A Boat with New Nets: A Reflection on Embodied TranscendenceIn God's Image: An Anthropology of the Spirit, MichaelWelker, Eerdmans, 2021 (ISBN 978‐0‐8028‐7874‐8), xii + 155 pp., pb $29Marriage, Family and the Church: A Boat with New Nets, PiaMatthews, Gracewing, 2022 (ISBN 978‐0‐85244‐974‐5), xvi + 484 pp., pb £25Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, Felicia WuSong, IVP, 2021 (ISBN 978‐0‐8308‐5113‐3), xii + 220 pp., pb $24Believing in Bits: Digital …

Abstract

Abstract As divergent as they seem to be, In God's Image ; Marriage, Family and the Church ; Restless Devices ; and, Believing in Bits all have several overlapping themes that center on the embodied nature of the imago Dei . Each presents a set of questions that prompt consideration of how ‘technology’ influences, shapes, and informs our embodied practice of religion. In God's Image and Marriage, Family and the Church give us a broad vision of the human that helps situate and theologically engage the themes, concerns, and developing challenges in Restless Devices and Believing in Bits . The latter two gesture in the direction that aid us in thinking about the liturgical nature of what it means to be human. In God's Image offers a sampling of different proposals primarily from a Protestant perspective that open up questions for how one ought to unify the themes and teleological nature of the body. Through a brief interaction with all four works, I gesture toward Marriage, Family and the Church as providing A Boat with New Nets that might just help us to navigate our changing world of technological advancement.