With the rise in obesity among adults and children globally, it is not surprising, perhaps, that American Christians struggle with obesity and its resulting health problems. This culture of allowing oneself to go and ignoring one’s vitality is deeply embedded in the church; however, the premise of this book is that healthy habits are part of the moral life, and by practicing these habits, Christians can live a more faithful life with God. Health isn’t just a concern for the overweight, however. Humans also suffer from chronic illnesses unrelated to nutritional deficits. Dobson’s work acknowledges that chronically ill persons still desire to live healthful lives and flourish in their spirituality to every degree possible. This book explores ways in which Christians can achieve holistic flourishing through practicing health as a habit. The author explores and interprets what Thomas Aquinas has to say on the topic of health as a habit in his Summa Theologiae.

Title page from a 1596 edition of Summa Theologiae.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The book is divided into two parts. The first part (chapters one to eight) is the theoretical framework laying out health as a virtuous habit to be pursued. Relying on Aquinas’s writing on the virtues and health and his appropriation of Aristotle’s teaching on the virtues, Dobson shows how we can view health as a virtuous pursuit with the end (telos) in God. Chapter seven, in particular, zeroes in on the practical application of healthy habits that lead to a flourishing (eudaimonia) of individuals in their relationship to self, others, and God. Chapter eight considers why believers should cultivate habits of health. The goal of healthy living isn’t for the sake of health itself but, more importantly, for the sake of God. In other words, “the love of God becomes the end (telos) of health practices.” Health as habit is defined as the ethical intention and effort to live lives that lead us deeper into love with God and neighbor. Dobson asserts that Aquinas believes Christians have a responsibility to practice healthy habits.

Andreas J. Kostenberger, Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011), 270 pages, ISBN 9781581349708.

As suggested by the title, Kostenberger’s interest in “excellence” has to do with Christian scholarship. For Kostenberger, Christian scholarship is the “pursuit of truth on mission for God in the world” (p. 66). The study of Scripture “must always lead to application” (p.80). The goal is “always obedience” as “there is no place in the Bible where God’s people are enjoined to study solely for the sake of study” (p. 80). The pursuit of excellence is different from the pursuit of perfection. Excellence is to not settle for mediocrity. It is pursued in order to fulfill one’s calling effectively, whatever that calling may be and to “bring glory to God.” Kostenberger’s purpose is “to identify, describe, and encourage those virtues essential to fulfilling the specific call to glorify God in the finest way possible through Christian scholarship. Rather than an end in itself, as adding to our own learning, Christian scholarship is a means of “engaging the unbelieving world with the truth of God’s gospel” (p. 65).

Fundamental to “excellence” in Christian scholarship are holiness and spirituality and he relates them not so much to the process of communication as to the person who is doing the communicating. The character of the scholar “bleeds through” what one says or writes and can have either a positive or negative effect upon the hearer or reader. In part two of the book, Kostenberger identifies six different virtues that lead to vocational excellence. These are diligence, courage, passion, restraint, creativity, and eloquence. His recommendations are priceless. This reviewer encourages any would-be writer to take to heart what Kostenberger shares in this part of his book.