Introduction

The Enneagram is a tool for self-reflection and spiritual growth. It's been used by Christians and non-Christians alike. Mako, Ian, and Biota have each appreciated it. Broadly speaking, the Enneagram describes nine different types of people. It is represented by a circle with nine points, with various lines connecting the points.

Not only do we think the Enneagram can be used with discernment, we think it has a historic Christian source. 

The apostle Paul listed nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19 - 24.  The apostle Peter listed character qualities and how we grow in them in 2 Peter 1:1 - 11.  Those two passages are great material from which to reflect on how we grow in Christlikeness.  This is the classical Christian virtue ethics paradigm.  Virtue ethics is how we grow in virtue -- not to score points on a scoresheet in God's mind, but to truly become who God made us to become.  For God made us as human beings and human becomings.  We grow in virtues so that they become second nature to us.

One writer from the fourth century, Evagrius of Pontus, had a list of eight sins.  He was one of the Christian "desert fathers and mothers" in Egypt and Palestine who reflected on the lists of vices and virtues in the New Testament.  He was probably not original but he is the earliest person whose writings on this subject were preserved.  See this short article for a bit more information.

The Christian "desert fathers and mothers" have long been revered in Orthodox and Catholic communities.  Gregory the Great, who served as Pope of Rome from 590 - 604 made small modifications to Evagrius' list.  Thus, during the medieval period, Catholic saints reflected on the "seven deadly sins."  The poet Dante Alighieri discussed nine levels of hell, and nine types of sins, in the Inferno and the journey to Paradise.  

The Enneagram, which relies on nine categories, does not have one author and there is no governing body that licenses practitioners.  An eclectic Russian thinker named George Ivanovich Gurdjieff designed the circular diagram with nine points, and added occultic material to it which we set aside, but the material about character and virtue long predates him.  He almost certainly distilled it from Greek and Russian Orthodox sources.  Today, there is robust discussion between those who prefer an Enneagram of Personalities, where there are nine types of people, and those who prefer an Enneagram of Virtues, where there are nine types of virtues and vices.  

We combine those insights with C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce.  Why?  Because his characters can be grouped into the nine categories.  Lewis was a scholar of medieval European literature as well as early Christian thought.  Indeed, in The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis drew on Dante's storytelling and conception of hell.  So he stood firmly in this Christian virtue ethics paradigm.  His other books, especially Mere Christianity and The Weight of Glory, show it.  In The Great Divorce, his characters reveal very important insights into Christian spiritual and emotional formation through their life stories.

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Course Outline

Week 1: The One — The Boss

Week 2: The Five — The Minister

Week 3: The Six — Ikey the Apple Thief

Week 4: The Eight — The Hard-Bitten Cynic

Week 5: The Four — The Poet and the Flirt

Week 6: The Three — The Painter

Week 7: The Nine — The Indecisive People

Week 8: The Two — Michael's Mom Pam and Frank

Week 9: The Seven — George MacDonald and the Man with the Lizard

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