"God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast and when I run, I feel his pleasure."

Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire

A Modern Conception of Flesh:

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Peter M. Hopsicker

Disability Sport, Journal of Disability & Religion, 18:1, 82-96, DOI: 10.1080/15228967.2014.868986

In the article the author argues that any well-conceived Christian theology of disability sport must include a modern and diverse perspective on the Pauline concept of “flesh.”. He draws on John A. T. Robinson’s work, The Body: A Study in Pauline Theology, and considers how Paul’s idea of flesh fits within a modern perspective of disability sport. His conclusions suggest that “the flesh found in disability sport today—whether God-given or human-made—can be interpreted as a more inclusive depiction of the God-given flesh noted in biblical times modernized to include the ever-progressive development of

disability technology”.

“Paul, however, did distinguish between ‘of the flesh’ and ‘of the body.’

Flesh represented “mere man,” one of weakness and mortality in contrast

with God. Flesh is the external, visible, outward aspect of humans. Flesh is mortal, temporary, weak, and fallible—characteristics that parallel the early Christian leaders’ idea of body”.

P. David Howe is quoted: “Our bodies can be placed along a continuum from those that require very little technological aid to those whose lives benefit from a great deal of technology.” Such technology in disability sport, Howe continues, can be considered “unnatural” as it could be seen as making athletes “less than human”—or less of flesh and more of technology.

The article raises an important question : “where the fleshy augmentation of God-given flesh with human-made flesh fits into our developing theology of disability sport”.

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