TOB Explained: Prologue

Tackling the Theology of the Body is no small task. This is one heckuva dense text. Pope John Paul II was a world class philosopher and his writing style is not as linear as I would prefer. He spirals concepts throughout his Wednesday Audiences which makes this quite a difficult read. I don't know, maybe it's just me. So as a result, this time, I have enlisted the help of Christopher West's commentary: Theology of the Body Explained. West wrote this commentary with the intention for it to stand alone. I haven't finished the prologue and I'm already blown away. The fact that he takes such a difficult text and popularizes it may cause this theological time bomb to go off sooner than later.

Today's problem is not that people overvalue the body. They don't value it enough. The ancient heresy of Manichaeism has reared it head in the form of Cartesian Dualism which pits the body and spirit against each other. This belief has even found its way into the Church. This dualism causes people to abandon the belief that the spirit gives life to the body and the body receives it's life from the spirit. As a result, Man ceases to live as a person and subject but becomes an object. This has led to human sexuality being regarded as something to be exploited and manipulated rather than the same source of wonder that caused Adam to proclaim, "this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." (Gen 2:23)

When the body is objectified, a person is no longer a "he" or a "she" but an "it." When we begin to understand that the material makes visible the invisible we can see the body in a new light. We begin to understand that a human person doesn't have a body, but a human person is a body. If only we can truly come to grasp this mystery.

TOB: The Journey Continues

"The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the devine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it." (TOB 19:4)

A couple of years ago I was introduced to Pope John Paul II's important work entitled "Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body."(TOB) The concept behind this work amazed and yet baffles me. JP2 spent five years (9/5/79 to 11/28/84) to deliver a series of talks during his Wednesday audiences. The text is thick so, needless to say, I haven't made it through the entire thing. I'm picking it back up and, with the help of a commentary authored by Christopher West, I hope to finish this time.

With the start of Lent this week, this may be the best time to reflect upon the meaning of the body and the fact that, in the Incarnation, God took on a body and later gave it up in the single greatest act of love man has ever seen. It wasn't just a spiritual act; it was physical. And that physical act would not have been possible without a body.

I'll be using this blog as a place to log my reflections, ask questions and hopefully, come to a greater understanding of who I am and who God is.

If you'd like to join me, feel free to do so in the comments. A converstion is much better when others contribute.

John Paul The Great-- pray for us!

Should We Be Surprised?

As we all know, the California Supreme Court recently decided to make same sex marriage a fundamental right. Needless to say, this has created quite a stir. Michael Uhlmann states in his article A New Sexual Constitution?:

On May 15, a 4-3 majority of the California Supreme Court rewrote the state constitution and decreed that same-sex marriage was now a “fundamental” right. In a stunning display of disingenuous humility, the court had the brass to assert that it was not stating a policy preference, but only interpreting the people’s will as expressed in the state’s highest law. But California’s constitution says nothing about same-sex marriage, and the people of California made their will abundantly clear as recently as 2000, when they overwhelmingly passed a legislative initiative defining marriage as a union between man and woman.

The thing that strikes me about this is that four people made this decision for the entire state. Four People! I have no idea how they find same sex marriage addressed in the constitution. But, then again, I am not a lawyer. Chief Justice, Ronald M. George wrote the majority opinion and was quoted as saying, "I think there are times when doing the right thing means not playing it safe." I agree with that quote. Doing the right thing does mean not playing it safe; especially when one is defending the rights of others, which is what the Court believes it has done.

The problem is that they are dealing with marriage. The sacrament of matrimony is more than just two people who love each other getting together to share a life. It is more than being able to file a joint tax return or reap legal benefits granted by the government. Matrimony is about the communion of persons as God intended from the beginning. Look no further than Matthew 19 to see Jesus' teaching on marriage:

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" [4] He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, [5] 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'? [6] So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Notice that Jesus is referring to the "beginning." Genesis 1:27 states: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Male and female make up "man." And "man" is created in the image of God. Male and Female image God in the one flesh union of the marriage act. That can't take place in a same sex union. It requires a male and a female. Why?

If God is a communion of persons, then we are to be a communion of persons. But wait, God is the communion of Three Persons in the Blessed Trinity and Man is just a communion of two persons. Where is the third person of the human communion of persons? Well my wife and I have four of them. They are named Dawson, Nevan, Aidan and Jabin. The love between a husband and wife is so real that a third person is created. That is how we image God.

The problem is that many of the folks who are screaming about the sanctity of marriage don't see it that way. With rampant use of contraceptives most married couples have negated the third person of the family by reducing the marital act to a pleasurable experience. Husbands and wives are simply using each other for pleasure. How is that different from that which a same sex couple can accomplish? The thing that sets a marriage apart is life giving love. If the life is taken out of the equation by way of contraception, then it is no different than any other act between two people who "love" each other.

If we want to protect the sanctity of marriage, then we better take a hard look at how we can protect the sanctity of life. When it comes to life and marriage, God has brought them together, let no man put them asunder. So really, should we be surprised?

