Animality in Eschatological Transformation

Abstract

Chapter 6 takes up the end of the human story with God, the eschatological transformation of the human being through the resurrection of the body end entry into perfect communion with God. Conventionally, theologians have imagined resurrected of human body as being whole and intact, but with several basic vital functions negated—namely digestion and sexual expression. Arguing that such a maneuver safeguards the materiality of the human body precisely by negating its animality, this chapter seeks to construct a vision of transformed human life with God in which digestion and sexual expression are at the center of human communion with God and fellow creatures. The chapter’s efforts are aided by the wealth of the tradition itself: biblical and liturgical imagery such as the wedding feast of the Lamb, eucharistic theology, and Christian nuptial mysticism.