“The Word made flesh,” according to William Temple, is the most important phrase in all of Christianity because it affirms flesh as the vehicle and instrument for spirit. Although some scholars have described Jesus in John’s Gospel as a detached “god who seems to glide over the face of the earth,” a closer look reveals how much John’s Jesus takes great delight in earthly pleasures. In this course, students will explore the ways in which the Fourth Gospel invites readers to appreciate the gift our bodies and our bodily senses, including our heart sense. This uniquely Anglican approach to the Gospel of John incorporates wisdom from Nature and Forest Therapy, which will help inform some of the spiritual practices and disciplines throughout the course.
Instructor: The Rev. Daniel London, PhD, serves as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA. He teaches courses on Christian Spirituality, World Religions, and Anglican Ethics at CDSP, the School for Deacons, and the Center for Bible Study. He is the author of The Cloud of Unknowing Distilled (Apocryphile Press) and Theodicy and Spirituality in the Fourth Gospel (Fortress Academic). He is also a Forest Therapy Guide, certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy; and an Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross and the Community of the Transfiguration. He lives in the Transfiguration House in Eureka CA with his wife Dr. Ashley London Bacchi and their two Yorkies, Seabury and Gubbio.