Nothing seems as anti-gnostic as the contemporary obsession with bodily perfection. We can remold our bodies in any way we want – tuck in here, enhance there, replant hair and remold biceps, remove wrinkles and signs of aging.
In fact, this obsession is completely gnostic. It attempts to side-step the effects of time. We want to grow old without any bodily traces of aging.
And we break the links that bind our actions to bodily consequences. Time was when gluttony unavoidably marked the body; we aspire to be trim and slim gluttons.
For all our carnality, we don’t really like bodies.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
