Gunter 1

Courtney Gunter
Dr. Schuchardt
COMM 243
1 May 2019
Word Count: 4,218

Human Embodiment: What the Church has Forgotten Through the Rise of Technology

Jesus Christ, as an embodied human being, tells his followers, “For whoever wants to

save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, New

International Version). This statement is one of the great juxtapositions in the Christian religion:

if you lose your life, you will find true life. Today, many people are losing their lives: they are

becoming detached and apathetic creatures, the opposite of God’s design and intent for

humanity. The cause of this trend toward disembodiment stems from modern technological

developments. People everywhere are losing their lives, but not in the way Jesus intended when

He said to lose your life. The concept of human embodiment, seen through the incarnation,

death, and resurrection of Christ, is a central teaching in Christian theology that has immense

implications for everyday life. However, the Christian church has forgotten the importance of

this doctrine and the increasing technological developments in today’s society favor detachment

and disembodiment; human beings are losing part of what it means to be human.

The concept of embodiment has enormous implication for Christian life: human beings

are embodied beings, Jesus Christ came to earth as an embodied man, died a physical death,

resurrected from death in a physical body, and also charged us to physically take part in the

sacrament of the Eucharist. If the perfect Christ has to become fully human, taking on the

temptations, trials, and sufferings of this word in order to provide a salvation, then our bodies

must matter.
 Gunter 2

Humans beings are embodied creatures, possessing both a physical body and a soul. The

Oxford English Dictionary defines “embodied” in the following straightforward way: “Of ‘soul’

or ‘spirit’: Having a body, invested with a body.” (“Embodied,” 1989). Humans are embodied

creatures; we are invested with a physical body. Additionally, the design of human embodiment

serves a divine purpose. The Genesis creation narrative describes the physical creation of

humanity. The narrative states, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he

created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, New International Version).

Therefore, human beings are embodied beings who possess a certain amount of dignity and

purpose due to being created in the image of God. The concept of creation in the image of God,

imago Dei, means that we have a “participation in God” (Billings, 2011, p. 111). With that in

mind, human embodiment is not something to take lightly. It is a central aspect of our humanity

that must be intentionally considered and protected.

It is essential to the Christian faith to recognize that Jesus Christ came to earth as an

embodied human being; when we fail to acknowledge that Jesus Christ came to earth as a man,

we cannot appreciate the full beauty of salvation. The apostle John states that how the “Word

[Jesus Christ] became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14, New International

Version). Christ Jesus, the Word, became flesh. That is, He willingly became an embodied

human being. Elsewhere in Scripture He is described as “the man Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 2:5,

New International Version). Again, he chose to become an embodied man. According to St.

Augustine, “[w]e should rejoice and be in wonder that our Lord Jesus Christ was made man,

rather than that he, as God, performed divine deeds among men. Our salvation, after all, depends

more upon what he was made on our behalf, than on what he did among us” (St. Augustine,
 Gunter 3

2009, p. 305). Our salvation is completely dependent on the fact that Jesus was an embodied

man. He had to come to earth in a body in order that He could die a physical death.

As essential as it is that Jesus lived an embodied life, it is just as crucial to recognize that

He died a physical death. Jesus experienced the culmination of every embodied life: a physical

death. He was nailed to a cross and “he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46, New International

Version). Moreover, the apostle Paul says that Jesus Christ “[w]ho, being in very nature God, did

not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made

himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being

found in appearances as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death

on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8, New International Version). Jesus Christ humbled himself,

became human, and experienced a physical death as an embodied man.

While Jesus was on the earth, He charged his followers with the taking of the Lord’s

Supper, the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a sacrament of embodiment. The apostle Matthew

recounts the Last Supper, the first taking of communion: “While they were eating, Jesus took

bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and

eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them,

saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for

many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28, New International Version). As

professing Christians, believing that Christ’s sacrifice is the only atonement for our sins, we are

commanded to take part in the Eucharist: eating and drinking the physical elements of bread and

wine. According to Craig M. Gay, “Our Lord commanded us to use common, ordinary, and

earthly elements in our sacramental proclamation of his death and resurrection because we are

common, ordinary, and earthly beings. Seen in this light, the bread and wine may be said to
 Gunter 4

manifest God’s gracious condescension to us” (Gay, 2018, p. 222). Just as eating and drinking

provide earthly nourishment for our bodies, communion provides spiritual strength and

nourishment. Eating and drinking are necessary for human survival, and the Lord’s Supper

serves as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice, which is a representation that we are alive in Christ.

