A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship

by W. David O. Taylor

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2023

Overview

Do our physical bodies really matter in corporate worship? Isn’t our soul the most important part of us? Aren’t our bodies, at best, negligible to worship and, at worst, a hindrance? The answer to this last question is categorically no, as Christians have attested throughout history and across the global church. The purpose of the body instead is to offer to God in worship what only it can offer—and what must be offered to God.

By drawing on the wisdom of the Bible, church history, and theology, and by taking advantage of the unique insights of the arts and sciences, ethics, and spiritual formation, a respected theologian and pastor argues in this book that there is something for our physical bodies to do that decisively forms Christlikeness in us within the context of corporate worship. What we do with our postures, gestures, and movements in worship matter. How our senses of sight, scent, sound, taste, and touch are involved in worship matter. How our spontaneous and prescriptive activities form us in worship matter. All of it matters to faithful and fulsome worship for the sake of a body that is fully alive in the praise of God.

Key Features

• Draws on the wisdom of the Bible, church history, and theology
• Explores insights from the arts and sciences, ethics, and spiritual formation
• Argues in this book that there is something for our physical bodies to do that decisively forms Christlikeness in us within the context of corporate worship

Contents

• 1. The Glory of the Body
• An Introduction to the Body in Worship
• 2. The Map of the Body
• Mapping Out the Landscape of the Body in Worship
• 3. The Story of the Body
• Historical Perspectives on the Body in Worship
• 4. The Benediction of the Body
• Biblical Perspectives on the Body in Worship (Part 1)
• 5. The Future of the Body
• Biblical Perspectives on the Body in Worship (Part 2)
• 6. The True Image of the Body
• Theological Perspectives on the Body in Worship
• 7. The Nature of the Body
• Scientific Perspectives on the Body in Worship
• 8. The Art of the Body
• Artistic Perspectives on the Body in Worship
• 9. The Way of the Body
• Ethical Perspectives on the Body in Worship
• 10. The Discipline of the Body
• The Prescriptive Body in Worship
• 11. The Freedom of the Body
• The Spontaneous Body in Worship
• 12. The End of the Body
• A Conclusion to the Body in Worship

Product Details

• Title: A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship
• Author: W. David O. Taylor
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2023
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Pages: 210
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Worship; Public worship; Human body › Religious aspects--Christianity
• ISBNs: 9781493440191, 9781540963093, 9781540966483, 9781493440177, 9781493440184, 1540963098, 1540966488, 1493440179, 1493440187, 1493440195
• Resource ID: LLS:BODYOFPRAISE
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-12-16T18:05:55Z

About W. David O. Taylor

W. David O. Taylor is assistant professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary and the director of Brehm Texas, an initiative in worship, theology, and the arts.