Christians take different approaches to understanding eating disorders. However, most Christian traditions share a framework for understanding the world that includes four stages: (1) Creation, (2) Fall, (3) Redemption and (4) Consummation. This framework has implications for how we understand humanity, suffering, our bodies and eating.
Christians believe that God exists eternally in three persons, united in perfect love – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They believe that God created all things and called creation good (Genesis 1:1-31). Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in God’s image and given stewardship over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). Humans initially existed in perfect relationship with God, each other, and the world that God had made.
Humans were created good, in the image of God (Gen 1:26-28). While eating disorders tend to base a person’s value on their appearance or achievement, a Christian framework insists that all humans are of great dignity and worth simply because they are created in God’s image and deeply loved by God.
Human bodies are created by God and are good, in all their diversity of size, shape and appearance. God made humans as embodied beings – that is, our body and our ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ are intertwined (Gen 2:7).* Human bodies are God’s handiwork – we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Ps 139:14).
God created all foods and gave them to us as a nourishing and enjoyable gift (Jas 1:17). No food is inherently ‘bad’ or to be feared (1 Tim 4:1-5, Mk 7:18-19, Acts 10, Rom 14:14). Pleasure in physical things (like food), when enjoyed according to God’s design, is a good gift (Jas 1:17).
*Throughout history, some schools of thought (such as Gnosticism and Platonism) have adopted a dualistic view that sees the ‘spiritual’ as being good (or more valuable), and the ‘physical’ as being evil (or less valuable). This has sometimes led to the belief that humans are a ‘good’ spirit, or soul, trapped in a ‘bad’ body. This can result in trying to achieve spiritual growth by treating the body harshly (severe asceticism), or to bodily shame. Perhaps for this reason, some of the first reports resembling anorexia nervosa occurred in fasting female saints in the Middle Ages. However, the Biblical picture does not align with this view. While the Bible sometimes relates human sin to ‘the flesh’, in this context ‘the flesh’ (‘sarx’ in the original Greek text), does not mean ‘the body’ (usually ‘soma’ in the Greek), but instead refers to our sinful inclinations. Bodies are good.
Christians believe that humanity and the world have ‘fallen’ from their original created state.
In the Bible, the story of what Christians call ‘the Fall’ (Genesis 3) immediately follows the account of creation. It describes that God placed the first man (Adam) and woman (Eve) in the garden of Eden and told them that they were free to eat from any tree in the garden except for one, warning them that if they ate the fruit of this tree, they would die. A serpent comes to Eve and questions God’s instructions. It suggests that Adam and Eve will not die if they eat this fruit, but instead that God is withholding it from them because if they eat it, they will ‘be like God’, knowing good and evil’ (Genesis 3:5). Eve sees that the fruit looks good and is deceived by the serpent. She eats it and gives some to Adam, who also eats. They immediately become ashamed (realising that they are naked) and hide from God. When God seeks them out and asks what they have done, they respond by passing the blame. As a result, God pronounces a curse on the serpent, and describes that the man and woman will now experience suffering in their relationships and work, and ultimately die. After providing Adam and Eve with clothing, God banishes them from the garden.
Christians have different opinions regarding whether this account of the Fall is literal or metaphorical. Either way, it provides a framework to understand that human suffering and death is not a part of God’s original design.
Following the Fall, our relationships with God, others, ourselves and creation were broken. We became prone to attitudes and actions that do not reflect love for God and others (Christians call this ‘sin’). Jesus describes sin as a type of enslavement (John 8:34). We also became vulnerable to illness, suffering and death (Gen 3:16-19). The effects of the Fall are not limited to humans, but extend to all of God’s earthly creation, which the Bible describes as being in ‘bondage to decay’ (Romans 8:21).
The Fall did not undo the fact that all humans are made in God’s image and of great inherent worth (Gen 9:6). However, it did do great damage to God’s created design.
All types of human suffering and illness – from the common cold to eating disorders – result from living as fallen people in a world that does not function according to God’s original design.
