ABC interview ‘sensationalized’ Theology of the Body, Christopher West says

[Tezza]

Here’s the follow-up interview Christopher West did with Catholic News Agency

…“I never said Hugh Hefner is a hero, never,” he remarked, explaining that Hefner said he started Playboy as a personal response to the hurt and hypocrisy of Americans’ Puritan heritage.

“The point I was making with ABC was that we as Catholics agree with Hefner’s diagnosis of the disease of Puritanism, a fearful rejection of the body rooted in heritage of Manicheanism. Sadly, that very important point did not come out in the interview.”

"Let the record stand very clearly: the pornographic revolution that Hugh Hefner inaugurated, the medicine that he suggested, proves to be in many ways more dangerous than the disease itself…

Full interview catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15928

 

[Shin]

Here’s the follow-up interview Christopher West did with Catholic News Agency

…“I never said Hugh Hefner is a hero, never,” he remarked, explaining that Hefner said he started Playboy as a personal response to the hurt and hypocrisy of Americans’ Puritan heritage.

“The point I was making with ABC was that we as Catholics agree with Hefner’s diagnosis of the disease of Puritanism, a fearful rejection of the body rooted in heritage of Manicheanism. Sadly, that very important point did not come out in the interview.”

"Let the record stand very clearly: the pornographic revolution that Hugh Hefner inaugurated, the medicine that he suggested, proves to be in many ways more dangerous than the disease itself…

Full interview catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15928

I find his actual quotes horrifying enough as they are, he may never have said it explicitly, but he virtually says it implicitly… the fruit of trying to be popular with the world: Christopher West.

Sex sells alright.

 

[Tezza]

I find his actual quotes horrifying enough as they are, he may never have said it explicitly, but he virtually says it implicitly… the fruit of trying to be popular with the world: Christopher West.

Sex sells alright.

Well, we’re all entitled to our opinions

 

[JPUSC]

LOL!!! High Hefner and Pope John Paul II. Now that’s entertainment!

''I love Hugh Hefner," said West.

''Catholicism, properly understood … is one of the sexiest of the world’s religions," said West.

We’re sexay!

 

[Stonehouse]

Speaking as a “traditional” Catholic who has read Christopher West’s “Theology of the Body Explained” and also listened to his CD series “Naked Without Shame”, I must come to his defense. But first it is necessary to concede that his ABC interview was ill advised. Against the backdrop of contemporary Western hedonism it is impossible to condense John Paul’s insights concerning the theological meaning of the human body into a seven minute sound bite, and West should have realized that. Moreover, he should be aware by now that the secular media is incapable of presenting a fair summation of any sound Catholic doctrine. It is also a legitimate criticism that West should have known not to employ phraseology implying admiration for Hugh Hefner or suggesting that Hefner was somehow a revolutionary. Satan was a revolutionary! In short, West did inadvertently lend himself to a shocking perversion of the Pope’s thought.

This is tragic, because Mr. West has led the campaign to reveal the Pope’s urgently needed understanding of the divine purpose behind the design of the body. And I have found nothing at all salacious or doctrinally questionable in his book or in his recorded addresses. Before being exposed to John Paul II’s insights into the divine purpose reflected in the human body, I would have reacted to the West interview with the same revulsion many have expressed. My cynicism, supported by my own unredeemed Manichean misconceptions, would have led me to reject West as merely another charlatan–another false prophet. And yet nothing could be more unfair!

John Paul’s Theology of the Body, as explained by Christopher West, is the answer to the self-alienation of humanity in the Post Christian world. It is the bridge across the barriers we have erected between man and woman, and between mankind and God. It reveals the Creator to us in a way many of us had until now overlooked, and in so doing it reveals us to one another as we should be, as we were designed to be, as we yet long to be, and as God intended us to be. It is the key to that holy intimacy which alone can satisfy our hearts. To say that it is “wholesome” or “pure”, which it certainly is, would be such a dramatic understatement as to wholly distort its significance. The Theology of the Body is in a sense a “love manual.” It shows us how, in our limited and faltering way, we can learn to love as God loves. That is, it calls us to the perfection Christ has demanded of us through the total sacramental giving of ourselves.

Though it does consider sexuality as intrinsic to our bodily design, it is not a “sex manual.” Those who have so construed it reveal their own hearts. I unequivocally recommend Christopher West’s explanation of the Theology of the Body for all Christians, and most particularly for those who have been shocked by its misportrayal in the media. The book, because it follows John Paul’s radio talks which were given over several years, is notably redundant. So I would suggest the CD set, which can be ordered from Christopher West’s Gift Foundation web site for a donation of your choice. John Paul’s revolutionary vision of God’s plan for us as bodily creatures is transporting, and Christopher West has done a magnificent job of explaining it.

 

[Rawb]

Stonehouse, you say it perfectly. I highly doubt that the man who spends his life preaching chastity and abstinence, has written books denouncing the modern sexual appetite, which gluts itself on pornography, and repeatedly condemns the use of artificial contraception is:

trying to be popular with the world

West had an opportunity to present the message of True martial love and the reflection of Our God in marriage to a HUGE audience, and unfortunately it went wrong. Can we blame him for taking the chance? