MM#278--Theology of the Body--A Mount Everest Among The Hills

Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, david Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. Let's go right to our book, because we have no time to waste. It was a gorgeous, starlit night. A young couple, madly in love, drove off into the country to find a secluded place where they could express their enormous desires. Spotting a grassy knoll, they parked on the side of the road, grabbed a blanket and headed for the far side of the hill. Little did they know that they were on the property of a country, parish. An elderly Monsignor, hearing some commotion, looked out his rectory window, gathered what was happening and decided he would go for a little quote prayer walk. The young lovers, engrossed as they were into one another, had no idea someone had approached and was standing at the edge of their blanket, jolted out of their passion by a startling but nonetheless polite, excuse me. They were all the more startled at the sight of his Roman collar, expecting he would scold them roundly. Instead, the mysterious man in black looked toward the heavens and probed inquisitively Tell me, what does what you're doing here have to do with the stars? After a pregnant pause, he walked back to his rectory, leaving the dumb founded lovers to ponder his question. St John Paul II, in his own way, invites us to ponder the same question in his extended reflections on the great mystery of our creation as male and female and the call of the two to become one flesh. What a great story. That story comes to us from a fantastic book I have been eagerly awaiting to share with you that I referenced over the weekend Christopher West Theology of the Body for Beginners Rediscovering the Meaning of Life, love, sex and Gender. This book first came out in 2004, when I was introduced to it, but then it was updated in 2009 and then again in 2018, with this version being called the St John Paul II edition. And actually let's stop there. Let's go back to the book that I just quoted from, because we want to cover what's so special about this edition. The canonization of John Paul II on April 27, 2014 was more than the church's official recognition of his heroic virtue. It also cast his teaching for all of history in a more radiant and compelling light His Theology of the Body, which, in the words of Professor Michael Waldstein, stands out as a Mount Everest among the hills. And all that John Paul II gave us is not only the teaching of a wise and learned pope, thus falling under the mantle of papal authority, the theology of the body can now also be understood, received and embraced as a masterwork of perhaps the greatest saint of modern times. John Paul II's canonization is reason enough for a fresh look at the theology of the body. Still, there are more than a number of reasons for a new and expanded edition of this work. Since Theology of the Body for Beginners was first published in 2004, ongoing study, teaching, writing and life experiences, especially the struggles with my own weaknesses as a husband and father striving to live the theology of the body has given me a more refined vantage point from which to present the material. Furthermore, cultural studies and attitudes have shifted dramatically since the first edition of this work and need to be addressed with clarity and compassion. In a world of government enforced gender confusion, john Paul II's insights into the essential meaning and nature of the sexual difference are as timely as they are urgent. Finally, since the pontificates of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have contributed to our understanding of John Paul II's teaching, you will see their wisdom integrated throughout this new edition. Now, what a compelling backstory that is to this new edition. I have to agree with the professor. This teaching stands out as a Mount Everest among the hills. It is the antidote to all the sexual chaos we see around our world today. Now, keeping in our Socratic method that we learned from the last several weeks, let's ask the question what is the theology of the body? For that, let's go back to the book. When Carol Wotua, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, came to Rome in August of 1978 to help elect a new pope, he brought along a lengthy, handwritten manuscript of a book that he had been prayerfully crafting for nearly four years. It was almost complete and he wished to work on it when he could during the conclave. Each one bore the unusual title, written in Polish, called Theology of the Body. The hundreds of pages that followed held perhaps the most profound and compelling biblical reflection on the meaning of our creation and redemption as male and female, ever articulated In depth mystical insights of a modern saint that had the power to change the world, if those insights had an opportunity to reach the world, that is, after the election of Pope John Paul first. Well, tewa returned to Krakow and completed his manuscript. Soon after that, to the astonishment of the whole world, he emerged from the second conclave of 1978 as Pope John Paul II, and his quote, theology of the body, delivered as a series of 129 Wednesday talks between September 1979 and November of 1984, rather than being published as a book, became the first major teaching project of his pontificate, establishing the core of John Paul II's great vision of what it means to be human. Still, it took some time for people to grasp the significance of what John Paul II had given us. It wasn't until 1999, for example, that papal biographer George Weigel described the theology of the body to a widespread readership as quote one of the boldest reconfigurations of Catholic theology in centuries and a kind of quote theological time bomb sent to go off with dramatic consequences. Perhaps in the 21st century, while the Pope's vision of the body and of sexual love had quote barely begun to shape the church's theology, preaching and religious education, weigel predicted that when it did, it would compel a dramatic development of thinking about virtually every major theme in the creed. Wow, now that is a wonderful backstory to how the theology of the body came to be and what it is. It's a series of lectures given at the papal audiences on Wednesday from September 1979 to November of 1984. And, wow, did it take some time for the folks that cover the Vatican regularly, day by day to understand what was going on. Even papal biographer George Weigel, who had been covering the Vatican since the papal election in 1978 and was a deep thinker on these theological matters, didn't realize what he had uncovered until his interviews with the Pope in the mid to late 1990s, while writing his landmark biography, witness to Hope, which was eventually published in 1999. So yes, the world was still catching up to one of the greatest saints in the second millennium, for sure. Now, to complete this brief introduction to theology