In the late nineteenth century, William James (1884) and Carl Lange (1885/1887) boldly reframed emotion as an embodied process, proposing, independently yet convergently, that feelings arise from the perception of physiological changes in the body, a vision anticipated by Charles Darwin’s (1872) evolutionary account of emotional expression and later refined through critical dialogue by figures such as Walter Cannon (1927) and Philip Bard (1928), whose work clarified the brain–body dynamics underlying affect. Together, these pioneers ignited a scientific imagination that honoured the unity of mind and body, a unity that resonates with a Christian anthropology in which humans are created as integrated wholes (Genesis 2:7), called to “guard the heart” as the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23), to honour God with their bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19–20), and to experience peace that embraces both thought and feeling (Philippians 4:6–7), grounded in the Incarnation itself: “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14). By illuminating how bodily states, perception, and meaning intertwine, early physiological theories of emotion have enduring value for personal wellbeing, encouraging attentiveness to bodily cues, emotional regulation, and compassionate self-care. These theories may also contribute to societal health, informing humane education, mental-health practice, and public policy that respect embodied human dignity, foster empathy, and cultivate communities where emotional understanding supports justice, reconciliation, and flourishing.