Our embodiment is an intentional design. In the same way, it is intentional that we are

commanded to take part in such an embodied sacrament. It is a representation of Jesus’s Christ’s

embodiment on our behalf. We are embodied beings, we have an embodied Savior, and because

of these realities, we take part in a sacrament that reflects the importance of ordinary human

embodiment.

Again, “[t]he Eucharistic is the sacrament of human embodiment, celebrating the

astonishing incarnation of God the Son as an embodied human being, mysteriously uniting—in

the power of God the Holy Spirit—our bodies to Christ’s resurrected body and anticipating a

gloriously embodied life within a resplendently renewed created, to the glory of God the Father”

(Gay, 2018, p. 226-227). The Eucharist not only reflects the reality of embodiment, but it is a

celebration of embodiment. The taking of the Eucharist is made possible by the incarnation,

death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In sum, the Eucharist, the sacrament of embodiment, is an

essential tenant to the practice of Christian faith.

Despite the huge implication of embodiment and its centrality to Christian theology,

many churches have forgotten and neglected to teach the importance of ordinary embodied

human existence. Gay notes,

“In the North American context, the church’s silence as modern technology has
diminished embodied human being may also stem from the fact that evangelical
Protestants have always—from Gutenberg’s printing press to radio and television—been
early adopters of modern technologies and have used them to great benefit. Perhaps
evangelicals assume that whatever modern entrepreneurs and engineers manage to come
up with, they will find a way to render it serviceable in spreading the Christian message.
 Gunter 5

It may also be that Christian acquiescence to the automatic machine development is a

kind of combination of mistaken “otherworldliness” and this fascination with
technological possibilities” (Gay, 2018, p. 134).

In other words, the Christian church has forgotten, and the Christian church has neglected. The

church has forgotten the importance of embodiment. Our church leaders have forgotten to

declare the importance that Jesus Christ came to earth in a body. And until the church learns to

embrace the necessity of embodiment, the church cannot live up to its call. Jesus declares: “You

are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp

and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the

house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and

glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-14, New International Version). Christians are

charged with the mission to stand out, to be a light. However, the church has neglected its

mission in favor of blending in with the rest of society; when the church adopts new technologies

without fully considering the consequences, it fails to live up to its mission and it fails to

recognize the importance of embodiment. And so, “[h]aving forgotten this theology [of

embodiment], it has become all but impossible for the church to speak prophetically into modern

society and culture about such things as the dehumanizing trajectory of modern technological

development” (Gay, 2018, p. 135). Part of the role of the church is to ask difficult questions of

the culture, and to refuse to adopt dehumanizing practices. But sadly, the church has failed to do

this when it comes to technological developments. The church cannot be a light in the world, a

prophetic voice in modern society, without first coming to understand what it means to be an

embodied being.
 Gunter 6

Although the Christian church was design to be distinctive from the rest of the society, it

often fails to resist the culture norms that may be potentially harmful. Quentin J. Schultze makes

the following argument:

“One could argue that the American Christian groups that were pushed the farthest to the
perimeter of mainstream American culture have worked the hardest to build strong self-
identities. They taught themselves how to use tribal media effectively to build their own
constituencies, raise find, and launch cultural attacks on their foes. As insiders to
American society during the first half of the twentieth century, mainline Protestant tribes
were much less likely to perceive and to act upon the cultural gap between themselves
and mainstream culture” (Schultze, 2003, p. 32).

Schultze tells how the American Christians were often to most eager to adopt new technologies.

Churches were afraid to find themselves on the outskirts of society, so they overcompensated.

Churches have adopted modern technologies with frightening eagerness. Across the United

States and throughout the global church, Christian churches boast in their proficient technology

uses: from church social media pages to live-streamed services to podcasts series, the church has

been quick to use new technologies. It is necessary to acknowledge that the church’s intention in

adopting technologies was good, even if it failed. The church does not realize that these

technologies are separating members from each other and altering what it means to be part of the

church. In essence, it leads the way for teachings of disembodiment to dominate the church. The

church has neglected teachings of embodiment and races to embrace the new technologies. By

striving to keep up with culture, the church has lost sight of its mission.

