This will be a series of mini blogs that will try to explain some main issues on the subject of God’s original plan for the body, based on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, explained by authors such as Christopher West, Jason and Crystallina Evert, Yves Semen, Cristián Conen and Evan Lemoine.
God “impressed his own form on the flesh… in such a way that even what was visible might bear the divine form.” – CCC 704
“Theology of the Body” is the working title of the rich, biblical reflection that Pope John Paul II offered the Church and the world on the meaning of human embodiment, particularly as it concerns sexuality and erotic desires.
The main issue: sex is not just about sex. The way we understand and express our sexuality points to our deepest-held convictions about who we are, who God is, the meaning of love, the ordering of society, and even the ordering of the universe. But this work is much more than a reflection on sex and married love. Actually this catechesis illumines the entirety of God’s plan for human life from origin to eschaton with a splendid supernatural light.
But what’s the meaning of life, as Christ teaches us? The meaning of life is to love as he loves. One of JPII’s main insights is that God inscribed this vocation to love as he loves in our bodies by creating us male and female and calling us to become “one flesh”. Christ’s mission? To restore the order of love in a world seriously distorted by sin.
This theology is obviously important with regard to marriage. However it is equally essential and valid for the understanding of man in general. (You can watch the Human Series in order to complete the different subjects we will be talking in this mini blogs).
Only by pondering Christ’s body can we understand our own.
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Theology of the Body for beginners
Christopher West
Humanum Series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwmvD_-GE_rT2gNIc8h6jtA
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