Body Theology--May 2006
"And he took bread, and when he had given
thanks,
he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This
is my body, which is given for you.
A Revolutionary Teaching on
Sexuality
By Alan Medinger
Today, except for books
on marriage, most (if not all) Christian resources dealing with sex and sexuality
are written to address the problems of sexual sin in order to help people break
free from them. In our ministry we are all too aware how pervasive these problems
are, and so nearly every day we are recommending one or more of these excellent
resources to those who struggle with sexual sin. But there is a danger here.
For even when we are aiming to fix the problem, focusing in on sexual sin and
struggles can easily take our eyes off the goodness of sexuality.
In contrast, imagine if
you will, a Christian book dealing with sexuality that has little focus on
adultery, homosexuality or masturbation. Now imagine a book like this based on
the teaching of a man who never married and who quite likely never engaged in
sexual intercourse. What I'm describing is the teaching of the late Pope John
Paul II in his Theology of the Body.
My bishop (I am not
Roman Catholic) introduced me to Theology of the Body. He is familiar with the ministry I do and gave me
a copy strongly suggesting I read it. He told me he thinks it is so valuable
that he has all of the clergy under his care reading and studying it for a
year.
After reading it, I
know why. Theology of the Body is unique and greatly needed today. It focuses
on the magnificent gifts our bodies and our sexuality are from God-given to us
by Him for great and wonderful purposes. This focus makes the teaching
exhilarating to read, but more importantly, it makes the teaching a powerfully
life-changing resource. In fact, I believe it could be the most important
teaching on human sexuality in our time.
For those of you who
find within yourself a subtle shame that the body is fundamentally dirty or
that sex and sexual desires are more evil than good, I hope this article begins
to change all that. And for those of you who are presently thick in the battle
for sexual purity in your own life, may this article (and perhaps your own
reading of Theology of the Body
give you a better, holier motivation as you pursue God's will for your
sexuality.
What Is Theology of the
Body?
As is the custom in the
Vatican, Pope John Paul II conducted a general audience each week, and as a
part of this audience, offered a teaching. Over five years, 129 of these
teachings were devoted to the Pope's Theology of the Body, a systematic study
rooted in Scripture of the human body and sexuality. In this article I will be
referring to the Pope's teachings as presented in Theology of the Body
Explained, written by Christopher West, a layman and a Catholic seminary
teacher; but at the end of this article we provide information on purchasing
the Pope's teaching in one of three different forms available.
The teachings are
Biblical through and through. The Pope has taken the most fundamental passages
relative to sex, marriage, manhood and womanhood, and has explored them with a
depth that made me, someone who has ministered and written in the area of human
sexuality for over 25 years, feel like I was just entering college. The
Scriptures around which much of the teaching is centered are just the ones you
would expect to find: "created male and female," "become one
flesh," "be fruitful and multiply," "whoever looks on a
woman with lust has committed adultery," "Christ the bridegroom, the
church His bride". But because the teachings take such a positive approach
to our bodies and our sexuality, these passages came alive for me as never
before.
A Revolutionary Teaching
I have no proof of
this, but when I read Theology of the Body, I had a clear sense that the Pope knew his teaching was for all the
church, not just for Roman Catholics. There are few references made to principally
Catholic teachings or doctrines without also including an explanation as to
what or who the source is. And those teachings or doctrines that are more apt
to bother Protestants are few and far between.
Additionally, I believe
an examination of Catholic teaching in a couple of areas where Catholics and
Protestants often differ, namely contraception and marriage as a sacrament, can
provide illumination, if not persuasion, to many Protestants. (See the
following article, "Catholic Teaching, Evangelical Ministry.")
At this point in my
ministry, I can think of no greater service I can render to my fellow
evangelicals than to point them to Theology of the Body.
WHAT IS ITS MESSAGE?
Rather than offer a
broad view of the teachings, I will try to whet your appetites by recounting,
in my words, some of the points that illustrate John Paul's approach.
The Foundational
Importance of the Body -- The Pope
calls us to look to the physical body of Christ, and how the incarnation was
the embodiment of God. So too, our bodies make visible what is invisible and
divine. The body expresses the person. In a sense, the body is a sacrament of
the person. God created the body and He declared it to be "good."