Technological developments have the tendency towards disembodiment and detachment.

We are losing sight of what it means to be made in the image of God, how to live up to our

potential as embodied beings. G. K. Chesterton makes the following claim:

“perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every
morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may
not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every
daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal
 Gunter 7

appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than
we” (Chesterton, 2004, p. 52).

I argue that Chesterton is correct: We are no longer strong enough to exult in monotony. We

have lost our sense of awe. This dissatisfaction, this sinful weakness, is partly due the

development of the technological society. The statement “I am so bored” has become the norm in

modern life; it is an ironic anthem for the younger generations now that we have more

distractions than ever before. It is seen sprinkled throughout various social media platforms:

variations of “snap me I’m bored” or “Like for a tbh . . . I’m bored” may be found on Snapchat,

Twitter, Instagram, or other social media platforms at any given time. This continual need for

stimulation, the dissatisfaction with monotony, is a direct result of a digital society. However, if

we are made in the likeness of God, and He is strong enough to exult in monotony, then perhaps

we should be too. We have lost our wonder with both the Creator and His creation. Our

fascination and obsession with technologies is causing us to look less and less like our Father and

less and less like embodied human beings. This change should be a signal that something is

wrong.

Beginning as early as the creation of Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press in 14391, each

subsequent technological development results in a further sense of human detachment and

restlessness. According to James Glieck, “[a]s the printing press, the telegraph, the typewriter,

the telephone, the radio, the computer, and the Internet prospered, each in its turn, people said, as

if for the first time, that a burden had been placed on human communication: new complexity,

new detachment, and a frightening new excess”(Gleick, 2011, p. 398). Technological

developments have led human beings to feel overwhelmed at the excess and overload of

technology while simultaneously compelling in them the need to be constantly stimulated. With

1
Printing press. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 19, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press
 Gunter 8

the development and widespread acceptance of new technologies came an influx of information.

In 1992, Neil Postman wrote,

“In the United States, we have 260,00 billboards; 11,520 newspapers; 11,556 periodicals;
27,000 video outlets for renting video tapes; more 500 million radios; and more than 100
million computers. Ninety-eight percent of American homes have a television set; more
than half our homes have more than one. There are 40,000 new book titles published
every year (300,000 worldwide), and every day in America 41 million photographs are
taken. And if this is not enough, more than 60 billion pieces of junk mail (thank to
computer technology) find their way into our mailboxes every year” (Postman, 1993, p.
69).

In the 27 years since those words were written, the numbers have dramatically increased.

Therefore, it is no surprise that with this massive information influx came feelings of being

overwhelmed: When the surge of information came into existence as a result of technological

developments,

“so did ‘information overload,’ ‘information glut,’ ‘information anxiety,’ and

‘information fatigue,’ the last recognized by the OED in 2009 as a timely syndrome:
‘Apathy, indifference, or mental exhaustion arising from exposure to too much
information, esp. (in later use) stress induced by the attempt to assimilate excessive
amounts of information from the media, the Internet, or at work’” (Gleick, 2011, p. 403).

In other words, our technologies are the roots of new issues. With the rise of technology, there

has also been a rise of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and actions. Surely, this is not

what is means to be an embodied being made in the image of God. These side-effects of

technology are not allowing us to fulfill our potential as embodied beings, but rather making us

more detached, anxious, and disembodied.

It is clear that technology results in human detachment. Humans beings have eagerly

adopted new technologies that separate us from what it means to be human. Christian writer and

theologian G. K. Chesterton tells of the “huge modern heresy” that is “altering the human soul to

fit its conditions, instead of altering human conditions to fit the soul” (Chesterton, 1956, p. 142).

This, in essence, is the problem: we have transformed, shifted, and altered ourselves, our minds,
 Gunter 9

our bodies, and our souls so that we may more readily adapt to new technologies. Modern

technologies attempt to overcome the “problem” of human embodiment rather than enhance it.

However, if we live in a world in which technological abstinence in impossible, we must use our

technologies to heighten our embodiment and to make us more human, rather than less (Alter,

2017).

With each increasing technological development has come heightened feelings of

detachment and disembodiment, beginning as early as the creation of the alphabet, ultimately

leading to writing and then to modern technologies.

