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to expand, but without definitive conclusions It is impossible to do justice the complexity of
or consensus. Technical investigations, such the theology or the science on the multidimen-
as neural localization studies that show brain sional concept of the invisible body, but it is a
changes correlated with prayer, add further di- concept worthy of consideration. I thank Dr.
mensions but still do not solve the basic dilem- Wojcieszek for stretching the bounds of imagi-
ma. Our “invisible” bodies are clearly more than nation, and providing renewed appreciation for
the sum of their parts. the wonders of the human body and its Creator.
In contemplating our created bodies, we need
From a psychological perspective, the “invisib- continual humility and acceptance of myste-
le body” relates to issues of identity discussed ry. And we must never forget the invisible one
in the previous issue of the EMCAPP journal. who created them, is present in them, and holds
There are challenges of definition, and social, them together.
developmental, and religious aspects to this.
How one perceives and presents their body is He is the image of the invisible God, the first-
shaped by psychological and cultural factors. born of all creation; for in him all things in hea-
Traumatized people may have dissociated iden- ven and on earth were created, things visible
tities, or disintegrated selves. People with shame and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
desire to be invisible. The internet, even though rulers or powers—all things have been created
plagued with “selfies,” also allows some degree through him and for him. He himself is before
of invisibility. Some people inflict pain on their all things, and in him all things hold together.
bodies in order to feel. Newer trauma therapies (Col 1: 15–17)
note the importance of engaging the body in the
recovery process (somatic therapies). We teach References:
mindfulness to help people be more connected Boleyn-Fitzgerald, Miriam. Pictures of the Mind: What
to their bodies and selves, which can then help the New Neuroscience tells us about who we are. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, FT Press, 2010.
with connection to others and God. The good Dickerson, Matthew. The Mind and the Machine: What
news, as Wojcieszek notes, is that we are not our it means to be Human and why it Matters. Grand Rapids:
bodies – biology is not destiny. We can change Brazos, 2011.
both our bodies and our perception of them. Green, Joel B. and Stuart L. Palmer (eds.) In Search of the
However, we are embodied beings, with some Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem. Downers
Grove: IVP, 2005.
sort of invisible soul and/or spirit. From a Chri- Jeeves, Malcolm (ed.) Rethinking Human Nature: A Mul-
stian perspective, we are created in the image tidisciplinary Approach. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.
of God, promised everlasting life, and even new Peterson, James C. Changing Human Nature: Ecology,
bodies. Theological questions of origins, teleo- Ethics, Genes and God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010
logy, and ultimacy add more dimensions to the
concept of the “invisible body.” What happens at
death? What is unique about the human body?
Our awareness of it? Our capacity for reflecting
and relating to our Creator?
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