Theology and the Body: Gender, Text and Ideology / Edited by Robert Hannaford & J'annine Jobling

Theology is multi-dimensional; it reflects human culture even when it sets out to transcend it. Modern thought is increasingly aware of the complex nature of human embodiment, a key factor in cultural identity. The human body is never merely a biological fact; it is also a cultural and political object. What we make of our bodies is also therefore a crucial factor in the theological question. Theology even when it reaches beyond the body also speaks both of and from the body.

This collection of essays, focused on the Christian tradition, explores issues relating to the body in theological discourse. The contributions are intentionally diverse in their approach and are drawn from a variety of sub-disciplines. Discussion ranges over topics as seemingly far apart as mystical writing, bible studies, the philosophy of language and sociological analysis. The body provides the common focus, most especially the body as gendered. The aim is to demonstrate just how pervasively important bodiliness is to theological thought and praxis. The very diversity of this collection is itself a demonstration of that. A second primary focus of this collection is which ideologies of the gendered body are produced and reproduced in texts. This set of texts is another set of voices in that debate.

Topics covered include:

• Eroticism in Charismatic Worship
• Gender and God
• Theology and Seduction
• The Body as Site of Hospitality
• Gender and the Body
• The Politicisation of the Female Body in the Old Testament
• Women, Gender and Public Space in the Late First Century Church
• Julian of Norwich, Mystical Discourse and the Female Body