A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
by Steve West
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 The Created Body
2 The Gendered Body
3 The Particular Body
4 The Social Body
5 The Sexual Body
6 The Son’s Body
7 The Sanctified Body
8 The Blessed and Disciplined Body
9 The Worshiping Body
10 The Clothed Body
11 The Suffering and Healed Body
12 The Dead Body
13 The Future Body
Conclusion
Summary
Chapter 1: The Created Body
Many people in our contemporary society struggle with their body, not only through the difficulties of aging but also in their perception of their body image as they measure themselves against society’s ideals. We perceive our body in certain ways, and this affects how we think and feel about our bodies, which in turn affects how we act with our bodies. Most people report having a negative body image, and in severe cases this can lead to significant mental health issues, which can produce actions that cause bodily harm. Gnosticism considered the body to be evil, and unfortunately there is a neo-Gnosticism today that demeans the physical at the expense of the “spiritual.” In contrast to this unbiblical perspective, Scripture begins by teaching that God created the physical world, the material realm is good, and human beings are meant to be embodied creatures. On one extreme people may be obsessed with their physical appearance, and on the other they may dismiss their body as valueless.
Scripture celebrates that God made Adam and Eve as male and female, and that our bodies are his handiwork. Our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual components are integrated; we are created as holistic embodied beings, and that is the mode in which we will exist forever in the eternal state. As embodied image bearers, human beings are to procreate and exercise dominion over the earth. We are made by God to be embodied, and it is as embodied beings that we fulfill the tasks he has given to us as the human race. . . .
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