A long time has passed since I have written a book report; hence, I put forth the following with some level of fear and trepidation. Here is the short story. Love thy Body (2018) by Nancy R. Pearcey– I recommend you read this book. End of book report! Long story – I have struggled to make sense of the changing world around me, especially in the cultures surrounding the University and in government offices where I have worked. I sensed a conceptual connection existed between euthanasia and transsexualism and the other myriad cultural maladies we are beset with but could not put my finger on it. Pearcey weaves a cogent argument and develops a single conceptual model that connects all the hot button topics from abortion to the hook-up culture, providing an exposé of a dehumanizing worldview. She suggests that the current worldview promotes a complete separation between the biological human and personhood, and that by making this separation, we can then justify all sorts of behaviors. People are now considered both biological (objective) and persons (a subjective declaration). She also shows how this contradicts the Biblical teaching of the integration of body and soul. She rightly points out how there is “nothing new under the sun” and that the current mantra of promoted sin fits well with ancient Gnosticism. The book serves to encourage one to love the body that God has gifted you with and serves as a warning to be on guard for the insidious nature of this modern philosophy that is being served up to us as a societal norm and a “leaven” that is being woven through the fabric of society. Read the first chapter twice to understand her dualism model of human-person separation then proceed. Everyone from late teenagers onward should read it. Formerly an agnostic, Pearcey studied in Heidelberg, Germany, in the early 1970s, and in Switzerland at L’Abri Fellowship under Francis Schaeffer. She earned a BA from Iowa State University, an MA from Covenant Theological Seminary, and pursued graduate work in history of philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto.
By Charles Krueger – February 11, 2023
