Several empirical studies have been conducted comparing spiritual gifts to either temperaments or psychological types. The results have been promising, but have revealed nothing conclusive. This study employs a “comparison of literature” method. Various literature on spiritual gifts is compared to other literature on personality types.[1] The effectiveness of this method depends on two premises. First that spiritual gifts should be recognizable if we look for them correctly. If God gives some the gift of encouragement, but we can’t recognize that they have more encouraging ability than the rest of us, the gift would seem to be weak and ineffectual. If we truly are “living epistles,” then other people should be able to “read” our gifts in our daily lives and interactions.
The second premise is that our minds can perceive structures and patterns in human behavior far beyond that which empirical studies can verify. The very existence of spiritual gifts may be impossible to experimentally confirm, but that does not mean that we are unequipped by God to recognize them once we understand the concepts behind each gift. Theologian Frederick Bruner believes that “through the gift of the Spirit the Christian not only has the gifts of grace, he is enabled to have some discernment of what these gifts are and mean.”[2]
Understanding mercy, faith and wisdom should equip us to recognize them in other people, especially when it occurs in concentrated amounts. The “comparison of literature” method assumes that our best evidence is not an empirical study, but the perceptions and insights of men and women who have studied the topic extensively. This comparison will be self explanatory for some gifts, but a few will require explanation or added comments to clarify the connection between a gift and a related personality type.
References
[1] “Psychological types” is still considered the correct term by many, but the current literature often uses “personality types” as well.
[2] Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1970), 271.
The second premise is that our minds can perceive structures and patterns in human behavior far beyond that which empirical studies can verify. The very existence of spiritual gifts may be impossible to experimentally confirm, but that does not mean that we are unequipped by God to recognize them once we understand the concepts behind each gift. Theologian Frederick Bruner believes that “through the gift of the Spirit the Christian not only has the gifts of grace, he is enabled to have some discernment of what these gifts are and mean.”[2]
Understanding mercy, faith and wisdom should equip us to recognize them in other people, especially when it occurs in concentrated amounts. The “comparison of literature” method assumes that our best evidence is not an empirical study, but the perceptions and insights of men and women who have studied the topic extensively. This comparison will be self explanatory for some gifts, but a few will require explanation or added comments to clarify the connection between a gift and a related personality type.
References
[1] “Psychological types” is still considered the correct term by many, but the current literature often uses “personality types” as well.
[2] Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit: The Pentecostal Experience and the New Testament Witness (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1970), 271.
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