The Temperament God Gave You: A Reading Guide and Questionnaire
The Temperament God Gave You by Art and Laraine Bennett approaches the four classical temperaments through Catholic faith. If you are looking for its test, start with the publisher-hosted questionnaire linked below. If you are deciding whether to read the book, this guide explains its focus and offers a way to connect your reading with observations about prayer and relationships.
This is an independent reading companion. It is not an official study guide, and the Bennetts do not endorse this website's assessment.
Where to Find The Temperament God Gave You Test
Sophia Institute Press provides a questionnaire and scoring sheet from The Temperament God Gave You (PDF). This download contains the book's temperament indicator, not the complete book. You mark responses and calculate scores yourself; it is not an automatically scored online quiz.
How the publisher's questionnaire works
The PDF has 232 numbered items. Its instructions ask you to consider recurring tendencies, including patterns evident in childhood, rather than qualities you aspire to or must display at work. The scoring section starts on PDF page 12, numbered 262 in the book.
To score it, transfer your selected item numbers to the four lists and count the selections in each. The highest total indicates a primary temperament; the next highest suggests a secondary influence. Some numbers appear in multiple lists, so follow the supplied key rather than assigning each response to only one type.
The final two PDF pages contain type descriptions to read alongside the totals. Keep the document's instructions with your results so that you can revisit how you answered.
Is this the same as the test on this website?
No. The publisher's questionnaire and this site's independent temperament assessment are separate resources. Shared type names do not establish matching questions, scoring, or interpretations. If your purpose is to use the questionnaire associated with the book, choose the publisher's PDF.
For general advice about answering online assessments, see our guide to taking a temperament test. The rest of this article focuses on reading the Bennetts' book and applying what you notice.
What Is The Temperament God Gave You About?
The publisher's description presents the book as a meeting point between classical temperament ideas, counseling experience, and Catholic spirituality. Art and Laraine Bennett connect self-knowledge with family relationships, friendship, and spiritual development.
Its distinctive question is how a person's natural responses relate to living their faith. The four labels provide a vocabulary; the Catholic perspective gives the discussion its moral and spiritual purpose. Readers seeking a secular personality overview may prefer a different starting point.
That religious framing should be understood on its own terms. The idea that temperament is given by God is a theological interpretation, not something a questionnaire can demonstrate. Neither a score nor a type description measures holiness or establishes God's particular plan for someone.
Which Bennett book fits your purpose?
| Your reading goal | Useful starting point |
|---|---|
| Explore temperament through a Catholic perspective | The Temperament God Gave You |
| Find the questionnaire associated with that book | The publisher-hosted PDF above |
| Focus specifically on differences within marriage | The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse |
| Learn the four labels before reading | Our four-temperament overview linked below |
The publisher describes The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse as a separate book for couples, covering differences in communication, prayer, disagreements, affection, and temperament combinations. Consider that title when marriage is your main question; do not assume every topic in its description belongs to the original book.
Before choosing a format, check the publisher or an authorized bookseller for available editions.
A Brief Key to the Four Temperaments
You only need a short orientation to follow the vocabulary. In the classical framework, sanguine commonly emphasizes social enthusiasm; choleric, initiative and directness; melancholic, reflection and sensitivity; and phlegmatic, calm and steadiness.
For fuller descriptions, history, and blends, use our complete four-temperament guide. While reading the book, keep a more specific question in view: What does this description help me notice about how I respond to another person?
These scenes illustrate behaviors to observe, not types that can be identified from appearance.
Separate a reaction from a moral judgment
For this reading exercise, distinguish three things: your first reaction, the habits you have developed, and the response you choose. A quick impulse to speak does not tell you whether your eventual words were kind. Quietness alone does not establish humility; confidence alone does not establish pride.
For example, you may dislike a sudden change in a parish volunteer schedule. You can acknowledge that response while still asking why the change was necessary and what help is needed. The useful observation is the gap between your impulse and your action.
This distinction helps you reflect without turning a temperament label into either an accusation or an excuse. It also keeps the book's spiritual application separate from psychological measurement: classical categories can prompt reflection, but they are not a clinical assessment. Persistent emotional difficulties need attention beyond a type label.
Are the Four Temperaments in the Bible?
The Bible does not present sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic as a four-part personality classification. Christian writers may use biblical figures to illustrate these patterns, but those comparisons are interpretations rather than recorded temperament assessments.
