Theology of the Body is the title of a series of audiences, presented by the late Pope John Paul II, that focus on the human body and sexuality, relationships and calls to the married and celibate life. John Paul II started giving these audiences on September 5, 1979 and finished them on November 28, 1984.
Considering that this teaching took over 5 years to explain, it seems redundant to say that it is a deep and many layered work.
Same Teaching, Different Presentation
The Church’s teaching on sexuality has not changed. It is only the way in which the Pope has presented this teaching that has changed. And now, through the likes of people such as Christopher West, Jason and Crystalina Evert, Fr Tony Percy and others, this teaching has been presented in a format that is easily accessible for everyone.
Theology Of The Body At A Glance
In order to understand Theology of the Body we need to understand Genesis. Of course, we are all familiar enough with what happened in the Garden of Eden, but we may not be quite so familiar with the underlying meaning in the first three chapters of the Old Testament.
In his teaching, John Paul II starts with the following passage from Matthew’s Gospel: ‘ ‘Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?”He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given.For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.” (Matt 19: 3-12).
It is from this passage we see that God had a particular design for human sexuality and relationships but through our own hardness of heart we did not fully realise or understand his plan.
John Paul II takes us back to the Garden of Eden, and shows us what human experience was like before Original Sin, before we decided that we knew better than God. ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.’ ( Genesis 2:15-25)
Original Solitude
In the creation account, the man, Adam, is alone with God. He has a unique relationship with God; though he was created by God, just as all of the other creatures were, he enjoys more favour because he is the only one able to talk and listen to his creator. This is really the first meaning of original solitude; we are different from the animals because we are able to know and love God, to converse with him.
Further to this, we are conscious of the fact that we know things. We can reflect on events, grow in knowledge and come to know other people and ourselves. We can also contemplate our own personal identity.
So then, Adam is different to the animals, but he is also alone. God notices this first and says, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone.’ We can argue that the two meanings of original solitude are both positive and negative. The first is positive as man sees his own special place in creation, a unique relationship with God. But at the same time, he realises that there is no one around that is like him. He is missing something.
Original Unity
God creates a helper for Adam. He places Adam into a deep sleep and creates Eve. When he wakes up, Adam sees another who is like him and decides to become one with her. He leaves behind his solitary life for a one flesh union with Eve. This is original unity. The man and woman find fulfilment and perfection with each other in their union. They are still alone – that is, alone with God, and with each other.
Basically, all of this means that God created us to be relational – that is, to form relationships with him, and also with other human beings. Why? Because God is relational.
Consider the Trinity – the three Divine Persons. God the Father loves the Son and God the Son loves the Father, and their Love is so intense and pure that it is actually the third person here, the Holy Spirit. They are three separate persons, but one unity. They cannot be separated. If we are created in God’s image and likeness then, it stands to reason that we too are relational.
We are like God; we have a desire to love and be loved, to have relationships with others. So we’re relational, and we’re also called to one flesh unions – original unity. Certainly, we have all experienced attraction to members of the opposite sex. During our teenage years these attractions can be really strong.
A man might find a woman beautiful; a woman find a man handsome and this attraction is good, normal and even holy. Original unity, the one flesh union, consists of two very important things: accepting and giving. Adam awakes and discovers Eve, accepts her for who she is, that she complements him, and he freely chooses to give himself to her.
Eve, for her part, accepts Adam for who he is, that he complements her, and she gives herself to him.
Original Nakedness
Adam and Eve ‘were both naked and were not ashamed.’ That is they, were free of any internal or external inhibitions or restrictions in regards to their body, or the other. They were comfortable with who they were. They were free.
Original nakedness goes hand in hand with freedom. John Paul II calls freedom ‘mutual subordination in Christ’ that is, letting go or surrendering our will for the good of another. This in turn results in our maturation. Consider marriage: We use our freedom to become more human – in God’s original design – and in doing so, we develop ourselves, our talents and in doing so we actually honour God. Freedom then, is not just about making choices considering ourself first – as our society would have us believe – rather, it is about maturity, surrendering to the love of another, and finally, about the person we want to become, and the God we want to honour.
Original Sin
We’re all familiar with the sin of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Eden. We also know that because of this act of disobedience to God, we find sin attractive. This attraction to sin is called concupiscence. Basically, as a result of sin entering the world we find it hard to avoid committing sins, and to live on the straight and narrow. We find it hard to feel God in our lives and to maintain a good relationship with him. We find it harder to get along with people, even our family and friends and we are no longer free as God intended us, because of our slavery to sin.
Originally posted 2015-01-26 22:57:37.