LOVE THY BODY

LOVE THY BODY by Nancy R. Pearcey

Nancy Pearcey's Love Thy Body is a deep dive revealing and taking on the troubling dislike and hate for one's body and/or biology that we are seeing on the increase in today's society. Right out of the gate, Chapter 1 is titled "I Hate Me." (It doesn't shoot it much straighter than that!)

Pearcey's book is built on an illustration that apologist Francis Schaeffer developed back in the 70s on the idea of secular morality accepted in Western society. Schaeffer compared it to two stories in a building. The lower story was constructed of Empirical Science ("objectively true and testable" information). The upper story was constructed of Theology and Morality (items that are viewed as "private, subjective, and relativistic"). A clear division was drawn with a solid line separating the two stories. As Pearcey was studying the fact/value split in current academia, she was immediately struck by the similarity to Schaeffer's illustration. From that revelation, her book Total Truth was born. In turn, Love Thy Body takes this idea and applies it to several current social issues that culture wrestles with focusing on the supposed division between the two story illustration mentioned above. But the question considered is should a division really exist between these two areas? The amount of information and thought poured into this book is astounding. Be prepared to think deeply. I will say that I wish I would have read Total Truth first and then read this one for a better foundation to launch from. It's certainly not a "have to," but it would have prepared me mentally for what was being constructed. In the New Year, it is my plan to read Total Truth and then reread Love Thy Body, so don't be surprised when it shows up in my pile again.