The thesis for Sam Allberry’s What God Has to Say About Our Bodies is largely in the subtitle: “How the gospel is good news for our physical selves.” While Allberry scratches the surface of that gospel, this book ultimately fails to deliver the fullness of this good news.  

The book is organized into 3 sections: “Created Bodies” (chapters 1–4), “Broken Bodies” (chapters 5–7), and “Redeemed Bodies” (chapters 8–10). This basic outline is one of the positives of the book; Allberry sets out to explore the full counsel of God when it comes to the human body and its relationship to the rest of creation, to sin, and to Christ. However, Allberry ultimately falls short of the potential of this promising outline. 

Part 1 is the longest section of the book. Allberry does an excellent job of laying out the goodness of the body from what some call a “First Article perspective:” i.e. how we relate to God, our Creator. God created humanity in the beginning and afterwards declared all his creation to be “very good.” God continues his creative activity of humanity as he fashions each individual person in their mother’s womb. As Paul declared to the Athenians: “he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands” (Acts 17:26). 

Allberry holds up the created body as an intrinsically good thing. I think most Christians will affirm that “It is better to be alive in these bodies than not to be alive at all” (29). He also gives a strong affirmation of God’s creation of sex and gender, grounding them in God’s purpose and biology. As Allberry says, “We are not just made as people; we’re made male and female” (58). 

In his discussion on sex and gender, Allberry displays that he mainly understands the imago dei in the broad sense: “We also need to affirm that all people are made in God’s image . . . Genesis 1 does not restrict the image of God only to those whose biological sex is obvious at birth . . . We need to see that the same language of being made male and female is repeated in the Bible even after the fall of humanity into sin in Genesis 3” (60–61). He then cites Genesis 5:1,2 as evidence—conveniently leaving out the fact that Genesis 5:3 goes on to say that Adam had a son “in his own likeness, in his own image.” This is not to quibble with a minor point in the book; rather, it is to illustrate one of Allberry’s overall weaknesses. Here is another illustrative quote: “What a man or woman should be like not only varies from culture to culture but enormously within cultures, from one generation to the next and one region to the next—even from one locker room to the next. I’m not sure I know how to answer all those questions” (70, emphasis mine). Allberry is engaging with excellent questions and he does a good job of providing a cursory overview of biblical ideas on the body, physicality, sex, and gender; unfortunately, someone looking for answers or for anything deeper than a surface-level introduction to a biblical perspective on these issues will come away from this book with very little. 

Over the course of the second part of the book, Allberry demonstrates his pastoral heart. He approaches topics of sin, addiction, and physical suffering with a great deal of compassion and care. This is certainly one of the highlights of the book, and a reason to recommend it to those who have personal struggles in the way that sin affects the human body. Sin does not just use the human body as an instrument of villainy. Sin makes the human body a victim of shame, uncleanness, sickness, pain, and death. Allberry clearly shows that he has a wide range of experiences with such victims: he provides personal anecdotes of his pastoral counsel for those suffering from shame, addiction, body dysmorphia, and other afflictions brought on by the brokenness of the human body. 

Part two concludes with a chapter on Christ’s suffering and death: ushering us into Second Article truths and preparing us for part three. This chapter is a lengthy exposition of Hebrews 4:15, “He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.” Allberry holds out Christ as one who has suffered every indignity, shame, pain, and affliction of the human body and overcome them by his cross. His final paragraphs are worth including in this review: “The problems we experience with our body were never ultimately going to be solved by our body . . . In Christ, our bodies are no longer identified by what we do with them, or by what others have done to them, but by what Jesus has done for them” (pg. 134). 

The final section of the book is where, in my estimation, Allberry falls flat. Having covered First and Second Article truths, I would hope for a thorough outline of Third Article encouragement and exhortation. Once again, however, Allberry provides a shallow introduction instead of a deep exploration of what it means for our bodies to be redeemed by Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit. The first chapter of part three provides an exploration of 1 Corinthians 6, especially verses 19 and 20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” This then serves as a springboard into guidance in the Christian’s life of sanctification in the realm of the body. 

Much of that guidance boils down to good stewardship of our physical selves: we must eat well, care for our physical needs, get regular exercise, and practice self-control. The conclusion that Allberry seems to draw here is that being a good steward of the body is necessary for the Christian life—and failure to do so would bring dire consequences: “Each of us, with sufficient self-control, can receive our reward from Christ” (pg. 163); “The Bible—and subsequent church history—is littered with cautionary tales of those who seemed spiritually vibrant but in the end showed themselves to be disqualified. The key to it all is the body. It needs to be disciplined” (pg. 165). 

Allberry’s gospel in this section is mainly future-oriented: “There may be no hope of relief in this life. But this life is not all there is” (pg. 184). This can be a valuable reminder for those suffering from chronic conditions or who must be reminded to take up their cross and follow Jesus. On the other hand, there is gospel joy to be found in the here and now, which Allberry fails to mention. For a book ostensibly about good news for our physical selves, Allberry does little to provide good news right now and instead points his readers to news that will be good in the future. 

Which leads to the elephant in the room; or rather, the elephant not in the room. In all the talk of God’s good news for our physical bodies, Sam Allberry fails to engage with some of the deepest, richest Christian teaching on the Second and Third article truths regarding the redemption of our bodies: the sacraments, and the mystic union. There is a conspicuous absence of discussion on how God baptized our bodies and so brought them into the family of God; how our Lord allows us to partake of his body and blood; how we are united with Christ and with one another. Allberry’s discussion of 1 Corinthians 6 does touch on elements of the mystic union, but fails to go much deeper than the immediate behavioral application from the text—i.e.  “Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!” (1 Corinthians 6:15). Allberry may have a low view of the sacraments, but to leave all discussion of them out entirely is a gross oversight. 

This is ultimately why I found the book dissatisfying. While Allberry opens the door for those first engaging with the role our bodies play in God’s grand story of redemption, he only invites us to peek in briefly; there is little time to examine the artistry with which God creates us, redeems us, and sanctifies us. The wealth of Christian teaching on the sacraments and on how we live out our vocation with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit would be a welcome use of another chapter or two in the book. 

I would recommend this book to those who want to start thinking about Christian teaching on the body or who are engaged in conversations or wrestling with questions about sexuality, gender, transhumanism, or other philosophical discussions on the duality of the soul and the body. I can see myself giving it to a parishioner as a quick read, then following up with a deeper discussion on specific issues. But as for a thorough perspective on the good news for our physical selves, I might instead dig into Allberry’s bibliography to put deep roots into the rich soil of Christian doctrine on the body and the good news God has for it.