John Paul contrasts
this view with the heresy of Manichaeism, the belief that exalted the spiritual
and assigned evil to the physical--especially to sex. The Pope speaks of the
"Manichaean Devil" that has plagued the Catholic Church throughout
her history. Had he looked a little further, he would have seen how the demon
has infected Protestantism also, where legitimate modesty is replaced with a
self-righteous and self-defeating prudishness. It is this attitude that creates
in many of our churches an unspoken code of silence about sex, a silence that
locks many Christians in a prison of secrecy where they are fearful of seeking
the church's help with their sexual struggles.
Sexuality as a Gift -- Our being, our life, our humanity, is a gift
from God, a gift given to us in the form of manhood and womanhood. A central
part of this gift is our sexuality, that which leads us to find a solution to
our aloneness. The gifts that God has given us in our bodies and in our
sexuality, we are meant to give to another in marriage. Man gives his gift of
manhood to his wife, and she her womanhood to him. And in receiving the gift,
each affirms the other.
For the single person,
the chaste life is a gift of one's sexuality back to God. For the single person
who may one day many, sexuality is such a precious gift that it is held in
trust for the one whom God will bring to share it.
Eros Is to Be
Redeemed, Not Snuffed Out -- So
much has our sense of sexuality been linked with struggle and sin that most of
us think of the erotic solely in terms of evil and sin. But it is not. The
erotic is simply something that arouses sexual feelings-and sexual feelings are
not evil. Christopher West aptly states that, "Ever determined to
establish the fundamental goodness of sexual desire and sensuality, John Paul
refuses to surrender the term eros
to the distortion of lust."
The Problem with
Pornography Is Not that It Shows too Much, but that It Shows too Little -- It portrays only a part of a person; it fails
to portray everything that is human. Therein, it demeans our humanity. The Pope
is critical of those who covered up the nudes in Michelangelo's paintings in
the Sistine Chapel, declaring that in doing so they demonstrated their own
impurity, their inability to see the body as a revelation of the mystery of
God.
We Must Turn from
the Negative and to the Positive Assertion of the Value and Dignity of the Body
and Sex -- This positive focus is
perhaps the central theme of the Pope's teaching. If we are to gain true
victory over lust, purity must mature from seeing and embracing God's plan for
our bodies and our sexuality.
SEEING GOD'S GLORY
These are just snippets
of the beautiful and profound truths offered in Theology of the Body. The
teachings offer a radical approach whereby Christians can take back sexuality
from our hedonistic culture, an approach that can enable us to see our bodies
and our sexuality as sources of joy, rather than as agents of sin.
Regeneration's
Executive Director, Josh Glaser, and I started reading Theology of the Body
Explained at about the same time, and we've both had similar experiences in our
lives as a result. First, we noticed a greater feeling of being
"clean" and "pure" after reading it. Christ told His
disciples that they were already clean because of the word that he had spoken
to them (John 15:3). Josh wonders if Christ's age-old message of grace and
truth coming through in Theology of the Body isn't responsible.
We also found our minds
less focused on trying to adhere to the law, needing to battle sexual
temptation because it's wrong, and more focused on grace and the inherent
goodness of sexuality. This was manifested in Josh when he saw an on-line ad
for screen savers, which included the image of a scantily-clad woman that would
usually have given him trouble. He felt temptation, but it was trumped by a spontaneous
feeling of compassion for the woman behind the image, and he began praying for
her. Similarly for me, I was awakened one night by a sexual dream. I
immediately thought of the pleasure that dwelling on this could bring, but
without any struggle I said, "Jesus, I want you more," and I turned
over and went back to sleep. We believe that the grace-centered approach to
sexuality found in Theology of the Body is renewing our minds, bringing us
closer to the level of purity we desire. When I am at the beach and have my
morning quiet times looking out at the ocean, my heart becomes filled with a
sense
of the glory of God. I
see Him in the vast expanse of the sea, in the power of the waves crashing on
the beach, in the constantly changing sky as the sun creeps over the horizon,
in the gentle gliding of a seagull as it floats through the air, and even in
the awkward beauty of the seemingly smiling pelicans as they fly in formation over
the dunes. The heavens--and all creation--do declare the glory of God.
Oh that we would have
the eyes and hearts to see the glory of God in the human body and in our
sexuality. Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body helps move us in this direction.
¥
The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan, by John Paul TI, Pauline Books and Media, 1997,
603 pages, $25.95. (These are the actual teachings as the Pope delivered them.)
¥
Theology of the Body Explained,
by Christopher West, Pauline Books and Media, 2003, 530 pages, $29.95. (Highly
recommended.)
