How We Relate: Understanding God, Yourself, and Others through the Enneagram

The EnneaCast podcaster Eubanks debuts with a solid exploration of the Enneagram through the lens of the Gospel. “The purpose of life is relationships,” Eubanks contends, using a Bible-centric outlook to detail the nine personality types of the Enneagram and how they can illuminate the ways that readers relate to others. He provides thorough overviews of each of the nine Enneagram types and writes that “originalists” tend to be creative and misunderstood while “reformers” are hardworking and morally upstanding. As readers decide which type best matches their personality, Eubanks advises them to “search for who you are, not who you’d prefer to be,” and to ask friends for feedback. The Enneagram can deepen one’s relationship with Jesus, the author posits, noting what Jesus has in common with each type, as when he suggests that Jesus’s willingness to break bread with despised tax collectors showed the accepting nature that Jesus shares with “peacemakers.” Eubanks’s acknowledgment of the Enneagram’s limits is refreshing, as when he urges readers to refrain from oversimplifying others, and his humor adds levity (“Don’t sound like a crazy cult member,” he warns about putting too much stock in the personality model). The result is an ideal primer for Christians curious about the Enneagram. (Jan.)