Meeting God

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Posted by Dafyd on May 02, 1999 at 10:18:31:

In Reply to: Re: Meeting GOD via the enneagram posted by Tal on April 29, 1999 at 19:33:40:

> I don't believe you can necessarily divide the types' approaches to God by triads though...

Me neither. Still I think there may be family similarities. Other factors, unrelated to personality, or at least unrelated to
the enneagram, almost certainly affect one's beliefs.

> IMHO 5's and 6's reflect completely opposite ways of thinking, especially as pertains to matters such as God. I would agree that 5's generally seek the most reasonable explanation, and tend towards cold hard facts (hence the prevalence of 5 atheists), but 6's are the opposite of that--they embrace a conception of authority simply because it's authority, not because it happens to be reasonable. A six subordinates himself to God because he believes in God's omnipotence and power over matters; philosophical underpinnings are largely irrelevant. Sixes believe in the "laws of nature" in the sense that they look at whatever happens to be their belief as immovable and concrete, but that's largely out of fear of the structure collapsing under them, not out of philosophical considerations. I don't think you can ever lump 5 and 6's approach together (to me they represent the epitome of either end of the nature of belief).

My experience of type Sixes is that they are more complicated. They may well tend to exaggerate the
authoritarian character of religious institutions, but they may well then react against that authority.
Sixes who distrust authority figures in general, but remain religious, may well adopt a conception of
God that isn't an authority figure at all eg they may become a Quaker who believes in inner light. This
is partly because it gives them something to oppose the authority with.

Fives also tend to dislike authority figures. However, Fives try their best to ignore them, while Sixes
take a stand in relation to them. So we don't like people telling us what to believe, or presenting us
with arguments that we think of as trite.

Dafyd

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> > I don't believe you can necessarily divide the types' approaches to God by triads though... > Me neither. Still I think there may be family similarities. Other factors, unrelated to personality, or at least unrelated to > the enneagram, almost certainly affect one's beliefs. > > IMHO 5's and 6's reflect completely opposite ways of thinking, especially as pertains to matters such as God. I would agree that 5's generally seek the most reasonable explanation, and tend towards cold hard facts (hence the prevalence of 5 atheists), but 6's are the opposite of that--they embrace a conception of authority simply because it's authority, not because it happens to be reasonable. A six subordinates himself to God because he believes in God's omnipotence and power over matters; philosophical underpinnings are largely irrelevant. Sixes believe in the "laws of nature" in the sense that they look at whatever happens to be their belief as immovable and concrete, but that's largely out of fear of the structure collapsing under them, not out of philosophical considerations. I don't think you can ever lump 5 and 6's approach together (to me they represent the epitome of either end of the nature of belief). > My experience of type Sixes is that they are more complicated. They may well tend to exaggerate the > authoritarian character of religious institutions, but they may well then react against that authority. > Sixes who distrust authority figures in general, but remain religious, may well adopt a conception of > God that isn't an authority figure at all eg they may become a Quaker who believes in inner light. This > is partly because it gives them something to oppose the authority with. > Fives also tend to dislike authority figures. However, Fives try their best to ignore them, while Sixes > take a stand in relation to them. So we don't like people telling us what to believe, or presenting us > with arguments that we think of as trite. > Dafyd

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