The concept of speech is an essential part of what it means to be human. Tom Wolfe

argues for the importance of language and speech; speech is what separates and elevates human

being above animals. He claims that “[s]peech, and only speech, gives man the power to ask

questions about his own life—and take his own life” (Wolfe, 2016, p. 165). Speech is a uniquely

human ability, and it is inherently related to our consciousnesses (Ong, 1982). From speech, the

development of writing further impacted human consciousness; writing revolutionized the

human consciousness more than any other single invention (Ong, 1982). After speech is the

development of print: “print encourages human beings to think of their own interior conscious

and unconscious resources as more and more thing-like, impersonal and religiously neutral. Print

encouraged the mind to see that its possessions were held in some sort of inert mental space”

(Ong, 1982, p. 129). Print encourages introspection and individuality. As each of these new

technologies is accepted and internalized, there is a shift that occurs within the human beings

who use them. Marshall and Eric McLuhan claim,

“there is the effect of the changes in man himself that result from using his own devices to
create environments of service. Any new service environment, such as those created by the
alphabet or railways or motor cars or telegraph or radio, deeply modifies the very nature and
image of people who use it. As electric media proliferate, whole societies at a time become
 Gunter 10

discarnate, detached from mere bodily or physical ‘reality’ and relieved of any allegiance to
or sense of responsibility to or for it. Radical changes of identity, happening suddenly and in
very brief intervals of time, have proved more deadly and destructive of human values than
wars fought with hardware weapons” (McLuhan, 1988, p. 96-97).

Technologies, as they are internalized, fundamentally change the way human beings interact. It

changes human nature, in favor or detachment over embodiment. And these disturbing changes

can happen as rapidly as the development of the technologies themselves.

Furthermore, all technologies come with unexpected consequences. For example,

Gutenberg did not and could not have anticipated the consequences of his printing press. His

invention led to the mass production of various books and pamphlets, including the Bible. He did

not realize “that the mass-produced book, by placing the Word of God on every kitchen table,

makes each Christian his own theologian—one might even say his own priest. . . In the struggle

between unity and diversity of religious belief, the press favored the latter, and we can assume

that this possibility never occurred to Gutenberg” (Postman, 1992, p. 15). Gutenberg’s invention

completely revolutionized the technology of the time, and its effects are still echoing today. Each

technology, in an attempt to solve a problem, inadvertently creates new issues that need to be

resolved.

In addition, technology encourages the objectification and dehumanization of human

beings. Under digital conditions, things are converted into resources, simply waiting to be used.

Paradoxically, the same conversion process is happening to human beings: “We have also

become standing-reserve within the modern purview—as in the expression ‘human resources’”

(Gay, 2018, p. 120). The phrase “human resources” found in most businesses and organizations

today implies that human beings are no more than a stockpile of supplies waiting to be used; it

completely undermines the dignity and created purpose of humanity. Moreover, the

objectification of human beings is often seen as a good thing because it can lead to increased
 Gunter 11

productivity. However,

“While the objective utilization of others may enable us to “get things done,” it is not
conducive to family, friendship, camaraderie, and fellowship. Neither is objectification
conducive to genuine worship, for the living God simply does not allow himself to be
known objectively, as an object of human manipulation. If we seek to know God in this
way, he retreats from our view” (Gay, 2018, p. 123).

The current view of objectified humanity detaches us from our relationship with ourselves, each

other, and most importantly, our Creator. It is only when we step away from all-consuming

technologies and embrace the essence of human embodiment that we are able to enter into God-

honoring relationships with friends, family, and our Creator Himself.

The detached, objectified view of humanity contradicts biblical teachings of embodiment.

First of all, “Christian theology affirms that our bodies have been designed for relationship with

each other, with God, and with the rest of created nature. This puts an entirely new spin on what

we ought to use our technologies for” (Gay, 2018, p. 14-15). If our technologies do not enhance

our relationships, then they are wounding the design of embodiment. Additionally, “[i]f the

Christian proclamation of the incarnation signals the divine intention to redeem, restore, and

ultimately to glorify embodied human beings, then clearly anything that undermines, enfeebles,

or otherwise diminished ordinary embodied human being must be at odds with divine purpose”

(Gay, 2018, p. 14). If technologies are diminishing our embodiment, then they must be at odds

with divine purpose.

