Author: Sam Allberry

Subtitle:

How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves

“God’s eternal plan for us involves our body. We can’t write off our physical life as spiritually irrelevant.” —Sam Allberry

There’s a danger in focusing too much on the body. There’s also a danger in not valuing it enough. In fact, the Bible has lots to say about the body. With the coming of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”—flesh that was pierced and crushed for the sins of the world.

In What God Has to Say about Our Bodies, Sam Allberry explains that all of us are fearfully and wonderfully made, and should regard our physicality as a gift. He offers biblical guidance for living, including understanding gender, sexuality, and identity; dealing with aging, illness, and death; and considering the physical future hope that we have in Christ.

In this powerfully written book, you’ll gain a new understanding for the immeasurable value of our bodies and God’s ultimate plan to redeem them.

Table of Contents:

Foreword by Paul Tripp

Introduction

Part 1: Created Bodies

Chapter 1: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Body and its Creator
Chapter 2: Man Looks on the Outward Appearance: The Body and Our Identity
Chapter 3: Male and Female He Created Them: The Body and Our Sex
Chapter 4: God Formed the Man: The Body and Our Gender

Part 2: Broken Bodies

Chapter 5: Subjected to Futility: The Body, Affliction, and Shame
Chapter 6: The Body is Dead Because of Sin: The Body, Sin, and Death
Chapter 7: A Body You Have Prepared for Me: The Broken Body of Jesus

Part 3: Redeemed Bodies

Chapter 8: A Temple of the Holy Spirit: The Body and Christ
Chapter 9: As A Living Sacrifice: The Body and Discipleship
Chapter 10: To Be Like His Glorious Body: The Body and the Resurrection to Come

About the author:

Sam Allberry speaks around the world as a preacher and apologist, and is the author of 7 Myths about Singleness and Why Does God Care Who I Sleep With?

Endorsements:

“I am very happy to endorse this book with the highest level of enthusiasm. I have been waiting for Sam to produce this book, and it does not disappoint. All aspects of living in fallen-and-yet-to-be-renewed bodies are comprehensively and biblically addressed with lucid writing that is a pleasure to read. Sam’s compassion for all the ways in which people suffer in those fallen bodies is full of understanding and tenderness. Please read this book with every expectation of being enlightened and edified.”  ~Kathy Keller, Assistant Director of Communications, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City, New York

“One of the most confused aspects of our culture relates to how we see the body. That confusion often extends to the church, despite the fact that our faith is centered around the Word who became flesh. In this wise and practical book, Sam Allberry casts a vision of the body that is neither beastly nor mechanistic but instead is creaturely and Christ informed. After reading this book, you will be better equipped to think through questions, from eating disorders to the transgender debate to transhumanism, as well as the more perennial questions of how to think about ‘soul’ and ‘body’ in terms of the gospel. You will come away with even more awe and wonder at the words of one who said to us, ‘This is my body, broken for you.’”  ~Russell Moore, Public Theologian, Christianity Today; Director, Christianity Today's Public Theology Project

“Evangelicals have excelled at many things; theological reflection on the body isn’t one of them. If you’re thinking, ‘I’ve seen many books on the church!’ then your assumption proves my point. Far more attention has been devoted to Christ’s spiritual body than to our physical selves. But we desperately need guidance here, for we inhabit a confused age that waffles back and forth between body obsession (my body is the most important thing about me) and body denial (my body is irrelevant to who I really am). Feel the whiplash? This book is medicine for the moment. I’m thrilled it now exists.”  ~Matt Smethurst, Managing Editor, The Gospel Coalition; author, Deacons and Before You Open Your Bible

“This book is good news for everybody, everywhere. There is a plethora of books written by women about the body these days, but men have bodies too, and a perspective on them that is often overlooked. I commend Sam’s words to everyone who needs to think more about their body and the bodies of others.”  ~Lore Ferguson Wilbert, author, Handle With Care: How Jesus Redeems the Power of Touch in Life and Ministry

“Winsome. Quotable. Simultaneously relevant and timeless. What God Has to Say about Our Bodies manages to be both deeply positive and hopeful about our bodies while also being deeply compassionate toward those who suffer in their bodies, especially with broken bodily longings. Clearly forged through long years of honest conversations in the pastorate, Allberry embraces the hard questions, gives wise and measured guidance, and will convince and inspire you with his core thesis: ‘We can trust Christ with our bodies.’”  ~J. Alasdair Groves, Executive Director, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; coauthor, Untangling Emotions

“Pastor-theologian Sam Allberry has given a gift to the church: a volume full of texture and beauty related to God making us enfleshed persons. For far too long, evangelicals have neglected the significance of the body as an integral part of our embodiment and discipleship. So much current cultural confusion persists inside and outside the church because we’ve misunderstood the gift of the body and the message it would teach us about God. Sam Allberry has ably remedied that gap. Read this book.”  ~Andrew T. Walker, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Fellow, The Ethics and Public Policy Center