Theology of the Body for Beginners: Rediscovering the Meaning of Life, Love, Sex and Gender

Christopher West brings a beautifully and highly elevated, spiritual view of love, sex, and marriage based on the works of St. John Paull II’s Theology of the Body. Though it says “for beginners”, without any exposure to the Christian worldview or the Bible, it could be a little bit difficult to comprehend the book at first. I do not fully agree with the applications offered based on the Theology of the Body, such as contraception within marriage; however, the theology of the Body was quite mind-blowing and revolutionary, elevating my perspectives and beliefs on love, sex, and marriage. This message seems urgently necessary in today’s culture where the meaning of human beings and the value of sex and marriage have been so cheapened, degraded, and unanchored. This book seeks to bring beauty, value, and dignity to the meaning of life, love, sex, and marriage according to the original design of God. Not only is this book educational but convicting, humbling, and inspirational to look at our lives with awe and wonder.The book opens with what the theology of the Body is, how the body is not only biological but theological, how sexuality is deeply connected to who we are, to who God is, and even to the ordering of society and the meaning of life. He points out that TOB has an elevated view of the body, considering God as the author of the physical world and us as incarnate spirits: a physical and spiritual unity. The problem of today’s overly sexualized culture stems from undervaluing the body and sex. And the solution to it is not to demonize the body but to divinize and redeem the value of the body according to the TOB. The writer unpacks John Paull II’s thesis on TOB and the mystery of the love of God on the foundation of incarnation, which the bible depicts with the analogy of spousal love. He then points out the importance of sexual differences in the TOB, and how it makes sense that the Enemy will seek to confuse and stumble us in this area, which can lead to deep confusion and disorder of morality. This confusion is expressed in the culture of death; that is, the separation between body and soul, treating sex as the only means of pleasure. The writer explains how John Paul II approaches human sexuality and love to discuss what it means to be fully human by turning to Christ. Chapter 2 focuses on the beginning in Genesis that Jesus points to when he was asked about the meaning of marriage. The writer unpacks the three experiences that John Paul II found in the creation account: solitude, unity, and nakedness. In the solitude of freedom, a man experiences himself as a self, created in the image of God. He’s given this freedom to love God and love others. it is followed by the experience of unity brought by the freedom to love not just by instinct. This expresses the communion of persons as the original revelation of the mystery of the love of God in this world. and lastly, in the original design, nakedness existed without shame free from the compulsion of lust. In this picture of Adam and Eve’s nakedness, the writer points to spousal love, the love of total self-donation, which fulfills the meaning of human existence and the universal call to holiness. In Chapter 3, the writer focuses on human experiences with lust and how it shows our brokenness from God’s original design and need for redemption. The writer points to “the questioning of the gift” as the source of our fall from God’s original design. Having lost the divine love, what we were left with was lust with desires to grasp. But we can, instead, grow in mature purity by growing in the self-control of the will, directing eros towards what’s good, aided by grace. Chapter 4 points to the ultimate goal which is the resurrection of the complete human being with the perfect reunion of body and soul. and this body is not merely physical but perfectly spiritualized. There will be a far superior bliss in heaven compared to earthly sexual union. earthly marriage only foreshadows the ultimate union in heaven. when we lose sight of this goal in heaven, the author says that sex becomes an idol in our lives. But having this goal in mind is worth the efforts of the journey of trials, struggles, and suffering. In Chapter 5, he explores the meaning of Christian celibacy. While understanding agony and crying for a spouse, he points out that the longing for union will not be completely satisfied even with union with another human being, since it can be satisfied by the infinite. The celibacy for the Kingdom is a testimony that signals the future resurrection, the marriage of the lamb, in union with God. He argues that celibacy must be freely chosen for heavenly purposes. He clarifies that it’s not a better vocation than marriage, but an “exceptional” calling compared to marriage being a “normal” calling on earth. In chapter 6, he talks about marriage as God’s gift and as the sacrament through which God’s eternal mystery became visible. He studies Ephesians 5 to uphold the biblical understanding of marriage, mandating them to submit to one another, and calling for mutual service living according to God’s original plan of love. and he defines male headship as the call to be the first to serve in this relationship. And through marriage, we can seek healing through repentance and restoration of holiness. and through the union of marriage and the union of church and Christ reveals the meaning of life, being a body, that is to love as Christ loves. Chapter 7 dives into the sacramental sign of marriage, which is the divine love of God. Wedding vows signify the spiritual commitment to love as God does. Also, bodily love of sexual intercourse, also performed as a sign of divine love that Jesus has for the church, giving Himself freely, totally, and faithfully. The writer also calls us to pray to enter nuptial union with God, to “get naked” before God, to enter free, total, faithful, and fruitful love of God. and that’s what our marital union signifies ultimately.In the last chapter, the writer turns to Christ’s redemption of our lives to the full measure of our humanity, to our greatness as male and female, as called to communion with God. But when we decouple sex from the monogamous, lifelong union of the sexes, the writer asserts that we start losing the moral compass. He uses the universal acceptance of contraception, which he argues to make marriage a countersign of the great mystery of God’s life-giving love. To uphold the original design, the writer calls for chastity, by seeing it in more positive and liberating ways as self-mastery. Living with chastity, the writer says, is at the center of the spirituality of marriage, which means living according to God’s design. The writer ends the book by elevating the body to the point of equating it with the Word of God.

