Engaging Jesus with Our Senses: An Embodied Approach to the Gospels

Jesus took on flesh--he was embodied. And the Gospels use multisensory language to reveal that his teaching, ministry, and interactions with people engaged the senses. Consider the raging storm on the Sea of Galilee, the perfume filling the house as Mary anointed Jesus’s feet, the significance of touch as Jesus healed people. Jesus even described himself in sensory terms--as the bread of life, the light of the world, the vine to whom his disciples are connected. Our physical senses are crucial to gaining knowledge of the world around us. Yet when it comes to Bible reading, we often reduce it to a mere cognitive experience, ignoring the Psalmist’s invitation to ＂taste and see that the Lord is good.＂

This book offers a fresh way to read the Gospels with an emphasis on embodiment, focused on a life abiding in Christ. The goal is a greater, more tangible knowledge of God. Jeannine Hanger points to the importance of engaging our physical senses in Bible reading, shows an approach to doing so with an emphasis on sparking the imagination, and looks at how utilizing our primary senses plays out in reading the Gospels. Each chapter includes sensory practices and questions for personal reflection. The book includes a foreword by Grant Macaskill.

Jeannine Marie Hanger (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is assistant professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, in La Mirada, California. She is the author of Sensing Salvation in the Gospel of John. Her research interests revolve around the Gospels, specifically literary approaches to texts alongside their ancient world contexts.