Bodies of Praise with W. David O. Taylor

Can you name the five senses? Now for all five of those senses, when's the last time an experience of worship full-throttle delighted you? Was it a special service, like Christmas, a special day, like your wedding day? Was it the first time you experienced the worship tradition you now call home? Has it been awhile?

God loves our bodies, and God wants to engage us and delight us, every bit of us, in worship of him. How do we know God loves our bodies? And if Jesus' ministry was so concerned with bodies, why have Christians been so attracted to gnosticism? How can God's nonverbal communication skills help us with conflict? How do our bodies belong in worship, how do we know what to do with them? Where do we get the idea the quiet and stillness always mean reverence, and when might we need to shake that up?

We welcome the Rev. Dr. W. David O. Taylor onto the show. David is associate professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, and has been an artist, a pastor, and a pastor to artists. As an Anglican priest, he has lectured on the arts, from Thailand to South Africa. In 2016 he produced a short film on the psalms with Bono and Eugene Peterson. You can find that film, his several books on theology, the arts, and worship, and collaborations with his artist wife, Phaedra, at wdavidotaylor.com. 

Today we'll be riffing on his work represented in his latest book, A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of Our Physical Bodies in Worship.

And you can find a review of his book in our latest issue of the magazine, August 2023. Subscribe now at livingchurch.org to enjoy that issue digitally today. 

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Learn more about David Taylor's work.

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