A Body of Praise

“‘The body is his book’ said the poet John Donne about human love, and in this excellent, nuanced, and well-timed study, David Taylor explains how the body is indeed the ‘book’ of our relation with the love of God. The bodily dimensions of worship are explored with comprehensive empathy and scholarly depth. As we wrestle with the long-term impact of the pandemic on our worship practices, this work is an indispensable resource.”

"The role of the human body in Christian worship has been neglected for too long but is now significantly enriched by Taylor's work. This book is wide in scope yet deep in wisdom. His writing displays a lifetime of scholarship and reflection, now brought together in mature form for the benefit of worshiping communities everywhere."

“Against our culture’s increasingly transhumanist anthropology, David Taylor reminds us that to be human means not merely to have a body but to be embodied. And at the heart of God’s design for embodied persons made in his image is worship—worship that praises God, celebrates his good creation, and joyously engages every dimension of our corporeal and corporate existence.”

"David Taylor has curated the story of the body throughout church history in a clear, concise, and compelling way. This book is for both lay leaders and the academic, with rigorous research that gives both a macro- and microperspective on what it means to live as bodies in a world aching for the redemption of all things. The collective minds and hearts of Christians need this book as we learn and relearn what the body has known all along."

“The topics of this book are close to my heart and close to the needs of the church today. Taylor knows that good theology and good practice form a whole, and he lays that out in ways that will bless us body and soul. This book will be useful across a wide variety of worshiping traditions.”

"David Taylor's thoughtful and highly readable work shows that, whether it's 'free church' or 'liturgical,' holistic worship must engage the whole body in all its senses. He makes his case by drawing from a wide range of studies: from Scripture and Christian tradition to the arts and sciences. This book should effectively put to rest the notion that online worship can be an adequate substitute."

"This well-written, vivid study on the role of our bodies in corporate worship is timely and helpful in the wake of our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor correlates the theological and pastoral wisdom of the church with the findings and insights of the arts and sciences to show how the triune God interacts with his people bodily in worship and engages them spiritually with their physical senses of sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch."

“As striking as Ezekiel’s vision of enfleshing bones, Taylor knits together the motivating force of grief in a world reluctantly awakened to our common fragility. Involved in the human-God story through the provocation of perplexing questions, we are encouraged to trust and begin to live into the gifted smallness of our bodies as we reflect the glory of the divine image. Through overcoming the wounds we pile on others and ourselves by a host of misconceptions, this book, at once exhortation and evidence, invites us into newness and renewal. No longer dry, we rise.”