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Baker Publishing Group - R. Allison Gregg

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138 pages

English

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We rarely give thought to our bodies until faced with a physical challenge or crisis. We have somehow internalized the unbiblical idea that the immaterial aspect of our being (our soul or spirit) is inherently good while the material aspect (our body) is at worst inherently evil and at best neutral--just a vehicle for our souls to get around. So we end up neglecting or disparaging our bodies, seeing them as holding us back from spiritual growth and longing for the day we will be free of them.But the thing is, we don't have bodies; we are our bodies. And God created us that way for a reason. With Scripture as his guide, theologian Gregg Allison presents a holistic theology of the human body from conception through eternity to equip us to address pressing contemporary issues related to our bodies, including how we express our sexuality, whether gender is inherent or constructed, the meaning of suffering, body image, end of life questions, and how to live as whole people in a fractured world.

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Christian theology

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	11 mai 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493430239
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0480€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Cover
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2021 by Gregg R. Allison
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3023-9
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Christian Standard Bible®, copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Italics added to Scripture quotations reflect the author’s emphasis.
Some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
This publication is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed. Readers should consult their personal health professionals before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it. The author and publisher expressly disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects arising from the use or application of the information contained in this book.
Dedication
To my wife, Nora.
For well over two decades, I’ve intended to write this book
and dedicate it to you.
In the meantime, other books have consumed my attention.
But I never lost sight of one day writing the book I’ve always longed to write, and the book you’ve inspired and patiently waited for me to write.
That day has come, and I joyfully dedicate
Embodied: Living as Whole People in a Fractured World to you!
You, as God’s embodied gift to me, are the best wife, friend, and partner I could ever imagine.
Contents
Cover 1
Half Title Page 2
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Dedication 5
Acknowledgments 9
Introduction 11
1. The Created Body 21
2. The Gendered Body 39
3. The Particular Body 59
4. The Social Body 73
5. The Sexual Body 85
6. The Son’s Body 113
7. The Sanctified Body 125
8. The Blessed and Disciplined Body 147
9. The Worshiping Body 169
10. The Clothed Body 191
11. The Suffering and Healed Body 209
12. The Dead Body 231
13. The Future Body 247
Conclusion 259
Back Ads 263
Back Cover 268
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to a number of family members and friends who provided extensive comments on an original draft of this book. Their insights and suggestions were invaluable and make this book better than what it would have been. Of course, I, not they, am responsible for any inaccuracies and errors. Family members are my wife, Nora; my son, Luke; my daughter, Hanell Schuetz; and my son-in-law, Michael Schuetz. Friends are Morgan DeLisle, Chad Gahafer, Gracilynn Hanson, Kelly Nall, Lindsay Simpson, Torey Teer, Andrew Walker, Laura Wierenga, the folks at Love Thy Neighborhood, and former students in my Theology of the Body courses over the past two decades at Western Seminary and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Special thanks also to Baker Books, especially Brian Vos, who as a friend believed in this project and as an editor shepherded this book from beginning to end. And thanks to Amy Nemecek, who copyedited the manuscript, engaged me in dialogue about several important points of content, and tended to the many details of publication.
Introduction
Why This Book?
Drake was usually a self-assured, steady, and social person.
But not that day when he came to my office.
Seemingly impatient with the small talk that began our conversation, he leaped at the first chance to address why he had come to see me: “I’m not doing well. I’m not doing well at all,” he doubly announced.
A bit shaken because of his directness, I asked him what was bothering him.
Drake rehearsed a list of disconcerting physical problems: He had difficulty sleeping. He was experiencing stomach problems and constipation. He was lethargic, barely having energy for normal life activities. He had spied blood in his urine. He found it difficult to pay attention in conversations. He couldn’t remember the ideas he had just read in books.
So here he was in my office. He wondered what spiritual causes could lie at the heart of these physical symptoms, and he wanted my advice about how to become well again.
I didn’t need to probe much, but my questions caught him off guard because they focused on physical matters.
What are you eating? Drake was consuming a large and regular amount of junk food, living like a couch potato.
Are you scheduling rest periods? He explained that he was too busy for relaxation.
How are you exercising? Drake dismissed that question because he had no need for workouts.
Are you getting good sleep? Perturbed, he reminded me that one of his problems was insomnia.
Drake was clearly becoming irritated with my line of questioning, and he offered the following: because his body was going to be sloughed off at death anyway, he didn’t need to be concerned about eating well, resting well, exercising well, and sleeping well. All those bodily matters were irrelevant—and useless.
I countered with an observation. His body was (literally) breaking down before his eyes. If he kept it up, he would soon be no good for himself, his family, and the church ministry for which he was preparing. And, I added, I thought the problem was a physical one, not a spiritual one.
To put it mildly, Drake was not pleased. My response wasn’t the answer a “spiritually minded” Christian like him was accustomed to hearing—or wanted to hear. Besides, he had come to me with an expectation that I’d share something with him from the Word of God.
With an angry huff, Drake stormed out of my office.
My lack of preparedness for that encounter with Drake started me on a journey. As a theologian, I’ve spent the past two decades working out an understanding of life in the human body that is well-grounded biblically and sound theologically.
This book is the fruit of that journey prompted by Drake’s crisis. 1
What This Book Is About
This book is about human embodiment. Simply put, embodiment is the condition of being a body or having a body.
A moment’s reflection will reveal that in reading this book, you as an embodied person are engaged in a bodily activity. With your eyes, you’re reading the words that I’ve written on this page. With your brain, you’re processing and understanding those words. With your hands, you’re holding the book or electronic device containing my words. In all likelihood, you’re sitting at a desk with your feet on the floor, your behind nestled in a chair, and your back nice and straight for good posture. Or, maybe you’re reading while running on a treadmill to exercise your legs and arms and to strengthen your core.
You are an embodied person engaging in a bodily activity.
Human beings aren’t unique in being embodied. Birds are embodied with wings and feathers. Lizards are embodied with legs and scales. Bears are embodied with claws and fur. Fish are embodied with fins and scales.
We could say that all living things are embodied.
But that wouldn’t be completely true. Angels are living things, but they aren’t embodied. Well, unless they take on a human body so they can rescue wayward Lot or imprisoned Peter. And subatomic particles—electrons and quarks, the basic components of living things—aren’t embodied either.
But our concern isn’t with angels and particles that aren’t embodied. Nor are we concerned about owls and frogs and lions and salmon.
This book is about human embodiment.
What Human Embodiment Is
To understand life in the human body, we need to know a few basic concepts. Body is the material aspect of human nature. It’s composed of five essential organs—the heart, brain, kidneys, lungs, and liver—and thirteen systems, including circulatory (blood), respiratory (oxygen), reproductive (sperm and eggs), skeletal (bones), digestive (nutrition and waste), and muscular. The body is one of two aspects of human nature, the other—often called the soul or spirit—being the immaterial aspect. So we human beings are complex people, consisting of both a material aspect and an immaterial aspect. 2
This book focuses on the body.
Embodiment has two definitions. In the first sense, it’s simply having or being in a body. Embodiment is the proper state of human existence. This statement simply refers to the reality that people have or are in a body. In this earthly life, if we aren’t embodied we don’t—even more, we can’t—exist.
In a second sense, embodiment is a field of study that explores how people are present bodily and engage physically in the world. Thinking, feeling, willing, purposing, moving, and acting are common activities, all of which include some bodily component. Many of these expressions are observable, so embodiment as a field of study requires alertness to lived embodied experience. We can pay attention to h