Meet the Terrible Resistance: Childhood Suffering and the Christian Body

Abstract

This article consists of two thought experiments on pastoral theological implications of resurrection accounts in the Gospel of Luke. Emphasis in both biblical narratives on the pathos of Jesus’ life and the material presence of his resurrection body is interpreted to promote the therapeutic relevance for individuals of revisiting their embodied childhood shame as a path to greater hope and vitality. The risen Jesus models for his followers an intentional eisegesis, whereby readers may be encouraged to overcome psychological impediments to exploring their own archaic sorrows and to read their childhood suffering into the story of God.