The Body of Christ as Seen through the Eyes of a Physician

Pat Fosarelli

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781666765441
• Print ISBN:
  9781666765427
  9781666765434

At a time when people have a heightened interest in and knowledge of the human body--what makes it function well, what makes it function poorly--and at the same time, when factions within our world, country, and church are at odds with each other, an appeal to St. Paul's idea of the "body of Christ" seems particularly apropos. Although Christians have heard millions of sermons over the millennia about the body, it is time to take a fresh look, based on what we now know scientifically about the interconnection of the various parts of our bodies. Harmonious interactions among systems in the body confer good health; so too in the body of Christ. Lack of harmony among bodily systems predicts illness; so too in the body of Christ. Building on what church leaders have taught throughout the ages, a physician-theologian approaches the body of Christ and its ills--as well as its potential for flourishing--with a deep understanding of how the human body works.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• The Pauline Texts that Refer to the Body of Christ
• Chapter 1: Background
• Chapter 2: What Did Paul Say and Mean in His Letter to the Churches?
• Chapter 3: The Development of the Doctrine of the Body of Christ as Community
• Chapter 4: A Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Spirituality
• Chapter 5: The Growth of the Body of Christ
• Chapter 6: The Body of Christ and Woundedness
• Chapter 7: The Body of Christ and Pathogens or Toxins
• Chapter 8: The Body of Christ and Malignancies
• Chapter 9: The Body of Christ and Failure of Heart
• Chapter 10:The Body of Christ and Malnutrition
• Chapter 11: The Body of Christ vis-à-vis the World
• Appendix: Selected Early Church Father Reflections on the Body of Christ
• Bibliography