Solomon explains how wise decisions benefit the body (Prov 4:20-27), while David warns that sin threatens bodily health (Ps 38:1-10). In this chapter on a theology of the body, I consider current efforts to define the body doctrinally. While my theology of the body receives full treatment in Chapter 4, this section examines other endeavors.
The first aspect of a biblically based theology of the body appeals to creation, human origins. First, the body is a source of revelation because it serves as the form of manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Remaining single and thus celibate informs a theology of the body as it anticipates one's future life after the resurrection.
The sixth and seventh building blocks serve as the final elements of Tennent's theology of the body. In the next section I therefore examine pertinent passages of Scripture that contribute to a theology of the body.
The physical body is the vessel through which believers live out God's purposes, a recognition that is paramount to a theology of the body.
By praising God for the intricacies of his physical body, David guides believers to a greater knowledge of the body. As Helge Brattgard advocates, “An increased understanding of our physical structure, where every little detail appears as a miracle, inspires songs of praise to the Creator who shaped man as he did.”109 Believers marvel at the construction of the body. Moreover, a theology of the body confesses the intentional and majestic design of God's body, regardless of its condition, form, or functional capabilities.
Using bodily terminology of the heart, mouth, eyes, and feet, Solomon explains how his son can avoid sin and destruction through the wise application of the Word in all areas of life.111.
The command not to allow sin to reign in the body implies the opposite – that sin naturally reigns in the fallen body. Likewise, Paul's command to believers not to present their members of the body to sin indicates that the normal occurrence in a fallen world is the bodily expression of disobedience. The cure is not contempt for the body—a common Christian error that I will address in the next chapter.
Each aspect plays out through the body; “though not the initiator, the body is by no means a spectator in the struggle called sanctification.”116 The determination of the body, and not merely the intent of the soul, serves as a crucial element in the struggle for sanctity. 117.
A well-informed theology of the body recognizes that believers are ongoing embodied examples of Christ. He affirms that the Holy Spirit works through the body to minister to others, asserting, "Our physical health is important. Practicing holiness requires control over the body, not only for one's personal faith but also for one's witness to others.122 This reality includes another important concept for a theology of the body.
A theology of the body recognizes the commandment to honor God in all things (1 Corinthians 10:31), which even concerns bodily activities that seem irrelevant and are often done unconsciously. Therefore, whatever "is not or cannot be, for the glory of God, should probably be excluded from whatever you do."124 This rule is essential to a robust theology of the body because it shows that nothing is without significance. Resurrection concerns a theology of the body as it affirms an eternal embodied existence for humanity.
Writing to the Corinthians, Paul clarifies the eternal existence of the body to establish its present and future value, since many believers were not convinced of their own resurrection (15:12). Probably “the excessive spiritualism of the Greeks, who saw the whole perfection and bliss of man in the soul, and were unable to see.
This transformation is fully manifested when glorified believers are further clothed in their resurrection body.129 Bridging this tension is a temporary time of disembodiment or nakedness - an idea Paul is wary of, but which some Corinthians found desirable.130 As clothed is referred to bodily existence, then disrobing must mean "a soul stripped of its body."131 For a theology of the body, this passage explains the temporary nature of the intermediate state and the state of disembodiment. These realities ultimately teach that body and soul are two separate yet unified constituents of humanity, except during the abnormal disembodied intermediate state. When we are obedient, it is the fruit of the work of the Spirit, not because of our own morality.
This fruit is used to combat areas of sin, as well as to express control over God's good gifts, which often become idols. But by the grace given through the Spirit, Christians possess all the skills necessary to bring any weakness or struggle under control. Theology of the body recognizes the necessity of self-control in the pursuit of holiness to combat all kinds of bodily sins and temptations.
One's desire for more exerts control over the will and is certainly not led by the Spirit. The glutton not only lacks self-control, but also does not understand how his choices affect his body.139 A theology of the body condemns bodily sins as gluttony.
EMBODIMENT
BODY IMAGE
A THEOLOGY OF THE BODY FROM 1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20
BODY IMAGE PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION
If Scripture spoke negatively of the body, then the views of the Gnostics, Platonists, and ascetics would prevail as applicable. Proper appreciation of the body requires proper thinking and proper treatment of it.1 Because of this belief, a negative body image should not be tolerated when God defines the proper consideration of the body in his Word. Accordingly, the first principle includes a general call for the Christian to submit to God's Word, especially by accepting and agreeing with God's Word.
True Christianity is not an art project, a self-constructed faith based on individual likes, dislikes, preferences or tendencies. The inclusion of the Father, Son, and Spirit affirms the Incarnation as an essential part of Christian doctrine. Individual body image is therefore informed by embodied reality and governed by the body's connection to the Godhead.
The second principle stems from Paul's opposition to the Gnostic tendency to devalue the body. By infiltrating the Corinthian belief, the manifestation of Gnostic thought was twofold: erroneous thoughts about the body that caused incorrect treatment of the body. Perceiving the body as flawed, flawed and unattractive will naturally lead to negative, harmful thoughts and beliefs about one's physicality.
Choosing to believe inaccuracies about one's physical frame will foster a negative body image and support negative feelings, even causing acts of bodily harm.
Instead of viewing the body according to the dictates of the world, the body should be viewed through the Bible's definitions of physical life.
Although the world and its desires pass away, its values beckon, making the desire to attain such standards very strong. Vanity and idolatry, hallmarks of body image, are cyclical and serve to reinforce each other. Enslaved to desires for external perfection, the idolatrous search for an "acceptable" body never ends, as new problem areas or failings constantly arise.
The first example of authority that Paul gives is the authority of the Father in raising up the body (1 Cor 6:14). It is contrary to the true Christian faith for one not to submit her whole embodied life to the authority of God. A faulty body image often spreads sinful thoughts and negative feelings that generate harmful actions against the body, a clear demonstration that an autonomous mindset is driving the behavior.
The belief that the body is inadequate or lacking usually leads to the acceptance of any measures. In this way, all that arises from dissatisfaction with the body is manifested by an independent soul that is neither humble nor dependent on God.
Scripture forms a God-honoring view of the body that leads to an acceptance that seeks to respect one's body in a way that the God of the embodied image-bearers.
Paul argues that this belief naturally progresses to God's powerful right to the earthly body, which then encourages the believer's desire for pure thoughts and actions with the body. Similarly, God created the body for the purpose of surrendering our embodied life to it. Bad treatment of the body is the result of a negative body image that escalates into embodied sins that dishonor the Lord because they harm the body that He created and will one day resurrect.
The Christian cannot show such careless treatment of the body because it belongs to another.
In a similar way, a Christian cannot simultaneously agree that the body is worthy of respect and honor as the temple of the Spirit, and at the same time harsh. Likewise, the body cannot be respected as the seat of the Holy Spirit while it is subjected to physical abuse in order to achieve an ideal image. Understanding the reality of the indwelling of the Spirit should protect Christians from thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that disparage the temple in which the Spirit dwells.
EVALUATION OF THE BODY IMAGE FRAMEWORK
PAUL’S CONCEPT OF ACTIVITY
Then I highlighted several biblical texts, because the biblical address to the body must be taken into account when creating a body image that honors God. Even the Gnostics welcomed death as the separation of the soul from the burden of the body. Moreover, the consequences of the intermediate state strengthen the arguments for the equal value of the body as the soul.
Therefore, the creation of humans in the imago Dei belongs to a theology of the body. If the meaning of the body is lost, so is the meaning of the cross. Because self-control is a specific involvement of the Spirit with the body, it is important to a theology of the body.154.
