Book Review: Love Thy Body: Answering Hard Questions about Life and Sexuality
Author: Nancy R. Pearcy
Format: Hardback
Topic: Christian Thought and Culture
Scope: Contemporary Living and Influence in the Culture
Purpose: To equip Christian leaders, parents, and students with the tools to know about the "why" and "how" about the current cultures' view on topics concerning our bodies.
Structure: The book has an introduction, 7 chapters, and a study guide.
1. I Hate Me: The Rise and Decline of the Human Body (We have inadvertently accepted a flawed view of the body as less real and of less worth than it is in reality)
2. The Joy of Death: "You Must Be Prepared to Kill" (The desire to liberate women from reproduction is based on faulty, dehumanizing reasoning)
3. Dear Valued Constituent: You No Longer Qualify As a Person (When we hold the body as of little value, no one is safe against the dehumanizing effect)
4. Schizoid Sex: Hijacked by the Hookup Culture (Contrary to popular belief the sexual revolution doesn't value the body enough)
5. The Body Impolitic: How the Homosexual Narrative Demeans the Body (When feelings and desires rule our actions and beliefs we deny the more objective grounding of biology to tell us who we are and how we should live)
6. Transgender, Transreality: "God Should Have Made Me a Girl" (Encouraging gender dysphoria and sex changes flies in the face of the objective facts of biology to the detriment of human persons)
7. The Goddess of Choice is Dead: From Social Contract to Social Meltdown (The foundations of the major institutions of society have shifted from biology to social contract)
What it does well: *Pearcey is fantastic at making hard material accessible to all audiences. While much of the information in this book could be very academic, Pearcey has gathered scores of illustrations and stories to drive the harder points home.
*In every chapter, Pearcey compares and contrasts the current secular view of the body with the biblical view of the body. She shows how the Christian view of the body is more freeing and more complete than our current view.
*Similarly, Pearcey also shows how the Christian view is more objective and values the person more highly.
*Pearcey clearly shows that often women and children are demeaned and dehumanized through the very ideas and practices meant to free them. This is a huge contention in our society and Pearcey's voice fills a huge need here.
*Another thing the book does well is to show how the ideals of the homosexual and transgender movement are really enslaving people to unhealthy gender stereotypes. Instead, if masculinity or feminity is rooted in the unchanging root of biology then we can engage in a whole host of activities without threatening our gender or sexuality
*Probably the best part of this book is how deeply Pearcey's love for individual people comes through as she is critiquing some of their most cherished beliefs.
What it lacks: *While Pearcey's cultural analysis is fantastic, her philosophy is not quite as steller. I wondered throughout if she had oversimplified some thinkers and seen connections to today's problem that are not necessarily there. I did find that some others (who have more expertise in the area than I) thought similarly: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/eidos/2018/01/love-thy-body-nancy-pearceys-book-brilliant-flawed/?repeat=w3tc . This doesn't harm the overall message of the book, but instead just makes it clunky and a little confusing at points.
*While this book was a great hybrid of academic and popular work, I am not partial to the choice for endnotes rather than footnotes. Many publishers choose endnotes in popular works because the reader need not be distracted by the trivia and citing that goes on and I understand that. However, footnotes are much better for those of us who want to seek out sources or understand the material in more depth. That being said, this criticism is cosmetic.
Some quick highlights: "My goal in Love Thy Body is to show that a secular morality 'doesn't fit the real universe.'"-11
On fetuses developing into persons: "But there is no scientific evidence of such a transformation--no single, dramatic turning point that can be empirically detected. Embryonic development is a continuous process, gradually unfolding the potentials that were built in from the beginning."-25
"We tend to think sexual hedonism places too much value on the purely physical dimension. But in reality it places a very low value on the body, draining it of moral and personal significance.