¥
Theology of the Body for Beginners,
by Christopher West, Ascension Press, 2004, $11.99.
Catholic Teaching, Evangelical
Ministry: An Evangelical Approach
by Alan Medinger
When Karol Wojtyla, the
future Pope John Paul II, was an archbishop in communist Poland, he encountered
a powerful spiritual revival taking place among the young people in his
archdiocese. They showed a spiritual hunger that he had never seen before on
such a scale among young people. Wanting to see the participants in this
revival develop a strong and lasting Spirit-filled faith, he looked around for
help.
Where did he turn? He
had the wisdom and humility to turn to Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for
Christ. Leaders from Campus Crusade went to Poland and, using their experience
discipling young people, worked hand in hand over a number of years with their
Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ to help make this revival something
that would last. Perhaps this is one reason why Poland is likely the most Christian
country in Europe today.
We evangelicals have
much to offer the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the areas of lay
ministry and evangelism. How it must please God when we share in this way. But
this is a two way street. There is much Catholics can share with us. To me,
nowhere could such sharing bring greater benefits and blessings than from what Catholics
have to offer in the area of teaching and theology regarding the related
matters of life, reproduction and sexuality.
My prayer is that, just
as the future Pope was open to the primarily Protestant Campus Crusade, we
evangelical Christians will explore the richness and depth of Roman Catholic
understanding of matters of life and sexuality.
For Evangelicals, our
weakness in these areas is easily illustrated.
Many may be surprised
that when Roe vs. Wade was handed down legalizing abortion in all 50 states,
the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution hailing the Court's
decision. How could it be? Apparently the Baptists then, like most of us,
lacked a deep and broadly accepted theology of life. And so, we once viewed
abortion as a "Catholic" issue. (The Southern Baptist Convention
repented of this move years later.)
In addition, at one
time many states had laws outlawing the sale of contraceptives. You may not
have known it was conservative Protestants who brought the pressure to enact
these laws. So then, on what basis did Protestants change their minds regarding
contraception? Was there a change in theology, or was there simply a drift in
thinking because we lacked a clear and broad theology of sex and reproduction?
Today, we are in the
midst of battles over in-vitro fertilization, stem cell research, and yes, gay
marriage. And with increasing frequency, we are finding that some of the most
well thought out arguments against what we know to be immoral are coming from
Catholic studies and Catholic thinkers.
In the matter of
homosexuality, we have much to offer each other. Catholic teaching is clear and
unambiguous regarding homosexual behavior, and yet ministry to people dealing
with same-sex attractions have grown extremely slowly in Catholic countries.
Courage, the Catholic ministry to homosexual people, has spread gradually over
the years, but Exodus-type ministries almost never take root in predominantly
Catholic countries--until those countries start to develop strong Evangelical
minorities. Catholics could benefit greatly from studying our systems of lay
ministry.
On the other hand, in
teaching on the wrongness of homosexual acts, evangelicals most often focus on
either the Biblical prohibitions or the harm that so often comes from leading a
homosexual life. This is fine and true, but Catholics are more apt to introduce
into the discussion a focus on God's purposes for our sexuality-the
understanding that homosexual behavior is wrong, not just because the Bible
says so, but also because it violates God's glorious plan for how we are to use
our sexuality.
We live in a culture
that is increasingly hostile to orthodox Christianity. Gentle, feel-good
Christianity is no problem with the culture. But a bold Christianity as lived
out primarily by evangelicals and Catholics who adhere to their church's
teaching, is a threat to the culture. It dares to proclaim a creator God who
has a claim on the life of every man and woman. One of the great blessings
coming out of today's cultural battles is that in the abortion protest, in
fights to preserve marriage, and in the battles to restrict pornography,
evangelicals and Catholics are standing together. As we do, let us each look to
the other, appreciate and emulate the great and wonderfully special gifts given
to each part of the body.
Regeneration News is published
monthly by Regeneration, Inc., a nonprofit, tax exempt Christian ministry
associated with Exodus International. We seek to bring God's healing to men and
women struggling with homosexuality, sexual addiction and other relational
issues, and to help the Body of Christ in reaching out to these men and women.
Permission is granted for churches and ministries to photocopy or reprint for
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our subscribers. For further information write: Regeneration, P.O. Box 9830,
Baltimore, Maryland 21284-9830. Editor. Joshua Glaser. E-mail josh@RegenerationMinistries.org
Updated: Novemer 15, 2023. https://www.regenerationministries.org