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I’m sure all of you have heard of personality types such as Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, ABCD, Colours, etc.  I’ve done the Myers-Briggs three times and each time I come out as definitely as ISFJ, Introvert, Senser, Feeler and Judger (organized).  However, in my second year of Clinical Pastoral Education (chaplaincy training) at Vancouver General Hospital, I was introduced to a different type of understanding how we are in the world based on our theology.  The text book for the secondyear was called “Theological Worlds” by Paul Jones, and it is based on our understanding of the alternative rhythms of Christian belief.

There are five fundamental rhythms capable of being stated as themes and are developed as differing obsessios (dilemmas, personal wounds, separation), that are attuned to contrasting epiphanies (resolutions or a personal epiphany).  This typology first emerged through research into the theologizing process of theologians and a fundamental typology emerged and was developed into a Theological World Inventory.  The fundamental rhythms are identified as:

World 1.   Separation and Reunion – eg. Romeo and Juliet theme
World 2.   Conflict and Vindication – eg. Beowulf and Don Quixote
     World 3.    Emptiness and Fulfillment – eg. Hamlet and Parsifal
             World 4.   Condemnation and Forgiveness – eg. Faustus and King Lear
World 5.   Suffering and Endurance – eg. Oedipus and Sisyphus

So this is what it means – World One is characterized authenticity as questing in the face of an overwhelming cosmos.  World Two is drawn to the dilemma of history as chaotic.  The World Three struggles with possibilities for the unfulfilled self.  World Four knows one’s path as passing through the shadow of guilt.  World Five wrestles with an awareness that living means persisting on the edge of absurdity.

The functional theology is a reality not only for consciously religious people and communities, but it also points toward each person’s human struggle for meaning.  It is somewhat applicable to the crucial role played by the arts.  The artist is one who participates with such sensitivity in certain time period that they may be agonized by the underlying rhythms.  The works of Shakespeare is a dynamic example of Theological Worlds.

Another way of looking at is five different way of worshipping God, all of them recognizable Christian.  Two of these World remain fresh and current today, while the other three have ancient and authentic roots in Judaism and Christianity.

Some of you may need to think on this a bit, but the next Angelus will provide some idea of which World you may fit in.  It is important however to remember that no one world is right – they just are!  As are we – if we get our ducks in a row there will be mallards, wood ducks, ruddy ducks, mergansers, and tufted ducks!