originally published 7/1/2003

Lilian Calles Barger discusses the implications of two extreme views about the body: first, the materialistic view of the body as “meat” or “wetware” without significance; and second, the gnostic view that degrades the body’s importance to pay greater attention to spiritual things. Her book, Eve’s Revenge: Women and a Spirituality of the Body, shows the necessity and beauty of healthy embodiment and challenges gnostic ideas found in the church that particularly distort the experiences of women. Barger argues for strong, local, and embodied communities that will help ground children in a healthy sense of self. She also discusses the common view today of viewing one’s body in opposition to one’s inner, spiritual, and “true” self. Christians need to see ourselves and others holistically, Barger says, in order to live out a healthy and ordered theology of the body.

This interview was first published in Volume 62 of the Journal. It is part of a series of Archive Features on the human body that were produced in late October 2024. On the Archive Features page, sort the order by “Newest features first” to find this group of features.

15 minutes

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