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10 June 2009

Incarnation


At the heart of Incarnation theology is the notion that the human body is neither accidental nor unworthy of the habitation of God. The scandal of the Incarnation is the scandal of the human body. To paraphrase Brother (Cornell) West: Jesus was born too close to urine, excrement and sex for the comfort of some theologians.

The Church, philosophers and mere mortals have waxed eloquent and ad nauseum about the possible endurance of the human body after death in the after-life, in one form or a another. I don't claim any new revelation or more clarity on the old ones.

I do wonder if the body endures and all of our senses are heightened, what that means about our sensuality and sexuality. I know that Jesus said that we would be "like angels who neither marry nor are given in marriage." As unlikely as it may be, I wonder if he simply meant the abolition of marriage, possibly even childbirth, but not sexual expression.

Or, if our human flesh truly dies with this life, what does that suggest about how fully we ought to live this life?

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