of the body, let's go back to the book to capture some essentials. This is from chapter one. Christ teaches that the meaning of life is to be found by loving as he loves, see John 1512. One of John Paul II's main insights is that God inscribed this vocation to love as he loves right in our bodies by creating male and female and calling us to become quote one flesh, see Genesis 224. Far from being a footnote in the Christian life, the way we understand the body and sexual relationship concerns the whole Bible. It plunges us into a perspective of the whole gospel, of the whole teaching. Even more, the whole mission of Christ. Christ's mission is to restore the order of love in a world seriously distorted by sin, and the union of the sexes, as always, lies at the basis of the human order of love. Therefore, we learn in John Paul II's theology the body is obviously important with regard to marriage. However, it is equally essential and valid for the understanding of man and general, for the fundamental problem of understanding him and for the self-understanding of his being in the world. That is a quote that comes from Theology of the Body, 102.5. Are you looking for the meaning of life? Are you looking to understand the fundamental questions of existence? Our bodies tell the story, but we must learn how to quote read that story properly, and that is not easy. A great many obstacles, prejudices and fears can derail us as we enter into the great mystery of our own embodiment as male and female. For religious people, the most common temptation is to reject the body as unspiritual, and those are some great questions we have to ask ourselves, much in keeping with our Socratic method, to get to the root of the truth. And in this post-sexual revolution world, there is a tremendous amount of suffering that is occurring. In just one week, my fellow Ohioans will be deciding a proposed constitutional amendment that has very vague language that impacts all kinds of topics, from gender reassignment to puberty blockers, to quote fertility treatment and abortion rights. And here let me preach to the choir on the side against this amendment. This is the side that I'm on, this is the quote pro-life side. But let me preach to the choir because if this amendment passes, it means there will be radical new approaches to human sexuality, some of which we could never even have imagined before now. It will also mean that abortion in our country will be more widespread than before the Dobs decision of last year, or at least more widespread in the state of Ohio. And it will also mean that St John Paul II was right. He was right when he called the culture in the West, and most especially in the United States, a culture of death. That phrase, he introduced to the world way back in 1991, will have become all the more true, all the more acute, all the more descriptive, and this year of 2023. He'll also be right that there is an unfolding, a new manachism in the hearts of human beings around our world. That new manachism is just an old manachism coming back with a new twist, as there's nothing new under the sun Now. Manachism was an ancient heresy that came about in the third century. You'll remember from our biography of St Augustine of the Great, st Augustine of Hippo. St Augustine of Hippo converted to Christianity from manachism in the year 387. So manachism was a very powerful teaching in the early part of Christianity, yet it was heretical in nature. The teaching at its core says the body was created, therefore it is bad or evil. In actuality it says the whole material world is seen as evil and the soul is eternal, so it is deemed to be good. This conflicts with biblical teaching, because in Genesis we read God created everything. Quote very good the quote. The actual quote is this God saw that he had made. God saw all that he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1, 31, and that is a critical point. So let that sink in. Too often we are quick to go along with a culture in a world that is badly misinformed about many things, but most importantly it's misinformed about sexual matters. After this, let me go back to the quote from the book from Christopher West, because it says everything so profoundly. We must say this loudly, clearly and repeatedly until it sinks in and heals our wounds. Christianity does not demonize the body. Christianity demonizes the body, for Christ has raised the human body into the highest heights of the divine life. As the catechism proclaims this, the flesh is the hinge of salvation. We believe in God, who is creator of the flesh. We believe in the word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh. We believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation and the redemption of the flesh, flesh. Now, if the Ohio proposed amendment passes, our work will only become Much more, because the world will need this teaching To an even greater degree. We will have to double down and re-evangelize our pagan world again. So to my fellow America, my fellow Ohioans, rather on our side, fighting the good fight, christopher West offers us very inspiring words for this final week Before the vote of this much needed teaching. Going back to the book, the problem with our sex saturated culture, then, is that not that it over values the body and sex. The problem is that it has undervalued them. It has failed to see how incredibly valuable the body and sex really are. Let me repeat, there's two sentences. The problem with our sex saturated culture, then, is not that it over values the body and sex. The problem is that it undervalued them. It has failed to see how incredibly valuable the body and sex really are the Incredible value Of a teenager that is merely confused by a hyper sexualized culture Around her and by her friends who have been giving her bad advice. The incredible value of marriage, in the two becoming One flesh, and the incredible value of abating and the incredible value of a baby in the womb Wanting to have the right to live, to breathe. So, in today's mojo minute, in preaching to the choir, this book is a wonderful teaching tool for us to help us spread the good news about sex to a thirsty and hungry world Desiring to know the truth about things. This is a wonderful book that needs to be studied more in depth. Along with the original words of st John Paul the second, and in conclusion, I will share with you the words of the author, christopher West, as he prays for us. I Pray that this book helps open a new world for you. Indeed, if we take this great, great Saints, theological vision of our bodies to heart, we will never see ourselves others in the world around us and the church, indeed, the whole universe the same way again. So, st John Paul the second, pray for us.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this theory to action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at team mojo academy Dot-com, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.