Life in the body is difficult enough. It’s even less pleasant in less than ideal bodies.
In Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical ImproLife in the body is difficult enough. It’s even less pleasant in less than ideal bodies.
In Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement (galley received as part of early review program, but full book read), Michelle Mary Lewica speaks of her own developing physical ailment and aging and the pitfalls and challenges which attend to life in the body on account of the cult of physical aesthetic and improvement in our society. The author has specific concerns as they relate to religion and its role in this matter.
The author considers matters of the body in general, disability, and aging. She incisively considers the modern societal discourse regarding each, and well identified a lot of the religious trappings which attend to the cult of bodily self-improvement, as if one can obtain the “salvation” of a healthy body through the right “rituals” of eating and exercise and the like. She does also address matters of Christianity and its involvement in these matters.
The author did well at looking at how Christianity can be misused, abused, and distorted toward ableism and such things. Yet also in her discourse we can find the possible end overreaction of disability theology in casting aspersions on the resurrection and what seems to be an attempt to “baptize” and justify the body in its current corruption. There are valid concerns regarding which such disability theology advocates are reacting - but as in all things life and theology, the temptation to over-reaction remains strong. It is wrong to associate the disabled with the corruption of the creation uniquely; such should not be a reason to baptize corruption, but confess its universality in the current creation.
But overall the author is not wrong in her analysis and description of the body, disability, and aging, our vain struggles against it, the shame associated with the body, aging, death, and how such has come about. We do well to resist the trends regarding which she speaks, re-normalize our limitations, and accept who we are and who others are as they are in this world, doing what we can to live well, but never delude ourselves into thinking we can somehow escape human limitation and corruption through our efforts. ...more
A reconstruction of European history as it relates to archaeogenetics.
The author is recording the work and heritage of his mentor and the new field ofA reconstruction of European history as it relates to archaeogenetics.
The author is recording the work and heritage of his mentor and the new field of archaeogenetics. He begins with his work in decoding the DNA of the first discovered Denisovan bone. From there the story is primarily focused on what we deem pre-history, exploring what genetics ancient and modern can tell us about how Europe was populated over time.
The story is a new one with some unexpected twists. Europe is inhabited and "de-inhabited" during more expansive ice age times. He speaks of the intermingling of modern humans with Neanderthals and Denisovans. Much is made of the Mal'ta man whose genetics are associated with certain Europeans and Native Americans. The first farmers came from Anatolia and lived near, but did not intermingle much with, more "native" hunter-gatherers. A few still have that heritage, but most ended up getting wiped out, possibly by plague, and definitely by the incoming Yamnaya culture.
By the time one gets to the Bronze Age the authors turn to focus on pandemic disease and how it can be traced in the archaeogenetic record. The book concludes with what seems to be its purpose: to use archaeogenetics to demonstrate how mankind has been peripatetic and has moved around a lot while also spreading disease and supplanting previous populations in the process. Thus, everyone in the immigration arguments of the age have something they can grab a hold of in order to justify their viewpoint.
A good way to get some decent information about where archaeogenetics is at in terms of the European populations.
**- galley received as part of early review program...more
A "culture war" treatise regarding the body and human sexuality.
The author does well at affirming that the body was created by God, was originally gooA "culture war" treatise regarding the body and human sexuality.
The author does well at affirming that the body was created by God, was originally good, points to Jesus, and has been corrupted as part of the decay of the creation.
When he turns to start speaking about the "mystery" of marriage, the family, the beauty of singleness, etc., he has many good points, but it seems that he is more invested in an Augustinian anthropology than a strictly Biblical one. I would imagine the author would not see any daylight between the two, but Augustine, like the rest of us, has his priors, and when it comes to the body that must be frankly admitted.
His discussion of the "sacramental" nature of the body, that it should be dedicated to God and all that demands, is effective. His survey of society is a predictable jeremiad about the current norms regarding human sexuality.
The author tries diligently to be the most gentle and hospitable he can be in fighting the culture war, but make no mistake: this is a treatise shaped by the culture war and looking to advance an argument in the culture war. If that's what you're looking for, that's what this is. If you're looking for a comprehensive Christian anthropology, this isn't it. If you're looking for a Christian sexual anthropology, this still really isn't it.
**--galley received as part of early review program...more
A compelling and well written exploration into the relationship Christians have with the body.
The author speaks of her own journey and her own forays A compelling and well written exploration into the relationship Christians have with the body.
The author speaks of her own journey and her own forays in understanding and connections with others, along with Biblical study and research. She explores the embodied nature of humanity, considers the embodiment of God in the flesh in Jesus, and our difficulties in accepting the body, embracing the body, and being okay with living in the body.
Yes, sexuality is eventually discussed toward the end, but the work is not one of sensuality or lasciviousness. Instead, it's an important reconsideration of what it means to be an embodied human in a culture which resists corporeality and considers the body more a liability than anything else.
There's a lot here to consider. The power of touch; the acceptance of frailty and limitation; life in tension; and many others. Worth reading as part of a study on Christian anthropology....more
A highly accessible collection and explanation of the author's work in various studies demonstrating that whereas humans are often irrational in theirA highly accessible collection and explanation of the author's work in various studies demonstrating that whereas humans are often irrational in their behavior, they prove predictably irrational: they follow patterns which can be perceived.
The author does well at demolishing one of the fundamental assumptions of the standard theory of economics: that man, in general, is a rational animal, and always calculates rationally when considering buying and selling. Instead, the author demonstrates through all sorts of studies that humans frequently overvalue certain things and undervalue others, treat "free" things very differently than things for which there is an expense, have expectations based on price points, tend to make decisions in ways that either follow the crowd or give the perception of standing on one's own, the difference between doing something for service vs. for pay, and many other examples.
The book is an embarrassing read because it forces a person to confront his or her own irrationality; whether we wish to admit it or not, we would most likely behave as the people in the various studies did.
But the book is valuable in helping to point out exactly how we tend to be irrational. This can help us in our interactions with others, a check on our own behavior, and a warning lest we put too much confidence in any philosophy which demands pure rationality from humanity....more
An exploration of the condition and nature of humanity as established in the Old Testament.
The author bookends the work with Psalm 8:4 and its implicaAn exploration of the condition and nature of humanity as established in the Old Testament.
The author bookends the work with Psalm 8:4 and its implications: what is man that God is mindful of him? He begins with the beginning and what it might mean that man is made in God's image, especially in terms of becoming "like God" by eating of the fruit and the subsequent banishment from the Garden. He then does well to speak of people as situated in a given environment and context; he attempts to make sense of people in a political sense of the Old Testament; the importance of work and creating; he concludes with the nature of humanity in the Psalms with all its messy reality and difficulties.
A profitable meditation on the state of humanity in the Old Testament.
**- galley received as part of early review program...more
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