Summary Of The Theology Of Body

Theology of the Body To Be Imitators of God & To walk in Love Robert Colquhoun 23.2.06

What is Theology of the Body? • Collection of 129 audiences by John Paul II dealing with sex, marriage, chastity, celibacy, ethos of the heart, Church, contraception, morality, Biblical exegesis, every human and Jesus Christ. • Life Transforming message that transcends and counteracts societal trends. Not just a teaching on sex and marriage but a whole way of doing theology.

What Theology of the Body (TOTB) is all about • Deepest desires of human heart- way to experience happiness and freedom • Desire for loving communion • Truth for God’s original design for human sexuality • Origin, history and destiny of humanity • Sacramental Nature of Marriage

What Theology of the Body (TOTB) is all about • Is there a purpose to life? • Why were we created male/female? Does it really matter if we are one sex or the other? • What exactly is love? • Is it possible to be pure of heart? • Why were man and woman called to communion in the beginning? What does the marital union say about God and his plan for our lives?

Essential Teaching of TOTB • The body, and it alone is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. • The Sacramental nature of human sexuality- it makes present what it symbolises.

Why does our society need the message of TOTB? • In the UK 167,000 marriages end in Divorce each year. • 800,000 children are in no contact with their father. • In UK 186,400 induced abortions each year (and rising).

How Important is the Body in Christianity? • Extremely! The Incarnation and Resurrection show that God tried and tested his own designs and brought them to perfection. • Christianity lies between the extremes of materialism and Manicheeism. • Human Person in Image of God (Gen. 1.26). • Recognition of our own mortality (Gen 3.19) • We believe in the resurrection of the body.

General Principles of TOTB • No one can use another person as a means to an end (eg utility or pleasure) • The opposite of to love is to use (not hate) • Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every single person • Family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love. Future of humanity passed by way of family. • Body speaks a language that wants to totally give itself to others.

General Principles Of TOTB • Chastity is a moral virtue and gift of the Holy Spirit. Under the virtue of temperance, integration of sexuality leading to unity of the bodily and spiritual being. • Chastity is not abstinence. • Celibacy can be a way of loving God with an undivided heart.

General Principles of TOTB • Why is marital sex between a man and woman morally good? – It is free, total, faithful and fruitful way in which persons image the love of the three person God. – It is a communion of life and love. It is an example of the total gift of self (Lk 17:33). – It foreshadows the unity of God and man in heaven, as a sign to all of the eternal bliss that awaits us.

The fallacy of Consumer Sex • Treating sex as a commodity is a gross violation of the great gift God has given us (eg pornography, prostitution, IVF, sale of family planning/equipment devices). • Be suspicious of anyone attempting to make a profit out of anything to do with sexual intercourse!

Summary of Ephesians • Lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you are called (4:1-2) • Do not go on living the empty headed life that the Gentiles live (4:17-8) • Be imitators of God… and work in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us (5:1-2) • Among you there must be not even a mention of sexual impurity in any of its forms or greed (5:3)

Summary of Ephesians • Be careful of the lives you lead (5:5) • Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (5:21) • Husbands love their wives as Christ loved the Church (5:25) • A man never hates his own body (5:29)

Theology of the Body is the New Sexual Revolution • Young generation found out the hard way- hook ups, safe sex and safer sex did not give us the love that we craved for. • Romance without regret does exist. One must be prepared to sacrifice. • The peace and joy that comes from chastity is worth more than the pleasures of the world.