Book Review: What God Has to Say About Our Bodies

Sam Allberry has written a fantastic theological treatise on why our bodies are not evil, a thing to escape, or hopelessly broken in What God Has to Say About Our Bodies. Instead they are a precious, redeemable, and essential part of God’s plan for us. We live our everyday lives like the physical matters, but neglect the most important physical gift God has given us—our bodies. For example, today I sat down to write with two things: a perfectly brewed cup of coffee and my MacBook Pro. I smell the coffee and detect fruity notes in the steam. I open up my MacBook and my fingers touch the leather of the case. It was probably too expensive, but I love the way it feels and smells. We see, touch, and feel the beauty of the physical world in everything we do, so why do we so often neglect the greatest physical gift we have—our bodies?

Allberry gives us ten chapters, broken into three large sections discussing a theology of our body’s created nature, our body’s brokenness, and the redemption our bodies will receive. In the first section, he argues, “Human beings are not the product of a factory or the process of copy-and-paste. Our distinctive physical individuality is intended. We have been made by the ultimate artisan” (25). Allberry walks through how we are fearfully made, individually tailored, and given a purpose in such a way we should be grateful for the good gift God has given us in our bodies.

This is followed by a helpful discussion of our body’s brokenness. Sin has marred the good gift God has given in our bodies, and Allberry does not shy away from this fact. He contends, “Our broken glory is reflected in nature’s broken glory” (98). He also acknowledges sickness and infirmity is not the only issue our physical self can encounter. We also suffer from shame, which is found in the Garden of Eden side by side with physical pain.

Even though we do suffer from brokenness, sickness, and shame brought about by sin, the last section helpfully ties everything together by exploring the biblical data and hope related to the redemption of our bodies. Our bodies are an integral part of our discipleship. Allberry rightfully determines we are not just spirits trying to escape our cage of flesh, but embodied souls, being conformed in our whole selves towards Christ Jesus. Finally, he grounds all of this in the resurrection of the body of Jesus. The resurrection of his body is what gives hope to our ailing bodies now.

Why this is Important for Youth Workers

While this book is a great book for Christians everywhere, there are several ways it is particularly relevant for student pastors today. Our students are physically confused people living in a physically confused world. Many of the problems and questions our students struggle with revolve around embodiment. Gender Dysphoria, sexuality, body positivity (and body shaming), self-harm, and even loneliness are all issue at the forefront of Generation Z’s psyche. Unfortunately, in a day and age where theological anthropology and a deep understanding of human embodiment are needed—many youth workers remain unprepared to discuss these issues faithfully. And when the issues are discussed, they are often handled with ham-fisted cliches, a lack of empathy, or profound naiveté and misunderstanding. When these issues are mishandled, it can cause trauma, pain, and confusion in our students.

Allberry helps the youth worker get beyond these cliches and moves you deeper into the biblical data to help assess the root of physical issues. In his helpful section on self-harm he says, “We need to understand the rationality behind self-harm (as best as we can), precisely so we can engage with it and seek to change it” (155). Simply repeating “stop it, this is bad” has never and will never help our students. But if we can correctly identify where the body is broken and show how Christ can redeem that part of us—we will be able to cause real and lasting change.

Alongside helping the student minister get to the root of the issues, the chapter on “The Body and Discipleship” provides several ideas that easily translate to student ministry. In this chapter, Allberry helpfully covers issues like sleep from a practical and biblical perspective. This chapter had me asking, “When is the last time I used something as simple as sleep during the sermon application (besides maybe at camp, but that might have been more for my holiness than the students’)?” Maybe one reason students have a difficult time dealing with and understanding their bodies is because we do not and have not applied texts that speak to embodied people to anything other than their spiritual self. When we preach we must be conscious that we are preaching to embodied students with embodied needs and the Bible is a book that speaks directly to their bodies.

The Gospel is only good news if it is physical. The resurrection of Christ is only good news if it is physical. This book gives us insight into one of our great hopes—a real, embodied resurrection for ourselves. Students need not see their bodies as “marks of shame” If their bodies will be an integral part of their eternal life. Alongside helping students to see their bodies (and its problems) in a helpful light now, this book will help youth leaders point students towards a more full picture of our resurrection hope. We can give students everywhere great hope with how Allberry ends his book—"I don’t need to worry about squeezing every last drop of pleasure out of this physical life when I can look forward to an eternity of enjoying the new creation in a resurrected body” (183-184). We can offer our bodies as living sacrifices because one day that which is sacrificed will be glorified.

Every student pastor should pick up a copy of What God Has to Say About Our Bodies. It is a crucial book that lays the foundation for a theology of the body, which our students desperately need. It is accessible, thorough, and centered on the person and work of Jesus—which just happens to be good news for our bodies.

Note: Crossway has provided a complimentary copy of this book to Youth Pastor Theologian through the Blog Review Program.