I picked up the latest issue of RELEVANT Magazine and found interesting spot on a new church. Seems as though those into “body modification” needed their own church. The group seeks “to teach acceptance, safety and variety of body modification (such as tattoos, piercings, implants, brandings, suspension, scarification, cutting, etc.” (Nov/Dec 2003, p.9)

Allegedy body manipulation “strengthens the bond between mind, body and soul and ensure spiritual wholeness.”

Seems like a twist on some sort of Platonic notion of bringing the body into submission to the spirit/soul. I think the better source of strength to bond mind, body and soul is Jesus, the Christ. Dallas Willard has an article on the necessity of activity in the devlopment of the soul for the follower of Christ. Check it out – Spiritual Formation: What is it, and How is it done?