Library & Online Resources
Christina Kukuk is an alumna of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (MDiv ’05). She has been an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ for more than seventeen years, serving congregations in Cleveland and rural Southern Oregon, amongst other places. A writer and pastor currently living in Oregon, Christina attended journalism school at Kent State University and worked as a business reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio. Since then, her freelance work has appeared in numerous publications, including Belt Magazine, Bearings Online, GEEZ magazine, The Christian Century, and Spirituality & Health. She is the author of Loving What Doesn’t Last, published in October 2021 by Morehouse Publishing.
Visit Christina's website at https://christinakukuk.com/
Select Bibliography
The following books are not currently in the Barbour Library collection. The links below will take you to either Bookshop.org (which supports local bookstores) or Amazon.com, where you can purchase the book.
Frank, Georgia, Susan R. Holman, and Andrew S. Jacobs (eds.) The Garb of Being: Embodiment and the Pursuit of Holiness in Late Ancient Christianity. New York: Fordham University Press, 2020.
Klenig, John W. Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021.
Kukuk, Christine. Loving What Doesn't Last: An Adoration of the Body. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2021.
Tennent, Timothy C. For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body. Grand Rapids: Seedbed Publishing, 2021.
Books in Barbour Library
Print books below may be checked out by PTS students, faculty, and staff, as well as local area patrons who have library accounts (requires an annual fee). Ebooks are indicated by asterisks, and are available to current PTS students, faculty, and staff only.
Broken Bodies: the Eucharist, Mary and the Body in Trauma Theology by
The Body of Christ is a traumatised body because it is constituted of traumatised bodies. This monograph explores the nature of that trauma and examines the implications of identifying the trauma of this body. Constructing new ways of thinking about the narratives at the heart of the Christian faith, 'Broken Bodies' offers a fresh perspective on Christian theology, in particular the Eucharist, and presents a call to love the body in all its guises. It offers new pathways for considering what it means to 'be Christian' and explores the impact that the experience of trauma has on Christian doctrine.
Call Number: Stacks BV825.3 .O36 2018ISBN: 9780334056249Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought by
Black theology tends to be a theology about no-body. Though one might assume that black and womanist theology have already given significant attention to the nature and meaning of black bodies as a theological issue, this inquiry has primarily taken the form of a focus on issues relating to liberation, treating the body in abstract terms rather than focusing on the experiencing of a material, fleshy reality. By focusing on the body as a physical entity and not just a metaphorical one, Pinn offers a new approach to theological thinking about race, gender, and sexuality. According to Pinn, the body is of profound theological importance. In this first text on black theology to take embodiment as its starting point and its goal, Pinn interrogates the traditional source materials for black theology, such as spirituals and slave narratives, seeking to link them to materials such as photography that highlight the theological importance of the body. Employing a multidisciplinary approach spanning from the sociology of the body and philosophy to anthropology and art history, Embodiment and the New Shape of Black Theological Thought pushes black theology to the next level.
Call Number: BT702 .P56 2010ISBN: 9780814767757Publication Date: 2010-06-07
Embracing the Body: Finding God in our Flesh and Bone by
Foreword Reviews' 18th Annual INDIEFAB Book of the Year for Body, Mind and Spirit2015 Readers' Choice Awards Honorable MentionOur bodies teach us about God, and God communicates to us through our bodies. Our bodies are more good than we can possibly imagine them to be. And yet at times we may struggle with feelings of shame and guilt or even pride in regard to our bodies. What is God trying to do through our skin and bones?In Embracing the Body spiritual director Tara Owens invites you to listen to your thoughts about your body in a way that draws you closer to God, calling you to explore how your spirituality is intimately tied to your physicality. Using exercises for reflection at the end of each chapter, she guides you to see your body not as an inconvenience but as a place where you can meet the Holy in a new way--a place to embrace God's glorious intention.
Call Number: Stacks BT741.3 .O94 2015ISBN: 9780830835935Publication Date: 2015-02-11
Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being. by
Being human is neither abstract nor hypothetical. It is concrete, visceral, and embodied in the everyday experience and relationships that determine who we are. In that case, argues distinguished theologian Shawn Copeland, we have much to learn from the embodied experience of Black women who, for centuries, have borne in their bodies the identities and pathologies of those in power. With rare insight and conviction, Copeland demonstrates how Black women's experience and oppression cast a completely different light on our theological theorems and pious platitudes and reveal them as a kind of mental colonization that still operates powerfully in our economic and political configurations today. Further, Copeland argues, race and embodiment and relations of power not only reframe theological anthropology but also our notions of discipleship, church, and Christ as well. In fact, she argues, our postmodern situation marked decidedly by the realities of race, conflict, the remains of colonizing myths, and the health of bodies affords an opportunity to be human (and to be the body of Christ) with new clarity and effect.
