This article will discuss whether enneagrams belong to the concept of Christianity and whether or not they are considered a religious symbol. Furthermore, the article will explain what enneagrams are as well as shed light on the religion of Christianity.
Are Enneagrams Christian?
Enneagrams are not Christian nor do they have any relation to the faith of Christianity. Enneagrams are a personality system that reflect the different types of traits or characteristics that people may possess which are relatively if not completely stable. Furthermore, enneagrams are with us from the beginning – this means we are born with our personality however religion is something – according to modern day researchers – we are bestowed with! However, many researchers have pointed out that children are born with a concept of a superior power.
This does not mean that Christians cannot or do not have enneagrams as their personality type. All humans, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender and status have an enneagram personality. It is something they are born with and allows them to interact with the world in a unique way.
It is interesting to note that the topic of enneagrams is quite popular amongst Christians however one may wonder why! We will take a look at this in the upcoming section.
Who Are Christians?
Christians are people who believe in the faith of Christianity that focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ who is seen as a spiritual and religious figure. He is also known as ‘Christ’ or the Anointed One of God.
Christianity has become the largest religion in the world with more than 2 billion followers who are diffused across the globe. They not only consider their religion as a set of beliefs but an entire culture and way of life that has been passed down, from generation to generation, for it to be followed. Its largest groups are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Protestant churches.
The vast majority of Christians focus their faith in Jesus Christ as someone who is also a present reality. They may include many other references in their tradition and thus may speak of “God” and “human nature” or of the “church” and the “world,” but they would not be called Christian if they did not bring their attention first and last to Jesus Christ.
Jesus and the earliest members of the Christian faith tradition were Jews, and thus they stood in the faith tradition inherited by Hebrew people in Israel and the lands of the Diaspora. They were monotheists, devoted to the God of Israel. When they claimed that Jesus was divine, they had to do so in ways that would not challenge monotheism.
Why Do Christians Love Enneagrams So Much?
Part of the faith of Christianity teaches its followers to be aware of the sins they are vulnerable to committing. This is in essence with the concept that if you are aware of your weaknesses then you are in a better position to tackle them. The same goes for sins; if we are aware of what tempts us more than we can focus on avoiding such situations that lead to that specific sin and hence restrain ourselves – this will help spread good in the world and prevent evil in turn!
Also, Chrisitians strongly believe that they can truly understand God if they have understood themselves first. In the words of the Reformer, John Calvin, “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God.”
Without honest, reflective introspection guided by the Spirit of God through the illumination of the Word of God, we as humans can be ignorant of sin and other hindrances to our spiritual growth and usefulness for Christ. Hebrews 12:1 exhorts us to, “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles [and] run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” (NIV). It is impossible to throw off hindrances and sin if we are unaware of them.
Hence, the reason why Christians are so attracted to the system of enneagrams is because they can better understand themselves and hence fully live their faith to please God and make the world a better place!
What Are Enneagrams?
The enneagram is a typology system which describes human behaviour as a set of interrelated parts with each part having unique characteristics and behaviours or a set of defining traits that distinguish it from other parts in the system. This typology has a total of 9 parts of enneagrams that have different personalities and hence titles. For example, there is the enneagram type 1 which is also known as the Reformer and they have unique traits such as strong moral values, strive for integrity and may at times be judgemental.
At the same time, this personality system assumes and believes that no one person is of a single type – that is they cannot be a type 1 or type 9 purely but will be influenced by other adjacent types that are also known as wings. These wings influence but do not change the overall personality type.
Are You Born With Your Enneagram Type?
You are born with your enneagram type that is mostly determined by genes and other prenatal factors; post birth factors such culture, childhood experiences and your environment also have some effects on a person’s personality however enneagram authors agree that one enters the world with an already determined enneagram type from one of the 9 types that exist in the enneagram typology.
It is also necessary to mention that our personality type – with which we are born – determines how we face things in our early childhood and how we decide to interact with our overall environment.
Enneagrams are not something we learn later on in life or develop as a result of our experiences with others and the environment – in fact it is something we are born with according to the enneagram system.
It is also necessary to mention that other factors such as culture, the primary caretaker’s attitude and the upbringing of the child may also affect a child’s personality and hence this view strengthens the nurture side of the nature nurture debate. This debate centers around the argument of whether personality is affected by innate factors such as genes or the environment within which a person grows up in!
Despite these existing debates and multitudes of evidence, the enneagram authors hold that enneagrams are something each person is born with and it is the dominant personality type they have which actually determines how they behave in their entire life; this includes their early childhood when they are still looking at the world from a new lens as well as their adult life and finally old age up to the point when they die.
Are Enneagrams Real?
Enneagrams are not backed by any scientific evidence nor has extensive research been done on them. Despite this, they have been gaining widespread popularity and people use them everyday to study their own selves and others too. The popularity this personality system has gained shows that it accurately defines people and their traits and behaviours.
Not much is known about its history and it is rumoured to pull its roots from a number of traditions. A philosopher as well as mystic known by the name of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff has been identified and given recognition for bringing the Enneagram figure to the attention of the world, although he did not use it to categorize personality types. Oscar Ichazo, the founder of a school for human potential and self-development, assigned different personality types to each of the nine positions in the Enneagram diagram.
Later, psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo expanded the theory to expand the nine types in psychological terms.
Despite the clouded mystery of where this personality system came from, it has gained much worldwide popularity to the extent that it is used frequently by people all over the world!
Conclusion
This article focused on the topic of whether enneagrams are Christians and if they have any symbolic significance in the religion of Christianity. After shedding light on these questions, the article went on to explain what enneagrams are and provided a brief and historical introduction to the religion of Christianity. Furthermore, the article explained why Chrisitans are so interested in the system of enneagrams. The article also explained whether enneagrams are real and whether we are born with them.
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