Todos deberíamos empezar leyendo este libro, me cambio la vida y percepción del cuerpo y la sexualidad, San Juan Pablo II era un maestro en este tema

Ordered this book for a university class and it was in perfect condition, no problems!

Really good book. Author is very clear, and makes us want to learn more about Saint John Paul II's work.

Christopher West’s Theology of the Body for Beginners is a required reading for our Christian Apologetics course at Biola/Talbot School of Theology. We were also required to watch a debate between Dr. Christopher West and Scott Rae, PhD on Professor Sean McDowell’s YouTube channel, titled Sex & the Body: A Catholic & Protestant Dialogue. I was intrigued by Dr. West’s authoritative command of the Catholic view on sex and the body with respect to Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body (TOB). I am not a Catholic, but I found myself in more agreed with Dr. West, than with Scott Rae. This book is excellent to bring clarity toDr. West provides direct application of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB) to modern sex and marriage practices. I found his entire book to surprisingly minister to my own marriage of 19 years and show me areas where I needed to repent and love my husband in a more merciful and Biblical way. At first, I didn’t understand what John Paul II meant when he wrote that the gift of Christ’s body on the cross gives “definitive prominence to the spousal meaning of God’s love.” He finds that creation, fall and redemption in the Bible to be all a marital story. The Bible begins in Genesis with the marriage of Adam and Eve and then ends in Revelation with the marriage of Christ and the Church. (22) But now I can see the love and mercy needed to uphold my won marriage.Dr. West writes that “Christianity does not demonize the body; Christianity divinizes the body! For Christ has raised the human body into the highest height of the divine life! As the Catechism proclaims: ‘The flesh is the hinge of salvation,’ We believe in God who is the creator of flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh in order to redeem 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.” (15) These first four chapters lay the groundwork of respecting and elevating sex and separating it from how society has cheapened the actual act of sex to how God intended. The typical verses were addressed in a refreshing way. Eph 5:22 “Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord.” Eph 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church.” Dr. West emphasizes that Christ said that he came not to be served but to serve, to lay down his life for his Bride (Matthew 20:28). (139) Healing touched my heart when Dr. West writes in Chapter Six, page 141, “Christ calls us first and foremost to repentance. In that light, I would like to ask all the women reading this book to allow me, as a representative of the male side of the human race, to apologize humbly for the way male lust and domination have wounded you. The wounds go so very deep in a woman’s soul, and I am very, very sorry.” I had to let that sink in a heal the aches of men in my past who used me, manipulated me, and took me for granted. It gave me a moment to acknowledge the hurt that I have felt from certain men. I needed that male represented apology so I could heal in the feeling of hurt. I received that apology and even today could allow the leaks in my heart to heal and soak in the love of The Father. It allowed me to reset. Sex is defined not merely a sexual union “in” marriage, but sexual union as God designed it. In the marriage embrace, it is not just a physical pleasurable act, but a spiritual reset. This solid Theology of the Body is exactly what I needed to learn that my husband is not merely a body for me to lust or to use as a physical encounter, our marriage embrace is a holy act and a reflection of Christ and the church. This book showed me how to elevate my theology of body and respect the marriage embrace in a spiritual way and merciful way.