Theology of the Human Body

Intro

In this blog post I'm setting out to put the proper emphasis on the human body, a component of every human being which the world values too highly and most in the Church take too lightly. Much ink has already been spilled on the subject, yet I find limited modern authors take the time to reiterate what we, the Church, historically knew for hundreds of years, yet forgot in the last few generations.

The US is grossly overweight. Did you know the average adult man in the US is roughly 5'9" and weighs 200 pounds? For women, the average height is 5'4" and 172 pound average weight. During college I had an adjunct professor tell me he saw "one too many" of his co-workers get wheeled out on stretchers due to heart failure, aneurisms, blood clots, and other cardiovascular events. Especially if you're in a white-collar or desk job, you're in danger of sedentary-lifestyle-creep. At some point, he realized he could no longer remain the 300 pound man he currently was, lest it be his turn on the stretcher. He took his health seriously, lost a hundred pounds, and eventually got into peak body-builder shape. I think this was the start of my realization I needed to start taking care of my body and that bad things would happen if I didn't.

Start with Scripture

What does the Bible really say about the human body? Let's explore some verses and the surrounding context of the overall passage. I'll first start with what I think is the quintessential human body proof-text -- an often overused and under-understood section of Scripture:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth. This church was dealing with serious sexual sin and we see previously an instance of a church member having sex with his father's wife. Because of this, the context of this text is in relation to sexual immorality, not physical fitness. However, we can appreciate Paul's reasoning for why sexual sin should be taken so seriously. In this chapter, we see these general principals Paul uses to help repudiate specific sexual sin in Corinth:

God raised Jesus from the dead, bodily, not just in spirit.
Our bodies will be destroyed (God will destroy the body), but we will eventually resurrected in the same way as Jesus' -- i.e.: physically, bodily.
Our bodies do not strictly belong to us, instead we are stewards of our bodies, since they have been purchased by Christ.
It is possible to sin against your own self/body. The perpetrator and victim are one in the same.

I've heard opinions from Christians, even seasoned theologically trained ones, that Paul's premises above only apply in the context of sexual sin. Does God's ownership of our bodies only extend to our sexuality? By no means! Instead, Paul is making a specific argument against sexual sin by applying broad premises about the human body.

Taking God's Things Seriously

Stewardship doesn't only apply to the body. We are called to be good stewards of our time, metaphorical money, nature, and everything in creation. Part of stewardship of our bodies is to be used for God's purposes in the world. We know that Christians are "tools" or "instruments" in the hand of the LORD. We are slaves to Christ serving Him for His purposes. When we neglect to take care of these things (God's things), we needlessly degrade ourselves as God's instruments. In contrast, it's possible to improve and "sharpen" ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually so we can be better equipped to serve the LORD.

The scriptures warn us against other sins that have negative effect on the things we're supposed to steward. Alcoholism is a sin against our own mind (and to some degree, body), sloth is a sin against our limited time, and gluttony is a sin against our bodily health.

Against Gnosticism - The Human Gestalt

A lot of Christians I talk to tend to think of a human being as part body, part soul, and part mind. Even worse, sometimes I get the feeling many believe a human is simply a soul encapsulated inside the human body, simply waiting for eventual freedom from an imperfect vessel. I reject these descriptions, instead believing a human beings a Gestalt, a word which describes a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. There is a mystery about this where human beings are both physical and spiritual creatures, and lacking one or the other would make us more akin to animals or spiritual beings, but in both cases, not human.

Something I recommend everyone does when evaluating any issue in their life is looking back on the original creation narrative and God's original and exceedingly good design before the fall. What do you think God's perfect design for human beings looked like in the garden? Regardless what you think Adam an Eve actually looked like, we do know that they had bodies -- physical bodies. Have you ever wondered why Jesus was raised from the dead bodily instead of resurrected in a spiritual sense only? I believe one reason it was designed to happen this way was to reclaim and restore the totality of God's original design for the creation of Man -- both physically and spiritually.

