Body: Biblical Spirituality for the Whole Person

by Paula Gooder

We hear a lot, these days, about 'spirituality', yet the meaning of that word can be hard to pin down. Often it is used in a vague way to refer to the relationship between our 'spirit' and God, resulting in the belief that we can only relate to God with our 'inner' being and not with any other part of ourselves.

Within Christianity, this view is commonly based on the assumption that the Bible contrasts the body and all that is physical with the 'spirit', which is good. But is that really what the Bible says? To answer that question, Paula Gooder explores the evidence, dispelling popular misconceptions, and leading us to a deeper understanding of the value of our bodies in the eyes of God.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Spirituality

162 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Paula Gooder is a speaker and writer on the Bible, particularly on the New Testament. She began her working life, teaching for twelve years in ministerial formation first at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford and then at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. Following this she spent around eight years as a speaker and writer in biblical studies travelling the country and seeking to communicate the best of biblical scholarship in as accessible a way as possible, after that she spent six years working for the Bible Society as their Theologian in Residence and then for the Birmingham Diocese as their Director of Mission Learning and Development. She is currently the Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Reviews

[Nina Tweddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy listening to Paula Gooder speak and have heard her many times. But she is first & foremost an academic. She sometimes writes in a style that slows the reading down so much that it spoils the flow of reading. This book is an example of how this can happen.

The first few chapters are like wading through treacle, nice but really hard going. It improves as it goes and by the end, I felt her summarising chapters were thoughtful and interesting.

Paula is so knowledgeable about her subject and I particularly like her in-depth discussions on how certain words are translated and have influenced our understanding of what St Paul was trying to say. It is aways worth reminding an English speaking audience that the Bible wasn't written in our mother tongue, and was written a long time ago. It needs explanation and interpretation to understand it.

[Alex Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great look at some of the Greek words/concepts Paul uses (flesh, body, spirit, soul). A nice companion piece to Surprised by Hope, thinking about resurrection of the body and what that means, exactly.

[Kathleen Jowitt]

Clear, readable, well-argued and refreshing. I think I'd have appreciated a clearer acknowledgement in the cover copy that what they mean by 'Biblical' is specifically 'Pauline' - easily guessed if you're familiar with Gooder, but not at all obvious to the casual browser. But that should take nothing away from what's inside the book.

[Peter Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A valuable short primer (132 pages) on Paul's view of the body which challenges a whole range of dualisms out there, both Christian and secular.

Paula Gooder convincingly argues that the Apostle Paul's view of the body not only makes a massive difference to how we think about and relate to our own bodies, it can also transform our view of life after death. I particularly appreciated the insights on how this theology can help me think about what makes me 'me' but also how we view the body of Christ, the church. I've noticed the interchange between human bodies and the gathered body of Christ throughout Ephesians and 1 Corinthians and look forward to exploring this theme more when I'm next in these letters.

[Derek Winterburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is easy to read (that is a compliment, not a criticism!) and slowly unfolds a Christian understanding of our human make up - particularly but not exclusively focussed on the body. This is a book of Biblical exploration, and while there are applications throughout, the book is weighted towards interpreting the NT. There is OT background and references to the Gospel, but most attention is give to Paul. There are 'callout boxes' to address side issues, that the author could not avoid to sustain her argument. There are some loose ends, such as the image of God and I think her treatment of 2 Corinthians 5 is unnecessarily inconclusive. But a good book to absorb.

[jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent work of scholarship, attention to the concerns and interests of the reader, and more, but above all, a clear, thorough, and insightful treatment of Paul’s distinctive views of our being in the light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which brought a seismic shift in Paul’s understanding of and use of anthropological terminology such as body, soul, flesh, spirit and more. I applaud Paula Gooder’s work and accomplishment based on my MA thesis from years prior to her book and marvel at her clear treatment of a complex subject, making these beautiful and life changing insights accessible and available to the non-specialist and general reader.

[Rona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paula Gooder, as ever, is excellent. A fascinating, enlightening, engrossing and liberating look at the body in Paul's theology. I'm so glad I have read this, particularly as someone who has always disliked my body.

Paula helps us to see how Paul speaks about an embodied faith - one which has a horizontal (people all around us) and a vertical (God the Holy Trinity) dimension. It is not the 'me' which makes me 'me', but the 'us' which makes us 'us'.

I found it enlightening that this struggle I have with my physical form is irrelevant individually, but needs to be completely reimagined as the part I can play in the whole community around me.

Amazing Paula! Thank you!

[David Meldrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, short but significant, survey of an often under-considered area of Christian theology; how we understand our human bodies, and the way the body is used in Scripture. There is much here to chew on, and much that undermines the views of the body, the death of our bodies, what we understand by spirit and soul, and Biblical imagery such as Paul's use of the body in 1 Corinthians 12. Once understood, taught and worked out properly, much of the material in this book could be healing and transformative for us.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent short book by Paula Gooder following up on her similar length book on heaven. Gooder gets the tone just right between academic background and popular voice. Chapters on spirit/body dichotomy, resurrection, the soul etc incorporate short exegetical paragraphs on particularly pertinent or problematic passages which Gooder deals with in very accessible manner. Highly recommended for anyone wishing to understand a little more about the non-Platonic approach to Christian spirituality.

[Kim Koi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! In a journey to grow in my understanding of a theology of the body, this book gave me an incredible introduction through Gooder’s careful biblical word studies. I appreciated how she made suggestions for application while focusing most on understanding what Paul says about the body, the soul, and the spirit. There is a lot of language work with the Greek and Hebrew but Gooder’s writing style makes it accessible for all.

[Christopher Trend · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fresh view on Paul’s teaching about the body. The book addresses some misconceptions especially on what is meant by spirituality.
It reinforces the incarnational view of Christianity as opposed to the danger of being over spiritual and the separate existence of the soul. It challenges ideas of the New Age and hopefully gives our bodies the respect they deserve.

[Val Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As ever we’ll written and scholarly Really made me think about the theology of the body

[Jadon Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Str8 banger - Gooder reads paul on his own terms and corrects some serious misunderstandings surrounding our understanding of body, soul and spiri.

[Jill Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do so many of us feel unhappy about our bodies? Shouldn’t Christians be more concerned about their souls? Do we even have souls? And what about spirits? Are spirits and souls the same thing? Do animals have them? What does the Bible really teach about what happens to them when we die? Paula Gooder tackles these and many similarly challenging questions head-on in this highly accessible yet deeply scholarly book. It isn’t long, but it is brilliantly clear and packs a genuine punch. I loved it.