Matthew A. Lapine has written a fantastic interdisciplinary study weaving together the history of ideas, contemporary psychological anthropology, and Christian theology.

The Logic of the Body: Retrieving Theological Psychology (Lexham Press, 2020) is a study of the relationship between body and mind, emotions and intellect, from the Christian theological tradition. It explores the history of how a more integrated approach to mind and body in medieval philosophy, especially by Thomas Aquinas, was flattened by certain emphases in renaissance and reformation theology, especially by John Calvin, and concludes with a constructive model for a contemporary theological psychology.

This learned approach offers practical insights for the governance of emotions that is political rather than despotic, and gives a robust apology for a plasticity of emotions that is at once empowering and realistic. You can learn more about Matt and his work on his website or Twitter (@matthewalapine).

Ryan David Shelton (@ryoldfashioned) is a social historian of British and American Protestantism and a PhD researcher at Queen’s University Belfast.

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