in the minds of many Protestants related to the relationship between body and spirit is present as early as the second and third centuries in the works of Christian theologians. Influenced by Greek philosophical categories, these theologians differed in their understanding of how matter and spirit were related to being created in the image of God. For example, Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c. 215) and Origen (c. 185-c. 254) contended that the image of God is the preexistent Word (the Logos); thus they identified the image of God with humankind's soul and not with matter. Irenaeus (c. 130-c. 200) and Tertullian (c. 160-c. 225), on the other hand, contended that the image of God was the image of the incarnate Son. Because this Son, Jesus Christ, makes the invisible God visible, then both the soul and the body are fundamental aspects of being “created in the image of God.” The bodily resurrection of Jesus sanctifies both the matter and the spirit.
The bodily resurrection of Jesus notwithstanding, in mainline Protestant traditions matter has often been understood as inferior to spirit. There is a lingering feeling that even though God loved the world, somehow immaterial aspects of being are more significant than material. Yet the magnificence and beauty of matter as it is manifested in the natural world has always grabbed humankind's attention. For example, the story of Noah and the flood in the Hebrew Scriptures concludes with the divine-human covenant being embodied in the world of matter with a rainbow. The beauty of the rainbow inspires and awes people to this day.
In this book it is essential to recognize that being created from dust and breath involves an understanding of spirituality that embraces an integration of both matter and spirit. In the contemporary context, it is crucial to affirm this commitment to matter as well as spirit because the word spirituality is frequently used to reference exclusively matters of the spirit—as if the spirit and the body have little to do with one another. Such approaches use the word spirituality to refer to interior acts of devotion, primarily meditation or contemplative prayer. Although prayer and mysticism are certainly important aspects of spirituality for many persons and traditions, they are not the exclusive domain of the term. For example, the last chapter of this book begins with exercises that deal with both body and spirit: the Relaxation Exercise and the Rule of Life.
Within theological education, emerging definitions of spirituality provide understandings that are concerned not simply with interior spiritual matters, but also with the way in which spirituality relates to all of life. As beings of body and spirit, our spirituality must be concerned with prayer and meditation as well as the rich texture of our lives. Sandra Schneiders describes the focus of spirituality for those following Christian traditions as the “lived experience of the Christian life.”2 Spirituality therefore is concerned with all of life as it is lived and experienced by believers: that is, with their beliefs, ethical stands, actions, motivations, historical context, social location, and all other salient influences on the lived experience of faith.
By recognizing that spirituality is concerned with the lived experience of faith, we are acknowledging that one's spiritual life emerges from the complex interaction of the factors noted above. Simply knowing a person or group's belief about a given theological notion does not necessarily shed much insight into their spirituality. For example, numerous denominational groups identifying themselves as Christian could affirm that God is a compassionate judge. It is the way in which the phrase “compassionate judge” informs daily life, however, that reveals the nature of the believer's spirituality. The ethical norms, pastoral counseling paradigms, parenting practices, and financial decisions of a group that focuses on God's compassion may differ markedly from a faith group that finds God's harsh judgment more compelling. Appreciating a person or group's spirituality, therefore, requires understanding the way in which their spirituality is manifested in the lived experience of the Christian life.
As beings created of breath and dust, we belong to communities that participate in shaping our lived experience of faith. These communities provide us a social location that shapes our understanding of reality, meaning, and truth. By exercising an instrumental role in shaping our worldview, these communities both provide opportunities for and set limits on our spiritual growth. For example, mainline Protestant communities of faith, as noted at the beginning of this chapter, are uncomfortable with helping people develop experiential relationships with the sacred. The social location of these faith communities at the center of American cultural life meant that they both mirrored and contributed to what in the 1950s was a common approach to religious faith—one where religious matters were deemed personal and private.3 With the growth in recent years of the influence of the Religious Right, however, that view is being challenged as we witness the renewed presence of religious discourse in public issues. The social positions advocated and stances presented, however, generally do not reflect the theological beliefs or social positions of mainline Protestants. At the same time, the worldview of mainline Protestants is expanding through interfaith and cross-cultural religious discussions. Both the renewed public religious dialogue from the Religious Right, and the interfaith and cross-cultural religious conversations are helping mainline Protestants grow in areas not permitted by their former worldview.
An aspect of this growth is manifested in the use of spiritual practices that assist in developing both the spirit and the body. Exercises that are used as spiritual disciplines—that is, those repeated in a systematic manner—influence not only the spiritual and emotional life but also the physical. Students of ritual studies note that when the body engages in certain repeated actions, the body itself acquires a memory. Spiritual practices that require bodily activity or receptivity—for example, open hands—create within the body itself (in addition to the mind and spirit) a response that is learned and retained. Dramatic negative examples of the body's memory emerge from stories of physical or sexual abuse where the abused is subjected repeatedly to a predictable and repeated series of actions. In these cases people in therapy frequently are required not only to heal their memories and emotions but also to restore the body memory through therapeutic rituals where warmth and support are provided. The body and its acquired perceptions as well as the spirit are instrumental in influencing spiritual growth and development.
The spiritual practices provided in the last chapter of this book offer the potential for nurturing humankind's spirit, emotions, mind, body, and community. These are spiritual practices that honor our creation from breath and dust. They provide avenues for an experiential relationship with God and locate us in the context of a universe where both matter and spirit are avenues to the divine.
Creation in the Image of God
The notion of being created in the image of God is a doctrine that helps Christians understand their role in the cosmos. This doctrine owes its origin to the story of creation found in Genesis 1: 1–2:4a. In Genesis 1:26–27 the writer of the Priestly tradition in Genesis says: “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’” In this passage the words “image” and “likeness” are used to suggest the relationship that exists between human beings and God. That humans are created in the image of God distinguishes them from other creatures. Although this passage has often been used to assert humankind's power over creation—a capacity frequently used to the detriment of this sacred creation—it describes something of the nature of human creation and establishes the bond for an intimate relationship between humankind and all of creation. We are created with a capacity to be in relationship with the creating, sustaining, loving, compassionate power of the universe. Being thus created means that at the most profound level of existence we are not alone; we have the potential to be in a relationship with God.
The capacity for a relationship with God permits us to apprehend the sacred both as the ground of our existence and as it is manifested in daily life. Through our affective life we experience in significant events a depth of existence that is more profound than the emotions that normally inform our ordinary experience of life. The joy that seems boundless at the miracle of the birth