In the hookup culture, partners are referred to as 'friends with benefits.' But that is a euphemism because they are not really even friends. The unwritten etiquette is that you never meet just to talk or spend time together."-28
"Scripture treats body and soul as two sides of the same coin. The inner life of the soul is expressed through the outer life of the body."-34
"It is true that at death, humans undergo a temporary splitting of body and soul, but that was not God's original intent. Death rips apart what God intended to be unified."-37-38
"The core question in abortion, then, is the status of the human body."-52
"For that matter, even fully developed adults have these traits in varying degrees. When I meet someone who is more intelligent than I am, does that mean they are more of a person than I am--and should have more rights than I have?"-53
"A Christian concept of personhood depends not on what I can do but on who I am--that I am created in the image of God, and that God has called me into existence and continues to know and love me. Human beings do not need to earn the right to be treated as creatures of great value. Our dignity is intrinsic, rooted in the fact that God made us, knows us, and loves us."-55
"The early Christians went beyond simply condemning abortion to providing alternatives--rescuing and adopting children who had been abandoned."-70
"A culture that respects women's bodies will create more flexible career trajectories that allow women to have their families at the time that is biologically optimal. It will create education and work patterns that fit around family responsibilities. When we do that, we will reduce a major motive for abortion."-76
"When human life is no longer seen to have inherent value, it will be subject to purely utilitarian calculation of costs and benefits.
Voluntary euthanasia may not remain voluntary."-91
"A fundamental principle of ethics is that people should be treated as intrinsically valuable, not valuable only as a means to some extrinsic end. Or as we say in ordinary conversation, it is wrong to use people."-94-95
"Though evil is still evil, the wonder is that God is greater and can turn it to good."-109
"Today's hookup culture glamorizes impersonal sex but gives no clue how to start a real relationship."-117
"From childhood, young people are awash in sexual imagery, but sexual intimacy is increasingly difficult to achieve."-125
"In a culture that says we have a right to the pleasures of sex, while denying its biological function, many will end up treating babies as the enemy--intruding where they are not wanted or welcome."--150
"Though our feelings are important, Doherty concluded, they are not what define our identity. Nor are they a reliable guide to God's purposes. Because we are fallen and sinful, our feelings fluctuate over time. The most reliable marker of who we are is our physically embodied, God-given identity as male and female."-156
"You cannot be a whole person when your emotions are at war with your physiology."-173
"Our feelings do not define us. Our moral commitments do. We find fulfillment when we find ways to live in congruence with our deepest commitments."-180
"The early church may have been 'on the wrong side of history.' But that's why it changed history."-188
"...you can engage in a range of diverse behaviors without threatening the security of your identity as a man or woman."-198
"The church should be the first place where young people can find freedom from unbiblical stereotypes."-218
"Once a person is convinced that Christianity is true, then they can ask what that means for their sexuality. And only then will they have the spiritual strength and resources to find solutions to their sexual issues."-260
Recommendation?: I highly recommend this book. It is highly needed at this point in our culture. It is a rallying cry to love people with the truth. I especially hope churches start to strategically think through these issues to become havens for those who hurt and are confused.
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PHENOMENAL book, every Christian should read it!
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2021
I cannot rave highly enough about this book, Love Thy Body. Basically every Christian should read it, to get a handle on where our culture today truly is and where it's headed, and what we can do about it! The book deals with issues such as abortion, euthanasia, transgenderism, etc. Pearcey explains how each of these issues arises from a worldview that detaches body from self, thus being able to justify each of these horrendous practices.The end of the book is so inspiring to live out the Christian worldview (the only reasonable worldview) by placing a high importance on the family and being hospitable, inviting friends and strangers alike into our Christian homes.Pearcey so clearly lays out just how POSITIVE the Christian worldview is - it's not negative like the world portrays it to be. It's so encouraging that when encountering harmful worldviews, worldly ideologies, our only message doesn't have to be "you're sinning," "you're wrong," etc. Our message can and should be one that is positive overall, which is that our bodies are not meaningless but actually amazingly FULL of meaning, given them by a loving Creator, and that when we treat them and value them as God intended, we will actually be the most fulfilled!This is easily one of my favorite books. Pearcey is super thorough in her book, and obviously very well read. The notes in the back of the book are as important to read as the text of the book itself, and there are a lot of notes! I would recommend keeping a bookmark in the back for the notes so it's easy to turn to while reading.
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2021
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