Why theology of the body

Masturbation, fornication, adultery, intentionally sterilized sex, homosexual acts, etc. None of these behaviors express and renew wedding vows.

If I offered you a million dollar bill and a counterfeit million dollar bill, which would you prefer? Dumb question, I know. But what if you were raised in a culture that incessantly bombarded you with propaganda convincing you that counterfeit was the real thing and the real thing was a counterfeit? Might you be a little confused? Why all the propaganda? When we understand this, we realize that the sexual confusion so prevalent in our world and in our own hearts is nothing but the human desire for heaven gone berserk.

But the tide is changing. People can only put up with the counterfeits for so long. Not only do they fail to satisfy, they wound us terribly. Our longings for love, intimacy, and freedom are good. It is the body that enables the health care professional to be a gift to others and to receive the gift of others in caring relationships that promote health, healing and wholeness.

Precisely stated, the essential themes addressed in John Paul II's Theology of the Body reflect the gift of our creation in the image and likeness of God. As a communion of three divine Persons and an eternal exchange of Love, God reveals our dignity as human persons, our call to communion and our vocation to love.

By assuming a human body and sharing in our human nature, Jesus teaches us what it means to be a witness to Love and how to be a witness to Love in and through our bodies. For "this is the body Catherine University, Saint Paul, Minn. Knopf, New York, NY: Doubleday, Retrieved from www. Robert F.

Theology of the Body is the collective title of John Paul II's general audiences given as a catechesis to the universal church between September and November This integrated vision of the human person focuses on the revelation of God's mystery and plan for human life in and through the human body. Theology of the Body:. Log in Forgot Password? Create Account Please Log In.

Log In. Forgot Password? Create Account. KALB, Ph. As John Paul II explains, the concept "theology of the body" emanates from reflecting on the ancient text of Genesis which describes the creation of the human person, and therefore, the beginning of theology of the body: "We find ourselves, therefore, within the very bone marrow of the anthropological reality whose name is 'body,' human body. One of these themes addresses the dignity of the human person and is based on a key text from Vatican Council II's Gaudium et Spes : The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light.

Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. A second text, also from Gaudium et Spes , reflects the ultimate meaning of the human person: to recognize oneself as a gift and to become a gift to others, Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, "that all may be one.

This likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself. John Paul II explains, "Man becomes an image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion. As John Paul II explains, "The communion of persons means living in a reciprocal 'for,' in a relationship of reciprocal gift.

In quotations from John Paul II's Theology of the Body , the term man is used to refer to an individual regardless of gender to be consistent with the translation of the general audiences delivered by John Paul II and the original written text used by the translator. Knopf, : Theology of the Body , Ethical and Religious Directives , Directive 3.

Deus Caritas Est , para. Cardinal Daniel N. Ethical and Religious Directives , General Introduction. This holistic perspective embraces the origin, vocation and destiny of the human person. Respect for human dignity is foundational to all codes of ethics in the health professions. What is the Theology of the Body?

The human body has a specific meaning, making visible an invisible reality, and is capable of revealing answers regarding fundamental questions about us and our lives: Is there a real purpose to life and if so, what is it? What does it mean that we were created in the image of God? Why were we created male and female? Does it really matter if we are one sex or another? What does the marital union of a man and woman say to us about God and his plan for our lives? What is the purpose of the married and celibate vocations?

What exactly is "Love"? Is it truly possible to be pure of heart? An Encounter with Christ the Bridegroom - An introduction and overview of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body Original Man - Who man and woman were created to be in the beginning, as found in the book of Genesis Historical Man - Who we are now after the fall and in the light of the redemption Eschatological Man and Celibacy - What we are destined for in heaven and how it relates to the celibate vocation Marriage and Humanae Vitae - Living the Theology of the Body in the vocation of marriage Questions and Answers - Ways of implementing the Theology of the Body in everyday life Throughout this series, Christopher continually stresses the beauty and possibility of truly living as we were called to live in the beginning, as persons made in the image and likeness of God.

Learn More Celibacy represents a different kind of love that by its nature cannot be compared on the same level with marital love, because it is directed to all people rather than to a single spouse.

Our world is polarized by issues of sex abuse, marriage, contraception and divorce. Like Jesus, Pope Francis speaks little about sexual morality and focuses more on pressing social concerns like global poverty.

But St. John Paul II reminds us that we cannot ignore sex altogether. If we learn to stop devaluing our bodies, but to respect them out of our desire for one another's good, then Catholicism might have something to say about sex after all. Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more. In All Things. Sean Salai June 27, Sean Salai, S. Show Comments Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

I agree with Fr. It is a theory based on JP II's philosophical anthropology, personalism and symbolism. Nevertheless there are some good thoughts for reflection, especially that conjugal love should be an expression of self-giving love between spouses.

As such, pre-martial sex and conjugal love in a few marriages have more to do with a utilitarian attitude, meaning that the partners treat each other as objects of pleasure and do not love each other as subjects, as two-in-one flesh in a loving marriage. However, for the majority of married Catholics this is not the case. The issue here is whether it is a metaphoric leap that unless there is a "total" self-giving and openness to procreation under "all" circumstances, and in "every" act of coitus, spouses are expressing a false, evil and destructive love.

In recognizing the priority of image over intellect, theology has an important role to play in ensuring that the image does not become the only word, or the last word, as happens in some forms of contemporary culture.

We also must balance assertions with existential reality when we find no evidence whatsoever that Natural Family Planning couples treat each other as loving subjects, while couples that use artificial birth control have a utilitarian attitude and a diabolical love grounded in concupiscence.

I'm very glad that you worked your way through this work, Sean. I love the notion of a Theology of the Body, and really wish that we could talk about it more in the Church. My body is my home temple in this world and the only way I have to touch God or another person the presence of God in the other I do not understand why it is assumed that bodily love outside of a procreative act is assumed to be "using" the other for selfish pleasure. I think that if we are ever going to get over all of this body-shame did it start with Eve?

I have only met a few people in my life who appear to have gotten to this place of spiritual comfort in their bodies, and healthy sexuality was very much a part of it. Now can I take a breath? I hope so. Having read St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body the same pink and white paperback , followed Christopher West's attempts at expounding on it, appreciating George Weigel's claim that it will revolutionize Catholic theology I'm trying to come up for air.

In all of this there is an underlying theme of "adequate anthropology" JPII and a crying need to do just that. Let's come up with an adequate, convincing, inspiring and motivating sense of what it means to be a human being. Couple that with redemption, salvation and the overwhelming love of God and we've got a plan. Robert Lewis. Although the anthropology of the Enlightenment, which is the basis of modern "liberalism" is, indeed "inadequate," as John Paul II many times insisted, so is his, because his, as it is most extensively adumbrated in the so-called "Theology of the Body," is overly romantic and almost completely uninformed by modern science--particularly modern scientific research regarding the effects of genetics on gender-formation.

This research reduces the late pope's notions of "complementarity" to something approaching voodoo.