Practical Guidance

If I can get you to agree with me that your human body is important and has significant value, we can move on to the practical applications of what this means for men and women living in time and space. First, if you're overweight, do whatever you have to to fix that. God calls gluttony a sin, and we should take that seriously. I really shouldn't have to cite specific medical research about high bodyfat, weight and the associated health risks. We should be having this conversation with friends and family that it's not okay to be fat (gluttony) in the same way you might have "the talk" with someone who is an alcoholic (drunkenness). These are obviously going to be hard conversations and should be done tactfully, with the intention to build up, not tear down. Resist the urge to ignore this potentially painful conversation topic; pretending nothing is wrong may be one of the most unloving things you can do to your gravitationally-challenged brother. This is going to be the biggest improvement and is almost a prerequisite before the "sharpening" process can begin for the human body.

Although we find no gendered imperative for differing levels of stewardship over the human body, we do find in nature and biblically that men are supposed to be stronger than women. Unless you can somehow argue that testosterone differences between men and women are a product of the fall, you must conclude that part of God's good design for men specifically is to be strong. For men, this means leaning into your natural design and ability to gain strength faster rate than women. Recall that Christians are tools to be used by God; this applies the physical realm also, and God certainly uses the physical strength of men to accomplish His plans. So go work out, be strong, and use your physical fitness to serve the LORD better. I like to send this article to young men who are looking for specific fitness guidance written by a pastor I respect.

Being of the male persuasion, I'm less inclined to give dogmatic guidelines for women on what to do with their bodies, except to say women should also take care of their physical bodies in accord with general stewardship principles. Plenty of women struggle with gluttony too. The obvious design specialty of women, being the ability for childbirth, should be considered when taking care of the female body. For those women who think they would eventually like to have children, it would be wise to consider your own desire for motherhood, and keep your body in a condition that allows you to have healthy children. Physical fitness is a great goal for women too, but will look different since women's strength training is not necessarily for the same purpose as men's strength training.

Where We Go Wrong

A big reason so many in the church live unbiblical lifestyles in relation to their bodies is that the world at large gets it wrong in the other direction. The world says "You are your body and there's nothing more important than yourself." This is, of course, incorrect and repudiated by Paul, though not diametrically opposed to his position. It would be equally as wrong to say, "You are not your body and your body is not important in the grand scheme of things." Instead, we must not over-react: "physical fitness is of some value". A real fence-sitter that one, but it's this middle ground where we land biblically.

I have no problem agreeing with the world that having a healthy, strong body is a good thing, but the motivations are different. The world sees health and fitness as an end in of itself. Strength and health for the sake of itself -- vanity. Christians should properly see fitness as a means to another end; a tool to do the good works God has prepared for us in advance. If you, as a Christian, are ever going to the gym just because you want better looking abs or as a way of competing with someone else's physique, you should examine your motivations and see if it's for God or for yourself.

This leads us to the last issue: Given that Christians are saddled with the dual mandate of stewardship and sharpening, we cannot compromise one for the other. On the extreme end of the fitness spectrum you'll find people actually engaging in unhealthy practices in the name of higher levels of fitness/strength. Steroids, ego lifting, extreme dieting, chronic undersleeping, caffeine or other stimulant abuse, prolonged water fasting for aesthetics and a lot more fall into this category. Stay away from the short-term fitness strategies that would compromise long-term health.

Final Thoughts

I want to reframe this discussion of duty and stewardship in a different light. We actually have the privilege of using and taking care of our bodies. Imagine your friend handed you the keys to a brand new 2026 Porsche Panamera GTS V8 Twin Turbo and told you to take care of it. You would thank Him and take better care of it than any other car you've ever owned before. Now imagine that and multiply it by a million. Your human body might be the most complex machine in the entire universe. Take a look at how intricate your hands are with 20 muscles in each forearm and 27 bones in each hand. Even with all the engineering talent in the world, we cannot replicate the strength and delicacy of how the human hand operates. So take care of your bodies; sometimes they can't be fixed.