) or to neurosis (disintegration). Each human personality is said to fall into one of these nine types." Quoted from "The New Age: A Christian Critique" by Ralph Rath
How Does the big C church feel about this?
"The Vatican recently released the document called "Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the New Age." It specifically identifies the following as New Age: Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Yoga, Enneagram, Wicca, the Higher Self, the True Self, ALC's, the "god within," and TM (Transcendental Meditation). Many of these beliefs or practices have made their way into retreat centers, workshops, or parish programs. Good Catholics attend these events trusting them to be good Catholic programs. However, the Vatican document states that these new age beliefs and practices cannot be accepted by those who are faithful to Christ and his Church. The document also named some of the writers who had the most influence on New Agers. They were Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin, and Thomas Merton." From Catholic Culture
What is its history?
"First, the Enneagram is derived from a groups called the Sufis, who are a mystical offshoot of Muslims that follow various pagan spiritualities, as will be described. Two non-Catholic men, George Gurdjieff and Oscar Ichazo, were primarily responsible for bringing this system into Western culture in modern times." OLW
Finally some excellent questions by Mitch Pacwa, writing in the Christian Research Institute Journal...
"Even if one demythologizes the occultism, or assumes good will among those who are ignorant of the occultic roots, one must nonetheless demand an examination of this system by psychologists and behavioral scientists. What is the evidence that a resentful perfectionist (one) should seek the virtue of the happy-go-lucky planner (seven)? Why should the vengeful, power-hungry person (eight) become a helper (two) rather than seek other virtues? Besides faith in the antiquity of the system, which it does not possess, how can anyone know the best virtues to pursue for any individual type? No research has been done in this regard, yet enneagram experts suggest specific spiritual goals based on this system to their students in parishes and retreat houses. The lack of scientific study should set off alarms for anyone interested in this approach to spiritual growth...Besides these scientific and psychological problems with the enneagram, Christians have many theological difficulties with it. The frequent use of such occult practices as divination and spiritism in Gurdjieff and Ichazo immediately throws up a red flag. In Deuteronomy 18:9-15 and many other Scripture passages, God our Lord forbids such pursuits. Most of the "experts" I know, however, avoid the occult or know nothing about its presence in the enneagram's background. Despite this avoidance or ignorance, theological problems appear in enneagram workshops across the country."
What does Mitch Pacwa know?
"I was one of the first teachers of the Enneagram in this country," he reports, "and I learned it in Chicago from Father Bob Ochs. I taught it to Father Richard Rohr in his kitchen! Now he is an Enneagram expert with books and tapes, hopping across the country giving workshops."
Why am i writing about this?
Stay tuned.
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