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    Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith
    Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith
    Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith
    Audiobook9 hours

    Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith

    Written by Matthew Lee Anderson

    Narrated by Bruce Hanson

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Does your body really matter? You are flesh and blood. It's easy to forget this, living as if your mind and soul were all that mattered. But ignoring your body leads to an incomplete, ineffective life. God created us from the dust, and being physical beings in a physical world affects everything from our use of technology to our sexuality and our worship. In this provocative audio book, Matthew Lee Anderson explores how our bodies interact with our faith. How have recent generations of Christians been shaped by the culture around us in this regard? What can we do to push back? Through a deeper understanding of our physical lives, God can bring the dry bones of our faith back to life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOasis Audio
    Release dateJun 1, 2011
    ISBN9781608148639
    Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith
    Author

    Matthew Lee Anderson

    Matthew Anderson blogs at Mere Orthodoxy and Evangel. He graduated from Biola University's Torrey Honors Institute in 2004 and spent a year studying at Oxford University. Matthew works at The Journey, a large interdenominational church where he conducts research and develops curriculum. He and his wife live in St. Louis, Missouri.

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    Reviews for Earthen Vessels

    3.5/5

    11 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Earthen Vessels is written with a very academic tone, so not everyone is going to be able to get through it. Anderson spends several chapters setting the stage for the second half of the book by describing how our bodies are integral to our being, as opposed to just a carrier for our souls. We were created as a unified person, body and soul, with both being important to how we live out our faith. He is able to make substantive arguments on how we should approach everything that relates to our body from tattoos, to remaining single, to homosexuality. I found his take on tattoos to be unique and helpful, going far beyond the unpersuasive "it's permanent" argument we normally hear. I fully agree with his take on why it is so hard to have a civil argument about homosexuality, highlighting that homosexuality is treated as an identity by gay rights proponents, but as an activity by Christians, so we end up talking past each other.The last few chapters do not necessarily flow together very well, reading more like a list of essays on things related to the body. But there are few resources that take on the discussion of the importance of the body to Christian faith, which means there is a lot of ground to cover.If you can deal with an academic tone for a few chapters in the beginning, then this is going to be a helpful and useful book if the title peaks your interest at all.
    • 4/5
      The author takes on a challenging subject in Christianity: a proper understanding of the role of the body.He does well at explaining the more holistic understanding of the Hebrews and the denial of the body rampant among the Greeks and the pervasive influence of the latter viewpoint in Christianity. He suggests that Evangelicals are guilty of inattention to the body more than outright rejection of it. Much of the book involves the role of the body as it relates to faith and many life/cultural issues: the idea of what the body is, how the body relates to the world, sexuality and the body, homosexuality, tattoos and the meaning of the body, the mortality of the body, spiritual disciplines, the body and one's individual faith, and the body as it relates to the collective and the assembly. The author is firmly in the Protestant mainstream of theology, for better and for worse. He relies heavily on many of the recent works written about the body by others, but does well at attempting to keep a coherent line of thought going. The book is intended to be a catalyst for thinking about Christianity, faith, and the body, and it succeeds in that. There are many assertions that should be challenged (especially in regards to Protestant theological issues, particularly the role of baptism and the doctrine of original sin), but many others to be welcomed (particularly in understanding the value of the body, the spiritual disciplines, and especially the communal aspects of the assembly).Overall, an excellent book to consider if one is interested in theological anthropology.
    • 4/5
      This is an important book in today's consumerist and individualistic Christian Church. Our bodies represent our presence in this world. "The Word became flesh," yet the church often focuses on the spiritual and leaves the body to be ruled by contemporary culture. Anderson's book brings up some very important and interesting problems Christians must address in regards to how we give our bodies, as well as our spirits, to the fact that we have been washed, sanctified, and justified in Christ. I thought the chapters on tattoos, sexuality, and mortality were especially profound.