Embodied Holiness: A Corporate Theology of Spiritual Growth
It is some measure of the influence of Stanley Hauerwas, the Duke University theologian and ethicist, that a single essay by him--in fact, a single footnote in that essay--can spark a book's worth of responses. The essay in question considers the classically Wesleyan issue of holiness in a postmodern framework by arguing that holiness has not so much to do with our souls as with our bodies. In an excursive footnote, Hauerwas argues that no Christian ethic is worthwhile unless it can be understood and practiced by a medieval peasant and then mischievously suggests that modern-day professionals are actually more like peasants than they realize. As for peasants, so for us, Hauerwas suggests: the body, with its diseases and its habits, is the place where we find "sanctification." Hauerwas's arguments are, as ever, lucid and intentionally provocative, providing plenty of grist for the other contributors, who examine the role of the body in the Christian life. This collection is uneven, and most writers seem dull juxtaposed with Hauerwas, but there is enough that is truly fresh in the succeeding essays to keep the reader going. Pastors and professors, especially those in the Wesleyan theological tradition, will likely find this book indispensable. (Dec.)Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.