Two passages offer useful questions for reflection without assigning types. Romans 12:3–8 discusses different gifts and their use in a community. Galatians 5:22–23 describes the fruit of the Spirit, including patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.
When reading a temperament description, ask how it affects the way you serve and respond to people. An enthusiastic volunteer might need to keep a promise after the excitement fades. A quiet volunteer might need to voice a concern that others have missed. These are examples of chosen practices, not claims that a biblical virtue belongs to a particular temperament.
A Seven-Day Reading Practice for Faith and Relationships
This original exercise accompanies your reading; it is not a program prescribed by the Bennetts. Choose a manageable portion of the book each day. You do not need to finish it in a week or settle on a type before beginning.
Keep each note anchored to something you actually read. Record the page in your edition, summarize the idea in your own words, and then test its usefulness against an ordinary experience.
| Day | Reading task | Observation or action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select one idea that catches your attention | Record its page and why it matters to you |
| 2 | Revisit that idea | Describe one experience that fits it and one that does not |
| 3 | Read with a relationship in mind | Notice a difference in pace or response without assigning the other person a type |
| 4 | Identify a growth question raised by your reading | Choose one observable action, such as listening before replying |
| 5 | Connect the action with prayer, if prayer is part of your life | Name an intention grounded in the situation rather than a supposedly required prayer style |
| 6 | Review a conversation in which you tried the action | Record what happened, including the other person's feedback if available |
| 7 | Revisit your original reading note | Decide what helped, what needs qualification, and what you want to read next |
Use a reading note that preserves the context
A short note can contain these four fields:
- Book idea and page: What did the author say, summarized in your own words?
- My example: What happened, and what was my first reaction?
- My choice: What did I do, and how did it affect the interaction?
- Next practice: What will I try in a similar situation?
For instance, after reading a passage that you find relevant to reacting quickly, you might note: “When our parish meeting ran late, I interrupted to offer a solution. Next time I will ask whether the speaker has finished before adding my suggestion.” Add the actual page and idea from your reading rather than treating this example as a quotation from the book.
At the end of the week, compare your notes with the passage again. Did you understand it fairly? Does your example support your interpretation, or have you stretched a broad description to fit? That review makes the exercise more useful than collecting examples that confirm a preferred label.
Discussion Questions for The Temperament God Gave You
For a book club, invite each participant to bring a passage and an experience. Sharing questionnaire scores is optional. Someone can discuss the reading without disclosing a type or having the group assign one.
These original prompts keep the conversation connected to the text:
- Which passage helped you notice a recurring reaction? What example supports your reading of it?
- Where did a description fail to fit? Does the passage allow more variation than you first assumed?
- Which claim concerns temperament, and which expresses the authors' Catholic understanding of human life?
- How did a passage change a question you would ask a spouse, friend, or fellow parishioner?
- Where might a reader confuse a natural tendency with a moral choice? How would you explain the distinction?
- What action did you try because of your reading, and what happened?
Ask for clarification before interpreting someone else's experience. “Would time to think help?” gives a person room to explain; “Your type always avoids things” replaces their explanation with a label. Allow disagreement with the framework as well as agreement.
Choose Your Next Reading Step
If you came for the book's test, download the publisher's questionnaire and keep its scoring instructions. If you came to explore the book, choose one passage and use it to examine a particular interaction this week.
The aim of this reading companion is to help you move between the text and experience thoughtfully. A useful note identifies what you learned, where it fits, and what you will practice. It leaves room for both a different interpretation and a person's capacity to grow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Temperament God Gave You a Catholic book?
Yes. Art and Laraine Bennett approach classical temperament ideas through Catholic spirituality. Read it with that perspective in mind, especially when considering its discussion of moral and spiritual growth.
Is the questionnaire PDF the full book?
No. The publisher-hosted download contains the temperament indicator, scoring key, and brief type descriptions. Check the publisher, authorized booksellers, or your library for the complete book and available formats.
What if the publisher's questionnaire and an online test disagree?
Compare their instructions and the experiences you had in mind when answering. Different questionnaires need not produce the same result. Use the publisher's document when you want the book-associated indicator, and keep notes on descriptions that fit or fail to fit rather than repeatedly testing for a preferred label.
Do I need to know my temperament before reading?
You can begin by noticing reactions and questions raised by the text. A provisional type may help you navigate the descriptions, but uncertainty should not prevent you from reading, discussing a passage, or practicing a more considerate response.