Furthermore, the detachment caused by technology is clearly seen through the impact

technology has had on child development. Neil Postman argues that in the digital age of instant

gratification, “our youth must be shown that not all worthwhile things are instantly accessible

and that there are levels of sensibility unknown to them” (Postman, 1992, p 197). Today’s

children are growing up in a world in which “a violent video game feels like murder. And . . .
 Gunter 12

pornography feel like sex” (Alter, 2017, p. 142). This environment creates an atmosphere in

which it is nearly impossible for kids to be reared in full awareness of the importance of their

embodiment. Children are particularly prone to addictions and, importantly, the experiences

during the first two years of a child’s life sets the stage for how they will interact with others and

the rest of the world for the remainder of their life (Alter, 2017). Today, children often spend

more and more time on screen and less and less time interacting via face-to-face communication.

This trend towards high amounts screen time, unsurprisingly, causes negative side effects. For

instance, children “aged between ten and fifteen years who played more than three hours per day

[of video games] were less satisfied with their lives, less likely to feel empathy toward other

people, and less likely to know how to deal with their emotions appropriately” (Alter, 2017, p.

233). This excessive screen time takes away from their ordinary human embodiment. It causes

detachment, apathy, and a lack of empathy. In order to make the most of embodied existence, we

much teach kids to step away from a technological existence and experience face-to-face

communication; this style of communication is needed in order for children to learn how to relate

to one another (Alter, 2017). It is not a surprise that children are becoming detected and

apathetic; they are growing up in a culture that exhibits the same characteristics.

As Christians, in the face of the modern struggle to maintain our embodied existence, we

must not despair. Gay eloquently states, “[w]hatever hope we have for reforming modern

technology must also be tempered by patience and restraint: patience, in the sense that we must

not collapse the ‘not yet’ of the coming kingdom of God into the ‘already’ of present

possibilities; restraint, in the sense that we must continue to acknowledge and respect the

distinctive shape of created nature” (Gay, 2018, p. 205). We remain hopeful for the coming

kingdom of God and the restoration of humankind. However, this hope should not inspire
 Gunter 13

complacency. We must strive to reclaim what it means to live as embodied human beings.

We have allowed technologies to develop in such a way that they deemphasize the

embodied human experience. Moreover, this concept of embodiment is central to Christian

theology, although the church has lost light of its importance. With this in mind, we must stop to

consider how the technologies that we embrace are changing our nature and our image. We must

ask, are they causing us to become less of ourselves, or are they allowing us to further embrace

what it means to be an embodied being, created in the image of God? We must not lose hope, but

we must strive to make corrections to our behavior. The church must realign its focus and

recapture the teachings of embodiment in order to restore human beings to their embodied

potential.
 Gunter 14

Works Cited

Alter, A. (2017). Irresistible: The rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us

hooked. New York: Penguin Press.

Augustine, Of Hippo, St., Hill, E., Fitzgerald, A., & Ramsey, B. (2009). Homilies on the gospel

of john (The works of saint Augustine: a translation for the 21st century. part iii,

homilies, v. 12-). Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press.

Billings, J. (2011). Union with Christ: Reframing theology and ministry for the church. Grand

Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic.

Chesterton, G. (2004). Orthodoxy. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications.

Chesterton, G. (1956). What's wrong with the world (New world Chesterton). New York: New

World Chesterton, Sheed and Ward.

Embodied. (1989). In Oxford English Ditcionary. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com/v

iew/Entry/60904?isAdvanced=false&result=1&rskey=C5bo8Q&

Gay, C. (2018). Modern technology and the human future: A Christian appraisal. Downers

Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, An imprint of InterVarsity Press.

Gleick, J. (2011). The information: A history, a theory, a flood (1st ed.). New York: Pantheon

Books.

McLuhan, M., & McLuhan, E. (1988). Laws of media: The new science. Toronto: University of

Toronto Press.

Ong, W. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word (New accents). London:

Methuen.

Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology (1st Vintage books ed.).

New York: Vintage Books.

 Gunter 15

Schultze, Q. (2003). Christianity and the mass media in America: Toward a democratic

accommodation (Rhetoric and public affairs series). East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan State

University Press.

Wolfe, Tom. (2016). The kingdom of speech. New York: Hachette Book Group, Inc.