Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret - A Book Review

Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret

By Don & Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro

MCOI Publishing LLC

March 2020

By Viola Larson

In 2010 after listening to Suzanne Stabile, considered an expert on the Enneagram, place the enneagram above the authority of Scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ I wrote about it on my blog, Naming His Grace. A friend, Marcia Montenegro, who I had met at an Evangelical Ministry to New Religions conference, let me know she was writing an article evaluating it from a biblical perspective. Recently, Montenegro together with Don & Joy Veinot have written an excellent book, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram, from both a biblical and historical perspective. Since Richard Rohr is the main promoter of the Enneagram within Christianity they examine his theology as it relates to the person of Jesus Christ.

Montenegro and the Veinots, evangelical Christians, are concerned because the use of the Enneagram has entered the evangelical church. Two evangelical publishers have published books which promote the use of the Enneagram as a means of Christian growth. Some Christian churches and organizations such as Intervarsity have used the Enneagram as a spirituality tool. Both Montenegro and the Veinots are uniquely qualified to analyze and write about the problems with Rohr’s theology and the history and biblical problems of the Enneagram.

Don Veinot is an ordained minister and the president of Evangelical Ministries to New Religions. He is the author of several books including Preserving Evangelical Unity: Welcoming Diversity in Non-Essentials. He has written for many Evangelical publications including Christian Research Journal, Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics and the Midwestern Journal of Theology. Montenegro, before becoming a Christian, was involved in the occult, Eastern spirituality and astrology. She was chairperson of the Astrology Board of Examiners and “President of the Astrological Society in Atlanta, GA.” Since becoming a Christian Montenegro has an M.A. in Religion from Southern, Evangelical Seminary and serves as a missionary with Fellowship International Mission. She has written Spellbound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today’s Kids; her web site is Christian Answers for the New Age.[1]

Undoubtedly the most important feature of Richard Rohr and the Enneagram is that every subject covered is enveloped in Scripture. A non-Christian could not read this book without at least coming to an awareness of the good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. A Christian who reads the book will find clarity that comes from Scripture concerning the various deviations taken by teachers of the Enneagram as well as the theology of Richard Rohr.

The basic description of the enneagram given by the authors is:

It is a geometric design consisting of a circle with equilateral triangle and an irregular hexagram inside which touches the circle at nine points. The current version has numbers added at the touch points around the circle …[2]

They go on to explain, “Each number within the Enneagram is ‘a path,’ and with the help of Enneagram coaches and authors, it is up to the individual to discover their personal path.”[3] The authors then explore what “personal path” means within the context of the Enneagram versus Scripture.

One of the very interesting subjects of the book is the true history of the Enneagram versus the false history. Most enneagram authors, teachers and coaches, even Christian ones, will insist that the enneagram is ancient. That is false but the true history begins with a 19^th century esoteric teacher George I. Gurdieff. The authors write that “Gurdieff believed all the secret laws of the universe could be seen in his diagram, and he used it to play around with mathematical formulas—what he called the ‘Law of Seven and the ‘Law of Three.’[4] According to the author’s research Gurdieff never used the Enneagram for “character or personality assessment” as contemporary coaches and teachers do.

Montenegro and the Veinots follow the history to Richard Rohr a Catholic priest whose books are popular among mostly progressive Christians but also among some evangelicals. One of his most popular and latest book is The Universal Christ. Rohr, who is a panentheist,[5] divides the person of Jesus, separating His divinity from his humanity. The authors’ write, “Since Rohr teaches that the first Incarnation of Christ was Creation Christ is literally in Creation.” And then quote Rohr:

“God is not just saving people; God is saving all of creation. This is not pantheism (God is everything), but panentheism (God is in everything).

Christ is the eternal amalgam of matter and spirit as one. They hold and reveal one another. Wherever the material and human coincide, we have the Christ. That includes the material world, the natural world, the animal world (including humans), and moves all the way to the elemental world …)[6]

Montenegro and the Veinots also analyze Rohr’s understanding of the Bible. They write, “Rohr believes the Bible reveals men’s thoughts at different stages of consciousness. He refers to Ken Wilber’s (1949-) theory of “Spiritual Dynamics®” of colors to explain this.” [7] In the same why Rohr has an unorthodox view of sin, atonement, resurrection and salvation. Quoting Rohr the authors write:

Rohr argues that “salvation is not a question of if but when.” Rohr believes everything and everyone will be swept into the final point of perfection drawn to that end by Christ.

“All who look at the world with respect,” writes Rohr, “even if they are not formerly religious, are en Cristo, or in Christ.”[8]

The authors explain how this heretical view of Jesus, Bible and redemption feeds into Rohr’s use of the Enneagram and other contemporary teachers including evangelical writers and teachers. Much of the problems circle around the idea of having a supposedly core true self and a false self. The Enneagram is meant to uncover the true self. This raises several issues such as using a “tool,” the Enneagram, rather than Scripture for spiritual growth. And another, although made in the image of God, humanity is fallen, the image is broken, we do not have a true self. As Christians we have the undivided Lord Jesus Christ—that is our identity.

Montenegro and the Veinots in their book explore such teachers, coaches and writers as Suzanne Stabile and Ian Cron who wrote, The Road Back to You, Chris Heuertz who wrote The Sacred Enneagram and has a new book published by Zondervan, The Enneagram of Belonging: A Compassionate Journey of Self-Acceptance.  Another Beth McCord is an Enneagram coach whose past teachers were mainly new agers.

Don and Joy Veinot and Marcia Montenegro have provided the Christian Church with a well-researched book about the Enneagram. It isn’t just about heresy but is filled with orthodox theology and an excellent exegete of Scripture as it pertains to the spiritual life of the Christian. They clear away all of the lies, seductive nonsense and misplaced applause to instead honor Scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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[1] Rohr and the Enneagram, See “About the Authors,” 152-153.

[2] Enneagram, 21

[3] Ibid, 22.

[4] Ibid.,60

[5] A panentheist sees God as the head is to the body, in other words creation is a part of God but not all of God.

[6] Ibid., 72,73, found at Richard Rohr, “The Christification of the Universe” Center for Action and contemplation (CAC) website (Sun., Nov. 6, 2016) https://cac.orgthe-christification-of-the-universe-2016-11-06/. And Richard Rohr. “This is My Body” (Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) website (Mon., March 4, 2019); https://cac.org/you-are-the-body-of-christ-2019-03-04/. 

[7] Enneagram.74.

[8] Ibid.,74, quotes from Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ, 225, 120.