In this context, sometimes our suffering results from our own sin or poor choices – we tend to look to things other than God to meet our desires and deepest needs. , however, this is not always the case (Jn 9:2-3, Job 1:8-12) – for example, Jesus corrected his followers when they assumed that a man’s blindness was a result of sin (Jn 9:2-3). Suffering may also result from others’ actions, unjust systems, and simply the effects of living in a broken world. It may be due to a combination of factors that we often won’t understand. It is important that we recognise and embrace this complexity and element of mystery – especially in conditions as complex as eating disorders. Failing to do so can intensify the distress of both the person experiencing the disorder and those close to them.
Christians believe that God has intervened to provide rescue from the effects of the Fall. His redemptive work culminates in the person of Jesus, through his death on the cross and resurrection.
Christians believe that Jesus is both fully God (God the Son), and fully human; the only human who has lived a perfectly sinless life. Most believe that through his death on the cross, Jesus absorbed or took the punishment for human sin (Rom 3:21-26), defeated the forces of evil in the world (Col 2:13-15), and provided the opportunity for restored relationship between God and humanity (Col 1:19-23). They believe that Jesus was resurrected from death, showing that he has been vindicated by God, and that he now reigns with God over all things (Eph 1:20-23, Matt 28:18).
Christians believe that those who turn to and put their trust in Jesus are forgiven of and freed from their sin, experience restored relationship with God as God’s children, and share in Jesus’ victory over evil and death (Col 2:13-15, Rom 8:15). This starts now, though it won’t be completely realised until Jesus returns (‘consummation’).
Until then, God continues to work in and through us. We are not alone amidst suffering and struggles with sin (Rom 7, 8:22-25) – even if it sometimes feels like we are. Christians believe that those who trust in Jesus are indwelt by God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, who gives them comfort, guidance and power (John 14:25-27, Rom 8:9-11, Eph 3:14-19, 2 Tim 1:7). And ultimately, even when we can’t see it, God is unfolding His grand story.
God understands and has compassion on us in our suffering – not just intellectually, but because God has experienced suffering in the person of Jesus (Heb 4:14-16). It is OK to lament and grieve.
Ultimately, God works in suffering to bring about good, and it can never separate Christians from God’s love (Rom 8:28-38). Even when our suffering results (at least in part) from our choices, God loves us. His love does not depend on our performance. He does not condemn us (Rom 8:1). And He does not want us to punish ourselves, but instead to turn to Him. He offers grace and forgiveness in Jesus. And He walks with us through the sometimes slow and nonlinear process of healing.
The doctrine of the ‘Incarnation’ (which teaches that God the Son became fully human in Jesus, while remaining fully God (Jn 1)) means that even Jesus– the perfect Son of God – has a human body. And the Bible describes Christians’ bodies as ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor 6:19).
Jesus gave his followers a meal as a way to remember that through his death, he had overcome sin and the effects of the Fall (Matt 26:17-30, Mk 14:12-26, Lk 22:7-23). Christians continue to celebrate this meal when they participate in Holy Communion (also called ‘the Eucharist’/‘Mass’/‘The Lord’s Supper’), though people experiencing eating disorders may find taking communion difficult – and that’s OK, this is an expression of grace, not guilt.
Throughout the Bible, sharing meals is often a means of building and enjoying relationship. Jesus often ate with others, including those on the margins of society. He was even accused of being a ‘glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’ (Matthew 11:19). By sharing a meal with social outcasts, Jesus was expressing welcome and inviting them into relationship.
Jesus was also aware of, and responded compassionately to, our need for food. Several of the miracles of Jesus recorded in the Bible involved the provision of food for people in need (Jn 2, 6, Matt 15:29-39). In the Biblical account in which he raises a 12-year-old girl from death, his very practical and caring immediate instruction to her parents was to ‘give her something to eat’! (Lk 8:55)
Christians believe that God’s purposes will be fully realised when Jesus returns (1 Cor 15:20-28). They believe that at this time, all sin, suffering and death will be done away with forever (Rev 21:1-5, 22:1-5). Christians who have died will be resurrected to live forever in a new body on a recreated earth with God (1 Cor 15, 2 Pet 3:13, Rev 21).
In God’s new creation, we will experience fully restored relationships. This includes with ourselves – we will be secure in our identity and in our bodies (1 Cor 15). We will freely enjoy God, one another and God’s good gifts. We can experience a foretaste of this now, even while we anticipate what is to come.