Culture of Life vs. Culture of Death

Turn on the TV and it is a matter of minutes before one is inundated with gratuitous sex and violence. Why is that? What is it with our infatuation with death and sex? And what do they have to do with each other? All around us we see death. However, true discussion on death is often avoided due to the fact that there are not many things that are more frightening or misunderstood. So the conversation gets suppressed. Sex is another topic that isn't usually discussed appropriately. Most conversations regarding sex are very uncomfortable and awkward unless it is the punchline of a joke or put in your face (literally) in the media. The problem is that when things are suppressed, they tend to resurface in ways that are not very healthy. In the beginning, man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed.(cf.Gen. 3:25) In the beginning, there was no death. Naked without shame and no death. What happened after "The Fall?" Death and shame both entered the world. The Theology of the Body addresses the connection with death and sex. It is worth quoting at length:

Thus, each man bears within him the mystery of his "beginning" closely bound up with awareness of the generative meaning of the body. Genesis 4:1-2 seems to be silent on the subject of the relationship between the generative and the nuptial meaning of the body. It will be necessary, then, to raise again the questions connected with the appearance of shame in man, shame of his masculinity and femininity, not experienced before. At this moment, however, this is in the background. In the foreground there remains, however, the fact that "Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore . . . " This is precisely the threshold of man's history. It is his "beginning" on the earth. On this threshold man, as male and female, stands with the awareness of the generative meaning of his own body: masculinity conceals within it the meaning of fatherhood, and femininity that of motherhood. In the name of this meaning, Christ will one day give the categorical answer to the question that the Pharisees had asked him (Mt 19; Mk 10). We, on the other hand, penetrating the simple content of this answer, are trying at the same time to shed light on the context of that "beginning," to which Christ referred. The theology of the body has its roots in it.
7. Awareness of the meaning of the body and awareness of its generative meaning come into contact, in man, with awareness of death, the inevitable horizon of which they bear within them, so to speak. Yet there always returns in the history of man the "knowledge-generation" cycle, in which life struggles, ever anew, with the inexorable perspective of death, and always overcomes it. It is as if the reason for this refusal of life to surrender, which is manifested in "generation," were always the same "knowledge," with which man goes beyond the solitude of his own being, and, in fact, decides again to affirm this being in an "other." Both of them, man and woman, affirm it in the new man generated. In this affirmation, biblical "knowledge' seems to acquire an even greater dimension. It seems to take its place in that "vision" of God himself, with which there ends the first narrative of the creation of man about the "male" and the "female" made 'in the image of God": God saw everything that he had made and . . . it was very good (Gen 1:31). Man, in spite of all the experiences of his life, in spite of suffering, disappointment with himself, his sinfulness, and, finally, in spite of the inevitable prospect of death, always continues, however, to put "knowledge" at the "beginning" of "generation." In this way, he seems to participate in that first vision" of God himself: God the Creator "saw . . . , and behold, it was very good". And, ever anew, he confirms the truth of these words. (TOB 22:6,7)

Pope John Paul II is absolutely correct; life will always win. However in our culture, the value of a life is based on what it can produce or what it can provide. Individuals are looked upon as objects to be used and then discarded when they are no longer useful. We were not created to be objects to be used. We were created to commune with God and one another. This desire to "know" one another is stamped in our very being. The world calls it a "sex drive"; the Church Fathers called it "paternal desire."

A Wedding to Remember

I was glad to see Art posted in regard to his wedding. I know how much thought and effort went in to everything that took place. I was honored to be in attendance, but Jennie and I were more honored to be a part of such a beautiful ceremony. I have been to many weddings, but I can honestly say that none of them compared to Art and Melissa's. It was obvious to all in attendance that there was something special happening. Now granted, there is something special taking place at all weddings. However, often times the wedding becomes about the event. It is the part that takes place before the party. All of the time and energy goes into creating the reflection of something beautiful. This wedding was different. It was beautiful. It was beautiful because we witnessed two young people who understood the fact that they were about to become one. Not one in the sense of one household or one checking account or one bathroom- but they were going to become one in the communion of persons. Art and Melissa were about the embark on the journey of becoming the image and likeness of God...and they knew it. Pope John Paul II explains:

If, vice versa, we wish to draw also from the narrative of the Yahwist text the concept of "image of God", we can then deduce that man became the "image and likeness" of God not only through his own humanity, but also through the communion of persons, which man and woman form right from the beginning. The function of the image is to reflect the one who is the model, to reproduce its own prototype. Man becomes the image of God not so much in the moment of solitude as in the moment of communion. He is, in fact, right "from the beginning" not only an image in which there is reflected the solitude of a Person who rules the world, but also, and essentially, an image of an inscrutable divine communion of Persons.(Theology of the Body 9:3)


Nowhere was this more apparent than at the reception. Usually the reception is where the "holy stuff" ends and the party begins. Just like Sunday is where we put on our nice suit or dress and play church and Monday through Saturday we get to live as we wish. But not at this reception. Sure the reception was a great party. However, the fact that Art and Melissa had just entered in to a covenant with eachother was not lost at the reception. In fact it was confirmed during one of the most typical reception events...the tossing of the garter. Now the tossing of the garter is usually where all the single guys get up with beer in hand and try to act cool while staying as far away from the garter as possible. Don't catch it because then you're the next one to go...the next single guy to get shackled to the "old ball and chain." After the tossing of the garter, Art had a bowl of water and a couple of towels brought to him. He then proceeded to wash Melissa's feet. It was beautiful. Right in middle of the party, the groom kneels down and humbly washes his bride's feet. Art showed at that moment that he would have been the one to climb over his buddies to snatch the garter. Because he understands something that most people miss. He understands that he just entered into something very special. Art has found himself in the gift of himself:


Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, "that all may be one. . . as we are one" (John 17:21-22) opened up vistas closed to human reason, for He implied a certain likeness between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God's sons in truth and charity. 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. (Gaudium et Spes 24:3)


Art and Melissa, may God bless your marriage and may you continue to be a blessing to all of us in the way you live out your vocation.

Theology of the Body

Hello everyone! Art has been so gracious to invite me to join his blog. I look forward to posting as regularly as I can. Feel free to leave comments as I hope this blog will generate wonderful discussions.

We are going to be going through Michael Waldstein's translation of Pope JP2's very important work: "The Theology of the Body." If you would like to join our discussion group, let us know and we will get you added. You can pick up a copy at Amazon.com by clicking here.

God Bless you all and thanks again to Art for letting me join this blog.