Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part 4, In the Beginning Is the Body Summary

Part 4, In the Beginning Is the Body Summary and Analysis

The quote at the beginning of this section comments on the two traditional spiritual responses to evil in the world, the miraculous and the revolutionary, and comments that the former is the primary anchor of so-called "religious" orientation.

The author reiterates his central premise that Jesus didn't just talk about his beliefs about the Kingdom of God, he acted on them. This, in turn, leads to contemplation of how the body is, and has traditionally been, used both as a manifestation and a source of society, leading into consideration of Jesus' physical miracles.

In analyzing both the literal and metaphorical meaning of Jesus' healing of the leper, the author discusses how taboos and rules about physical boundaries were in fact, efforts to preserve social, spiritual, and racial integrity. He also draws a distinction between disease, which he defines as an individual experience, and illness defined here as the stigma...
(read more)