Body and Belief: Why the Wounds of Jesus Cannot Heal
by Theresa Sanders
Book Description:
Body and Belief is a work in
postmodern Catholic theology that explores the meaning of brokenness: the broken
bodies of Jesus and of the saints. The wounds of Jesus have been the focal point
for innumerable devotions throughout the history of Catholic piety; there has,
however, been very little attempt to read those wounds from a contemporary
theological/philosophical perspective. This book is such an attempt, focusing
not only on the broken and resurrected body of Jesus, but also on the martyred
bodies of the saints, drawing on sources ranging from Saint Augustine and
medieval mystic Angela of Foligno to deconstructionists Jacques Derrida and Mark
C. Taylor. Its thesis, as fully developed in the final chapter, is that the
holes in Jesus' body articulate a longing for God that is a human's deepest
knowledge of God, a longing that is not a lack incapable of being filled, but is
grace itself. Must reading for anyone interested in post-modern thought and
Catholic theology.
Author Biography: Theresa Sanders (PhD, Syracuse University) is on the faculty of the Department of Theology at Georgetown University where she teaches courses in Christian thought. Her research interest is the intersection of postmodernity and Catholicism. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and the Editorial Advisory Board for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Postmodernism.
Editorial Reviews:
 | "This is a remarkably readable book on
what makes Christianity an earthy religion . . . She provides an alternative
to the ethereally thin spiritualities all too evident in popular
writings. She offers us a new way of thinking deeply about what it
means to be and be in the body of Christ." -Terrence W. Tilley, Chair and Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Dayton |
| "Body and Belief" is a
small book taking a big step towards theodicy: in asking us to ask God where
he was (And where were we?) during this century's worst crimes.
Sanders offers us an intellectual meditaiton on how we should think of those
crimes in full view of the continuing Catholic church reassessment of its
sacraments and doctrines. She guides us through a host of heavy
thinkers like Rahner, Scarry, Derrida, Marion, Wyschogrod, Winquist, and
Girard. The result is a clear, well-written book that invites itself
into introductory college courses in religious thought and theology.
Professor Sanders asks all the right questions. The answers might be
unsettling. Read at your own risk. But read!" -T. D. Idinopolus, author of Jerusalem Blessed, Jerusalem Cursed (1991), and Land Weathered by Miracles (1998). |