Your Spiritual Personality

When a book’s introductory chapter poses the question, "Is it possible that there is no one right way to develop one’s spiritual life?" you have to assume the target audience has encountered some spiritual bullies along the way. This book by Littauer, a professional speaker, is a pop-psychology spiritual pep talk for evangelical Christians who need to understand that spirituality can include variety. Drawing from her own feeling that she was, at times "doing it wrong," Littauer has developed a personality test and four "types" for identification, so that Christians can find their fit in spiritual practices. She uses Hippocrates’ four basic chemical types; there’s the "Popular Sanguine," the "Powerful Choleric," the "Perfect Melancholy" and the "Peaceful Phlegmatic." Much like other typologies popular in church circles--Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram--all Littauer’s types feature strengths and weaknesses. She also "types" Jesus, who, not surprisingly, is the perfect balance of all four categories. This book will be helpful for evangelical Christians who feel out of sync with the usual devotional practices being promoted in their churches. It will hold little interest for those Christians who already accept that there are many paths to a deeper relationship with God and need no new typologies to persuade them. (Nov. 12) (Publishers Weekly, October 25, 2004)