Christian Flesh

Description

A sustained and systematic theological reflection on the idea that being a Christian is, first and last, a matter of the flesh, Christian Flesh shows us what being a Christian means for fleshly existence. Depicting and analyzing what the Christian tradition has to say about the flesh of Christians in relation to that of Christ, the book shows that some kinds of fleshly activity conform well to being a Christian, while others are in tension with it. But to lead a Christian life is to be unconstrained by ordinary ethical norms. Arguing that no particular case of fleshly activity is forbidden, Paul J. Griffiths illustrates his message through extended case studies of what it is for Christians to eat, to clothe themselves, and to engage in physical intimacy. Cover Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1. Flesh Devastated 1.1 Flesh and Body 1.2 Haptic Flesh 1.3 Flesh’s Bounds 1.4 Flesh’s Eros 1.5 Flesh’s Fragility 2. Flesh Transfigured 2.1 Jesus’s Natal Flesh 2.2 Jesus’s Damaged Flesh 2.3 Jesus’s Transfigured Flesh 2.4 Jesus’s Resurrected Flesh 2.5 Jesus’s Ascended Flesh 3. Flesh Cleaved 3.1 Cleaving 3.2 Fornication 3.3 Attention and Hagiography 4. Clothes 4.1 Clothing and Nakedness 4.2 Clothing and Baptism 4.3 Clothing and Convention 4.4 Liturgical Clothes 4.5 Male and Female Clothes 4.6 Scandalous Clothes 5. Food 5.1 Slaughter and Eucharist 5.2 Lament 5.3 Fasting 5.4 Ugolino and the Eucharist 5.5 Gluttony 5.6 Scandalous Eating 6. Caresses 6.1 Caresses and Wounds 6.2 Eros Transfigured 6.3 Celibacy and Virginity 6.4 Forbidden Caresses 6.5 Caressing Jesus Works Consulted Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W