Respect For The Body

The body is lifeless and empty without the consciousness that animates it; the Bible affirms this in James 2:26.  What the Bible does not do is trivialize the body, its health, or its beauty in order to clarify that the spirit is of much greater importance.  The body may be inanimate apart from the mind, but the body and its sensuality cannot legitimately be neglected in the name of Christian spirituality.  Humanity's dualistic nature is to be embraced by those who seek to understand Biblical metaphysics.

It becomes quite clear from a basic reading of the early chapters of Genesis that the human body is the most valuable of God's physical creations, as it was crafted to house the souls of the only type of being said to be made in God's own image (Genesis 1:26-27).  This function of the body has convinced some that to draw attention to the physicality or beauty of the body is to draw attention away from the spirit, the most extreme manifestations of this idea resulting in calls for the "modest" covering of one's physical form.

The high value the Biblical creation account attributes to the human body does not mean that it is obligatory to be deeply concerned about one's appearance (or to cover oneself), of course, yet a Biblical respect for the body could easily motivate one to seek out and cultivate physical beauty.  In turn, the systematic appreciation or showcasing of physical beauty may lead some to directly challenge the fallacies of modesty teachings, teachings which are wholly at odds with reason and Biblical ethics.

There is no reason to fear an emphasis on physical beauty, as if it by necessity indicates intellectual, spiritual, or moral shallowness.  A love of one aspect of human life is not exclusive with the love of another.  Even when motivated by an intense passion for the body, caring for and appreciating physical beauty does not have to detract from celebrating the more foundational nature of the spirit.  Indeed, the trivialization of either the body or the mind has embers of heresy within it.

To comprehend and enjoy the spiritual and physical dimensions of human life is to live in consistent acknowledgment that there is more than one metaphysical component to human nature and that Genesis calls this "very good."  No Christian respects the body by honoring the cultural construct of "modesty," nor do they respect the body by treating it as if God does not have a high regard for the aesthetics of his own creation.  When the natural world is admired by Christians who praise its perceived beauty only to ignore, demonize, or trivialize the perceived beauty of the human body, a deep cognitive dissonance is on display.