Facilitating Access and Insight to Worldview through Jones' Theological Worlds and Story

Abstract

Paul Jones believes that Christians tend to hold a worldview primarily within one of five Theological Worlds. Within these Worlds we live between the poles of obsessio (our dilemma) and epiphania (the resolution of those dilemmas). The Theological Worlds Inventory, a methodology developed by Jones, determines the World in which a person resides. The theory behind Theological Worlds and the Theological Worlds Inventory is a valuable tool to effectively and appropriately engage with clients around the construction of meaning, value, and belief in their lives. In my research I worked with four Christian participants; two residents of World One and two residents of World Five. Each participant was met on two occasions; firstly for an interview and a second time to describe an early story of the emergence of their Theological World. Participants were able to access early memories of emergence of their worldview through story and did so with relative ease. Their stories contained valuable information regarding obsessio and epiphania, as well as conveyed movement toward a greater level of independence from the mother. Results would indicate that use of the Theological Worlds Inventory facilitates access to participants’ childhood memories and stories around early emergence of their worldviews allowing the therapist to access a meaningful place to work with clients.