The Mystery of Body: Nancy's Corpus and the Christian Body

Horizons ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-45
Author(s):  
Krešimir Šimić
Keyword(s):  
Western Culture ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Theology Of The Body ◽  
Christ Church ◽  
Inoperative Community ◽  
Biblical Texts

After the initial contextualization of the topic, by following Nancy's juxtaposition strategy, this article points to two senses of the body that, according to him, have defined the Western culture. The first one, logos (principle precedes the body and gives it meaning); the second, sarx (the meaning of the body comes from the body itself, so that the body comes out of itself, alienates itself, and deconstructs its own representative activities). Next, I give a more precise depiction of Nancy's deconstruction of the body through an analysis of Corpus because it is precisely with this work (in the chapter On the Soul, which is also the title of Aristotle's well-known treatise dealing first and foremost with the body, and in the chapter The Extension of the Soul) that Nancy most explicitly deconstructs hylomorphic somatology, which largely influenced the Christian theology of the body. Furthermore, I interpret Genesis 2:18–25 (in constant dialogue with Nancy) as a theological reaction on Nancy's deconstruction of the body. In other words, on the basis of biblical texts, the “mystery of the body” is depicted. Finally, the article ends with a comparison of Nancy's “inoperative community” (communauté désoeuvrée) and the Body of Christ (church).

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 247-254
Author(s):  
Ross Kane
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Recent Scholarship

The period of late antiquity provides an example of how syncretism’s use has changed over recent decades as scholars increasingly probe the usefulness of categories like religion or syncretism when applying them to non-Western cultures. Recent scholarship like David Frankfurter’s indicates that the term “syncretism” can remain a useful designation in religious studies when used reflexively. The term’s history can be folded into its present usage, such that the power dynamics behind its negative usage can be turned around. Concluding and summarizing the book’s claims for Christian theology, I argue that some syncretisms can be seen as means of the body of Christ growing in history, which the Swahili language calls umwilisho, or body-making.

Members of His Body

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Stockton
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
The Winter's Tale ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Winter's Tale ◽  
The Merchant Of Venice ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Plural Marriage

Through readings of Shakespeare and Paul, Members of His Body protests the Christian defense of marital monogamy. If the Paul who authors 1 Corinthians would prefer that unmarried believers remain single, the pseudonymous Paul of the epistle to the Ephesians argues that marriage affords the couple membership in the body of Christ. For neither Paul is plural marriage the antithesis of Christian marriage. For the Paul of Ephesians, plural marriage is rather the telos of Christian community. Building on scholarship regarding early modern sexualities, as well as on political-theological conversations about Pauline universalism, Members of His Body argues that marriage functions in The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and The Winter’s Tale as a contested vehicle of Christian embodiment. Shakespeare’s plays query the extent to which man and wife become “one flesh” through marriage, and the extent to which they share that fleshly identity with other Christians. These plays explore the racial, religious, and gender criteria for marital membership in the body of Christ. Finally, they suggest that marital jealousy and paranoia about adultery result in part from a Christian theology of shared embodiment. In the wake of recent arguments that expanding marriage rights to gay people will open the door to the cultural acceptance and legalization of plural marriage, Shakespeare’s plays remind us that much Christian theology already looks forward to this end.

Reviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-304
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Gifts ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Thinking ◽  
P Content ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Disability Theology

Summary <p content-type="flush left">Wondrously Wounded sets out to reconfigure our theological idea of what disability is. It moves away, not only from charity or medical models, but also from some current thinking in disability theology (that those labelled disabled reveal humanity’s true vulnerability) to a starting point of all life being a gift, so all capable of mediating God’s goodness. Brock grounds his argument in patristic ideas of a radical Christian human solidarity, and a convincing exegesis of 1 Corinthians 12, the body of Christ and spiritual gifts. The whole is brought to life by an account of Brock’s son, Adam, who is labelled disabled, but who under this analysis is perhaps the healthiest of us all. This is an important next step in the development of a convincing Christian theology of disability.

The Body of Christ: Church as the Site of Formation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Stewart-Kroeker
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Social ◽  
Christ Church ◽  
The Church

For Augustine, formation for life with Christ happens in the context of the church. The sacraments and the fellowship of believers are integral to how people are formed in holy love for God and neighbor. For Augustine, the social and sacramental foundation of the church is Christ, iterated by the frequent imagery of the church as the body of Christ. The moral and aesthetic formation that happens in the ecclesial community includes the social structures of admiration, imitation, and leadership amongst the members themselves under the guardianship of Christ and the shared celebration of baptism and Eucharist. This chapter examines how these practices, in particular in their sacrificial aspect, support the traveler along the road to the homeland.

scholarly journals Race and Resurrection

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Kristopher Norris
Keyword(s):  
White Supremacy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Theology Of The Body ◽  
The Church

This essay argues that Paul’s discourses in 1 Corinthians 12 and 15 concerning the church as the Body of Christ and the resurrection of the body offer a biblical challenge to colorblind white supremacy when read in conversation with feminist and womanist theologians. Reading Paul through feminist and womanist treatments of the body and trauma provides a nuanced theology of the body and a complex account of the concrete wounds of white supremacy while also presenting theological and ethical resources for resisting colorblindness.

scholarly journals The Taste and Perfume of the Virgin: Mary and the Nuptial Meaning of Eucharistic Sacramentality

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Noel Custodio
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
The Body ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Theology Of The Body ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Middle Ages

If we are to understand the Eucharist as the Body of Christ, it is necessary to explore how Mary’s own body participates in the Eucharistic mystery. Such a discussion was prominent during the Middle Ages, but today there is very little attention given to the relationship between Mary and the the Eucharist. This paper will explore this subject through the lens of a theology of the sacramental principle. By examining recent papal documents as well as John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, this paper will argue that Mary is the perfect fulfilment of the sacramental principle. The sacramental principle fulfilled is a principle that is nuptial, where the Eucharist expresses the wedding point between God and creation. It is Mary who unveils this mystery in her own person and body.

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