Description
The pursuit of bodily “perfection” is a cultural impetus persistent
throughout history, which has become a dominating force in modern
Western culture, where the image you present to the world on social
media counts for everything. A new generation of theologians are
wrestling with these issues in their everyday lives and their areas of
scholarship. There is, they argue, a real need for an interdisciplinary
work that is academically robust and practically meaningful to our
cultural moment.
The chapters in this book deconstruct what “perfected” bodies look like,
and what “perfection” itself entails. Contributors from a range of
disciplines, including theology, religious studies, philosophy, and
nutritional science, argue that, theologically, perfection entails the
fulfilment of human telos rather than the attainment of human standards
or culturally-bound aesthetic ideals.
Rev. Dr Maja Whitaker is
the Academic Dean and a lecturer in Practical Theology at Laidlaw
College, New Zealand, and an ordained pastor in the Equippers network of
churches.