Call Number: BT702 .C67 2010ISBN: 9780800662745Publication Date: 2009-10-09
Marks of His Wounds: Gender Politics and Bodily Resurrection by
It is a central tenet of Christian theology that we will be resurrected in our bodies at the last day. But we have been conditioned, writes Beth Felker Jones, to think of salvation as being about anything but the body. We think that what God wants for us has to do with our thoughts, ourhearts, or our interior relationships. In popular piety and academic theology alike, strong spiritualizing tendencies influence our perception of the body. Historically, some theologians have denigrated the body as an obstacle to sanctification. This notion is deeply problematic for feminist ethics,which centers on embodiment. Jones's purpose is to devise a theology of the body that is compatible with feminist politics. Human creatures must be understood as psychosomatic unities, she says, on analogy with the union of Christ's human and divine natures. She offers close readings of Augustineand Calvin to find a better way of speaking about body and soul that is consonant with the doctrine of bodily resurrection. She addresses several important questions: What does human psychosomatic unity imply for the theological conceptualization of embodied difference, especially gendereddifference? How does embodied hope transform our present bodily practices? How does God's momentous "yes" to the body, in the Incarnation, both judge and destroy the corrupt ways we have thought, produced, constructed, and even broken bodies in our culture, especially bodies marked by race andgender?Jones's book articulates a theology of human embodiment in light of resurrection doctrine and feminist political concerns. Through reading Augustine and Calvin, she points to resources for understanding the body in a way that coheres with the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh. Jonesproposes a grammar in which human psychosomatic unity becomes the conceptual basis for sanctification. Using gender as an illustration, she interrogates the difference resurrection doctrine makes for holiness. Because death has been overcome in Christ's resurrected body, human embodiment can bearwitness to the Triune God. The bodily resurrection makes sense of our bodies, of what they are and what they are for.
Call Number: BT741.3 .J66 2007ISBN: 9780195309812Publication Date: 2007-04-12
Tending Body, Heart, Mind and Soul: Following Jesus in Caring for Ourselves by
Includes Discussion Questions We hear a lot about what Jesus said. But what did he do? How did he live? During the days of his ministry, how did he care for his own body, heart, mind, and soul? In this compelling book, Mary Jane Gorman looks behind and between the words of Jesus to discover his humanity, painting a vivid portrait of the life he called us all to live. Chapter titles: Tending the Body includes sections on food, exercise, rest, healing touch Tending the Heart--anger, grief, compassion, passion, priorities, relationships Tending the Mind--exercise, rest, wit, reflection, openness Tending the Soul--nature, wilderness, forgiveness, prayer, obedience Tending Toward Wholeness: Interconnections "Gentle, practical, and wise, Mary Jane Gorman issues an invitation to look closely at Jesus' humanity and in particular the way he cared for his entire being: body, heart, mind, and soul." -Patricia D. Brown, Author of Spirit Gifts "If you're earnestly seeking guidance in development of a spirituality which touches every aspect of your life, you will want to let this skilled spiritual guide lead you to the Master himself." -E. Glenn Hinson, Author of Companions in Christ: Feeding on the Word Mary Jane Gorman is a writer, teacher, and retreat leader living in Greenville, South Carolina. Formerly professor of economics at Furman University, she has served on the board of United Ministries, a nonprofit community organization, and is a leader in First Baptist Church, Greenville.
Call Number: BT218 .G67 2006ISBN: 9780687492107Publication Date: 2006-08-01
What Your Body Knows about God: How We are Designed to Connect, Serve, and Thrive by
Have you ever had an experience where you felt particularly aware of God? If God is real, and we are created in God's image, then it makes sense that our minds and bodies would be designed with the perceptive ability to sense and experience God. Scientists are now discovering ways that our bodies are designed to connect with God. Brain research shows that our brain systems are wired to enable us to have spiritual experiences. The spiritual circuits that are used in prayer or worship are also involved in developing compassion for others. Our bodies have actually been created to love God and serve our neighbors. Award-winning journalist Rob Moll chronicles the fascinating ways in which our brains and bodies interact with God and spiritual realities. He reports on neuroscience findings that show how our brains actually change and adapt when engaged in spiritual practices. We live longer, healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives when we cultivate the biological spiritual capacity that puts us in touch with God. God has created our bodies to fulfill the Great Commandment; we are hardwired to commune with God and to have compassion and community with other people. Moll explores the neuroscience of prayer, how liturgy helps us worship, why loving God causes us to love others, and how a life of love and service leads to the abundant life for which we were created. Just as our physical bodies require exercise to stay healthy, so too can spiritual exercises and practices revitalize our awareness of God.Heighten your spiritual senses and discover how you have been designed for physical and spiritual flourishing.
Call Number: BT741.3 .M65 2014ISBN: 9780830836772Publication Date: 2014-09-26
Click on the links below to perform subject searches in the library catalog:
Brain – Religious aspects – Christianity
Health – Religious aspects – Christianity
Human body – Religious aspects – Christianity
Meditation – Christianity
Mindfulness (Psychology)
Psychic trauma – Religious aspects – Christianity
Spiritual life – Christianity
Articles in Barbour Library
Articles that are available online have links, and are only available to current PTS students, faculty, and staff. Articles without links are in the print journal collection.
Copeland, Shawn M. “Scripture and Our Selves.” America 213, no. 7 (September 21, 2015): 18–20.
Jacobsen, Anders-Christian. “The Nature, Function, and Destiny of the Human Body: Origen’s Interpretation of 1 Cor 15.” Zeitschrift Für Antikes Christentum 23, no. 1 (2019): 36–52.
Johnson, Andy. “The Resurrection and Ascension of True Humanity in Luke-Acts.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 15, no. 2 (2021): 247–61
Øye, Robin. “Disembodying the Body.” Cross Accent 30, no. 2 (Sum 2022): 25–28.
Pattison, Bonnie L. “Worship and Calvin’s Theology of the Body in His Anti-Nicodemite Writings.” Calvin Theological Journal 55, no. 2 (November 2020): 255–76.
Verde, Danilo. “Trauma, Poetry, and the Body: On the Psalter’s Own Words for Wounds.” Biblica 101, no. 2 (2020): 208–30
Winfield, Taylor Paige. “Embodied Theodicy: From Conceptual to Bodily Engagements with Suffering.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 89, no. 1 (March 2021): 204–39.