How did body image and beauty become an expression of spirituality and faith in the Christian evangelical movement?
The evangelicals certainly did not invent this. There is a long and fascinating history to this, dating back to the Puritans and before that, which I try to cover in the book. The body has long been thought to represent the true self within. Evangelicals today often refer to Paul’s quote in 1 Corinthians about the body being a temple of the Holy Spirit. In the evangelical culture, there are certain codes about conversion and how a glow will emerge. So if you glow, you will display this sense of blessedness that others will want. It became another method for witnessing, for saying: “I have Jesus.” How is that movement different from fad dieting and body size trends in popular culture? [Christian dieters] are very aware of that whole culture. They do want to distinguish their message from Vogue or Seventeen magazines. They would say: “We are not about looking good. We are about glorifying God. We’re about obedience.” However, I don’t think that’s entirely true. There are some differences
