Jesus and Personality Theory: Exploring the Five-Factor Model

by James R. Beck

In recent years researchers in human personality have come to a rarely achieved near unanimous conclusion: human personality is structured around a very few major traits, probably five in number. These factors, sometimes called the Big Five and represented by the acronym OCEAN, are:
Openness to experience
Conscientiousness
Extroversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism
How does this Five-Factor Model fit with a Christian understanding of human nature? How does it compare or contrast with the way Jesus lived, taught and counseled? James Beck looks at prominent themes in the teaching and ministry of Jesus and how they relate to the five personality factors. Here is a study of the Christian implications of the new model--a study that will offer fresh insights for students, pastors and therapists alike.

Genres: Counselling, Psychology, Self Help, Faith

276 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1998

About the author

James R, Beck is Senior Professor of Counseling at Denver Seminary in Englewood, Colorado. Trained as a clergyman and psychologist, he is now able in retirement to pursue his avocation of local history. He lives now with his wife on a farm in rural Union Township, Clay County, Kansas. He is curator at the Wakefield Museum in Wakefield, Kansas.
--from back cover, Toward a More Perfect Union

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is a very good approach in understanding the personality of Jesus and His apostles by what is written in the New Testament through the lens of the Big Five Personality Traits.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I so wanted to rate this book higher. It has a great prospect: take the evidence of the 5 factor model and comb through Jesus' teachings and see what he has to say about humanities struggles in these areas. Alas, the author's presentation of Jesus' thoughts on these areas seems superficial, underdeveloped and bland. Again, this makes me very sad for his introduction sections to each of the big 5 are great, his introduction and evidence for the big 5 is good, and the topics he discovered for the Jesus' specific information is accurate. I just wish he would have developed them and made them more practical.

[Tom Hartung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jesus and Personality Theory: Exploring the Five-Factor Model is a book by James R. Beck published in 1999. The author has a PhD, is an ordained minister and a licensed clinical psychologist, and is a Senior Professor of Counseling at the Denver Seminary, where he has taught since 1984.

James Beck wrote the book for Christian counselors. It uses the five factor model of personality as a basis for looking at the life of Jesus Christ. The author shows how actually practicing the ideas Jesus taught — such as spreading joy and experiencing hope, finding the right balance between mercy and justice, and loving and forgiving our enemies — can actually increase our mental health.

I am giving Jesus and Personality Theory 4 of 5 stars because I found the book to be enlightening, but it ended rather abruptly. Also, it has no index, hampering its usefulness as a reference.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jesus and Personality Theory, about 80-85% of it is about how Christians can be more like Jesus, and I am not super-religious. This means only about 15-20% of it is about the five factor model — which is the main reason I read the book.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed it because it focuses almost exclusively on the ideas Jesus taught his followers — which are certainly among the more positive aspects of Christianity — as opposed to the divisiveness and other negative aspects of the church that some non-Christians can tend to focus on.

The five factor model of personality is also known as the Big Five set of personality traits. After introducing the model in the first two chapters, the remainder of the book consists of five sections, one for each of the five factors. It is easiest to remember these using the acronym OCEAN.

The introduction includes a possible rating of Jesus' personality by "two respected New Testament scholars" [p. 33]. Following is a list of the Big Five "OCEAN" traits along with the rating attributed to each for Jesus by the two scholars.

Openness is a measure of how open we are to new ideas, and the scholars estimate Jesus would rate AVERAGE on the scale.

Conscientiousness is a measure of how ordered and driven we are, and the scholars estimate Jesus would rate VERY HIGH on the scale.

Extraversion is a measure of the strength of our response to positive emotions, and the scholars estimate Jesus would rate AVERAGE on the scale.

Agreeableness is a measure of how much empathy we have for others, and the scholars estimate Jesus would rate AVERAGE on the scale.

Neuroticism is a measure of the strength of our response to negative emotions, and the scholars estimate Jesus would rate LOW on the scale.


Jesus and Personality Theory brought the things I appreciate about Christianity to the forefront of my mind. This in turn reinforces the impression I have that the media is not so much full of "fake news" as it is full of negativity. Of course, if the outlets focused only on the positive they would no doubt soon go out of business.

Expressing this in terms of Economics and the Big Five personality traits, it's apparent that free markets have taught the media that appealing to their customers' negative emotions — our Neuroticism — is much more profitable than trying to appeal to our positive emotions — our Extraversion.

Thus, the bottom line for me is to try to be mindful of when mainstream and social media are stressing me out, and when this happens to shift gears to reading a book.

Additionally, Jesus and Personality Theory has convinced me I can be happier if I am more loving, trustworthy, forgiving, and simply a better person than I was before reviewing and learning more about the positive and inspiring lessons waiting to be found in Jesus' teachings.

[Anoron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

This is an older book and the science may have out grown the theories in places. However, it is still a very thought provoking look at who Christ has called his followers to be.

[Randy Neary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eisegesis. I read this for a class for my masters in counseling. I wrote a harsh review since it was clearly eisegesis for the class. I still hold that view.

[Yajaira Marmolejo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underdeveloped ideas and weak foundations for his arguments. Too many assumptions about Jesus personality.

[Danny Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sped read this book at maximum speed for a class so I probably don't have an accurate view of it and need to read it again more slowly. I did think it was overly simplistic at parts and didn't talk about how this would apply to a counseling setting as much as I hoped.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok..some good insights

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

required for class; interesting but not too engaging. a lot of scripture references without a clear stream of thought for each chapter...but the idea is good.

[Aaronmac · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting ideas and a good concept for a book. turned out OK, but wanted more on exactly how Jesus related to these personality factors and vice versa.