Section II chr7-The Christian approach to God

Chapter 7
The Christian approach to God

To give a personal view of the Christian Approach, I am focusing particularly on ‘Body Spirituality’ a theology (body theology), the development of which was initiated in the late seventies by Pope John Paul II. The Christian approach I would thereby say involves seeking communion with the Eternal God through the communion with the Incarnate God. This spirituality begins with awareness and acceptance of the body as a means to experience the spirit. It involves being ‘sensitive’ to the experiences of the body, both happiness and pain, being therefore empathetic, leading to tearful prayers for oneself and others in the way that the Word Incarnate Jesus has shown by example. And so here the Body is the means to communion with the Incarnate God.

In other words the experience of the true self need not be just an out of body experience but can be experienced inclusive of the body when one realizes it to be the medium to experience the Goodness of all that has been created. At the same time this does not mean one has to lose one’s peace over the pains of the world; for one thing that Jesus always promised is ‘peace that the world cannot take away’.


And being dead to the world does not need to make life boring! One can retain the sensitivity to the world and yet be aware of the peace within. What this means is that it is possible for one to cry and grieve over one’s circumstance or over the sorrow of another, experience all that the Body creates in oneself and yet if there is the awareness of the imperturbable true self, then it makes one ever conscious of undisturbed peace within. This is what the communion with the incarnate God gives us, ‘a peace that the body experiences don’t take away' . This awareness of the "peace within"is developed during a focussed prayer time, which is to be practiced daily. This time of peace is the time when one affirms to being dead to the world and alive in the spirit. The life in spirit is described in Galatians. According to Galatians verses 22-25, ‘..The spirit produces love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires. The spirit that is approached in prayer is given the reigns to control the direction of life, thus affirming that nothing is required from life above or beyond the will of God, affirming that one is in fact,.. dead to the world.’

The Christian resorts to help from daily prayers (for oneself and just as sincerely for others) and reading of the Holy Word to maintain the sanctity of the new creation (dead to the world and alive in spirit) that he is. But it is obvious that being sensitive means being equally affected by what happens to others and not just one’s own self and it means praying for others with sincereity. This requires that one love the neighbour as oneself. Therefore loving one’s neighbour as oneself, is also the essence of the daily practice in the Christian approach to building a relationship with God’.