The body is still in the air but how to relate the ongoing theoreticaldiscussion to the concrete bodies that were once its point of departure. Thatsthe motivati... » 

The body is still in the air but how to relate the ongoing theoreticaldiscussion to the concrete bodies that were once its point of departure. Thatsthe motivating question behind Begin with the Body a volume of essays oncorporeality religion and gender a collective enterprise of the DutchResearch Programm for Religion and Gender. Popular religion and corporealitymore often than not interact in ways fatal to women. However overcoming themindbody dualism is no longer the direct objective. Rather researchers areexamining the generally ambivalent experiences expressed here and theavailability of alternative terms of designation. Paradoxical notionscounteract the tendency to associate women with the body and to percieve thebody as positively feminine fluid open and receptive. In precise casestudies on biblical representations religious ideals and devotional practiceswe are warned against easy appropriations simple reversals and quickconclusions. Changes in physical condition disease pain aging have agreat impact on experiences of subjectivity and meaning. Physical changes cangenerate shifts in religious and political concepts but the reverse is alsopossible. The contributions contain a wealth of material from the visual artsand literature from biblical to postmodern times. All contributions areevocative experimental and imaginative inspiring more questions than answers.Can we avoid binary oppositions in our efforts to do away with them ? Whatabout inspired corporeality and bodyoriented transcendence ? Do these notionspresuppose a physical God ? Does it make sense to seek revelation of aDivinitycorporeality relation as such ? The direction ofanswering differs.Common is the drive to connect Peeters 1998 «