Love Thy Body

Love Thy Body is a fantastic book for both students needing a starting point for research, or for those in the church looking for apologetics on topics relating to the body such as: sexuality, transgenderism, abortion and euthanasia. The book is full of end notes connecting it to a wider range of literature, including those written by people who disagree with Pearcey ensuring that arguments are constructed against real arguments not fictional ones.

Although Pearcey writes passionately, she writes primarily with the purpose of intellectual debate and conversation. She provides examples by people who have moved through some of these issues, particularly sexuality and transgenderism, from either parental or personal perspectives which assists in ensuring its application in ministry and relationships. Furthermore, the great level of endnotes, as outlined previously, linked with a lot of these resources, means that further reading is evident for those requiring more practical information.

The book is helpfully constructed with both start-to-finish and periodic chapter readers in mind. This is made clear by the introduction in which Pearcey writes requesting people to read this, as well as chapter one, prior to others ensuring that the basis she reveals as underlying the issues she’s addressing is understood, in addition to explicit inter-chapter references, making it accessible and understandable for those needing a single chapter. As much as it can be read for just one topic, reading the book in order ensures that the repetition of the model Pearcey provides is understood and remembered. Either way this book is read, it will prove helpful to readers for engagement with culture and community.