Posted by Dafyd on May 01, 1999 at 12:35:52:
In Reply to: Re: Meeting GOD via the enneagram posted by Dave on April 30, 1999 at 08:06:16:
> I don't see all 5's as focused solely on hard cold facts as much as objective observation, including their own intuitions. Many 5's I know are very sensitive and are looking to "warm" the world to make it more appealing, though they do it in an intellectual way. I like Dafyd's conception of a "Thinking God", very reminescent of the ancient Greek philosophical approaches.
It wasn't my conception. :) I'm don't pray to the unmoved mover. Still, I think it's true to say that I relate to God
intellectually. (Assuming for the benefit of the atheists on this group that I relate to anything at all. :) ) However,
that shouldn't be taken to mean that I intellectualise to the exclusion of feeling and imagination. (The head group could
well be called the 'imagination' group, I think.)
> As for 6's, authority is not their sole way of being. Questioning and doubt is more the issue with alot of 6's, because many have lost faith in any authority, and they follow authority only temporarily.
My experience of people whom I guess to be Sixes is that they are very reluctant to submit themselves to religious authorities.
> > Type 8 is interesting. The notion of an 8 believing in God is a paradox in itself: 8's hate submission, and most conceptions of God unfortunately involve submission to a large extent. I liked the way DEECEE summed it up in his reply to your post when he said that he believes in God when he wants to, not when God wants. That's typical of 8's; I agree with you when you say that they relate to God through force of will, but I think 8's capacity to submit in any case is stunted. When they 'believe' they're internalising the authority of God more than anything.
> -----------------------------------
> DEECEE's answer was wonderfull! Even 8's that are devoted seem to have the attitude of, "God, help me please. But, if you won't, the hell with you I'll do it myself!".
An Eight priest whom I know spends a lot of time emphasising 'God as love' rather than 'God as power' which he thinks is a
dangerous idea. I'm not sure that a lot of Eights don't end up believing that.
It's possible that as we mature, our religious (or other ethical ideas, if we don't have religious ones) tend to end up as
corrections to our own preoccupations.
Dafyd