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Forming the Church and the Cultural Imagination with a Theology of Embodiment

Bioethics & the Body
Parallel Paper
June 26, 2021
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With recent changes at the United States Supreme Court, the United States Congress, and the White House, it is likely that laws and policies governing abortion will change in the coming years. As these changes shift the supply and demand for abortion, Christians must be formed by a theology of embodiment to serve women, protect preborn babies, and provide for familial needs in the church and community. This paper develops a theology of embodiment that draws on the imago dei and the incarnation to form a Christian practice of life lived out in human flesh that is relational and places a high value on the human body. Humans were created with purpose; to reflect God and live out his redemptive purpose for our bodies, through our bodies, in relationship with one another. A theology of embodiment is particularly significant for the pregnant woman and the preborn child; it forms how the church stands against gnostic teaching and living that would violently end the bond of a pregnant woman from the fetus within her, or separate a pregnant woman from the relational support needed to care for her baby. As believers follow a theology of embodiment, we can transform our families and churches to serve women, thereby shining a beacon of light in a dark culture filled with broken bodies and ruptured relations.

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