Download The Road Back to You An Enneagram Journey to SelfDiscovery Audible Audio Edition Ian Morgan Cron Suzanne Stabile christianaudiocom Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 9 hours and 17 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher christianaudio.com Audible.com Release Date October 4, 2016 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B01M0TPG72

The Road Back to You An Enneagram Journey to SelfDiscovery Audible Audio Edition Ian Morgan Cron Suzanne Stabile christianaudiocom Books Reviews

• I really like this book and think the insights are helpful. That said, I'm giving it 3 stars for the deceptive branding and marketing technique. By that I mean that the only thing "Christian" about this book is that the author claims to be one. The Reformation (and evangelicals in general) have long held that the Bible is the sole and final authority on matters of faith and practice, so the "Enneagram" is no more Christian than, say, my 2010 Toyota Yaris. So with that in mind, I will say that I don't believe the Enneagram (much like my Toyota) is necessarily at odds with the Christian faith. It's a common grace. I found the insights to be quite profound and helpful in growing in self-discovery and self-awareness. I'd highly recommend people (Christian or not) familiarize themselves with some of the methods contained within this work. I simply want to be cautious about putting this on the same shelf as the God-inspired words of Scripture. The insights into human nature are remarkable, but there is nothing infallible about them. I've taken many personality tests and this is perhaps my favorite of all. I wouldn't fault the authors at all if they added a little nuance instead of trying to exploit the monolith that is modern Christian publishing. Read this book and examine yourself, but as a Scottish pastor once said, "for every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ" (Robert Murray McCheyne). His character and work are much more important than our own inward examination of ourselves.
• Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile's book "The Road Back to You" is a highly accessible and clear explanation of the Enneagram, a personality diagnostic tool that claims all human beings fall in to one of nine basic types the challenger, peacemaker, perfectionist, helper, performer, romantic, investigator, loyalist, and enthusiast. Based on keen observation and centuries of study, the Enneagram conveys a way of understanding the self, both our strengths and weakness, our greatest gifts and deepest fears. Cron is an Episcopal priest and I would label him a Christian contemplative (I hope that is cool with him!), while Stabile is an excellent and highly-sought speaker on all things Enneagram. She is also the co-founder, along with her husband, Reverend Joe Stabile, of Life in the Trinity Ministry.
  
  Cron and Stabile are winsome and persuasive in their presentation of the Enneagram. The framework and much of the content are taken from Stabile's years of experience in teaching the Enneagram, and much of what I encountered in this book I had already heard in her "Know Your Number" workshop. In each chapter, Stabile and Cron outline basic characteristics of each type, allowing the reader to discern their own number based on self-knowledge and experience. Then, they explain how this number may experience their world and how their unique personality can lead them to discover a deep sense of God-given meaning as part of the human family. They give examples of what each type looks like when healthy, middling, or unhealthy, and name for each type common or besetting sins (a shadow side) as well as "missed messages" not received in the early years of life that may explain certain behaviors or longings. Each type has range and nuance; Cron and Stabile show how each number has "wings," or correspondences with neighboring number types, as well as how each type can function like another in strength, or retreat to a different type when unhealthy or hurting. With the Enneagram, there can be a lot of movement, which is fitting, because human personality is complex.
  
  I am a certified spiritual director and someone who has contemplated the self, both in my own process of self discovery and also in my work observing others as a pastor. The Enneagram can be a useful tool, and does reflect dynamics that I have seen in my own spiritual journey. But I have always retained a reservation with regards to the Enneagram, for I know the degree to which we as human beings long for scripts to live by. While some individuals may fit the grid of the Enneagram, I know others who, correctly or not, may self-identify and then study and conform to the personality patterns they most desire. I suspect that personality is not discovered (as this account of the Enneagram claims), but in some cases is made. The individual may not be "already in the box" and in the process of discovering its dimensions. Rather, the individual may construct the box, tailoring it according to their unique longings and desires. A proponent of the Enneagram may claim that this will lead to a manifestation of a false self. My response is simple "How do you know? And, if people self-identify, who are you to say?"
  
  My secondary critique of this book pertains to its substance as a work of evangelical reflection or theology, and while certain claims are made by Cron and Stabile concerning both God and human nature, very little appeal is made to the contents of Scripture. Direct references are scant. This particular account of the Enneagram has very little to say about our creation in the divine image, or the implications of sin, and how those two dynamics inform our present human condition or situation. Nods are given, but exegesis is absent. Further, little attention is given to how God in Christ has redeemed us, and how a theory of human personality might help us move toward God's desired end for us, with God's help. Cron and Stabile may be suggesting that the Enneagram is a God-given tool, and thus a guide or "road" for us to rediscover our true selves, but no biblical grounds are given for this claim. Further, no account is given, once self-understanding is obtained, for how that knowledge serves us as we are being remade in the image of Christ. You might say, "Ben, this is a trade book! This wasn't their task!" Nevertheless, as an IVP resource, I expect more engagement with Scripture, and a greater degree of biblical justification for claims found within.
  
  There has been a great deal of enthusiasm concerning the Enneagram, particularly among a certain strain of evangelical Christians. While I do see ways this tool can be helpful, I maintain my reservations. I believe human beings are irreducibly complex. I have found that the Enneagram does make sense of certain things about me, but I do not take the Enneagram as an exhaustive account of how I can unlock my true self. The Enneagram may be interesting, novel, and compelling at this historical moment. But I believe this is because we live in a world of confused and disparate identities, with individuals searching for something to grasp for, to hold on to, to put one's faith in. The Enneagram, for some, is a salvation. It is the missing key.
  
  While tools like the Enneagram can help us along the way, I believe they can only take us so far. Cron and Stabile have given us a beginning. Even to the degree the Enneagram can help with self-discovery, our selves are not our true end. It is in Christ that we discover our true selves, not through a better understanding of the Enneagram, but through communion with him.
  
  This book is entertaining, clearly written, and more engaging than any other resource on the Enneagram that I have encountered. The study guide is a helpful addition, written for both for individuals and for groups. But I would encourage any reader to maintain a level of healthy skepticism, and to remember that the Enneagram does not have comprehensive and exhaustive explanatory power. It is also not the key to the spiritual life.
  
  The Enneagram can help in the spiritual life. But of greater help is knowledge of God. Seek God first, study the Enneagram with discernment, open the Scriptures always, and trust the Lord to lead you.
• This is a great introduction to the enneagram, an ancient personality tool that you need to know about. Its different from other tools like the Myers-Briggs and this difference is what make it so helpful and so uncomfortable to study. The enneagram doesn't flatter. It provides more than a description of your strengths. You'll also get insight into the unhealthy side of your personality. You'll gain an understanding of how you operate at your best and your worst, which is why I have a love/hate relationship with the enneagram. Expect to be encouraged as you read. Expect to squirm at times as you read descriptions of the darker aspects of your personality that are so spot on, you'll wonder if someone's crawled inside your head and downloaded a few things.
  
  There's a lot of more technical books written on the enneagram but this is probably the most accessible and engaging book on the topic. The writing is excellent and the content is organized in a way that makes the tool easy to understand. The authors write from a Christian perspective but its not heavy handed. I can't imagine someone coming from a different faith or no faith at all feeling "run over" by their perspective.
  
  The things we refuse to face in ourselves often have great power over us. Read this book and allow these gracious authors to gently invite you to a greater level of self-awareness that can lead to greater freedom and greater compassion both for yourself and others.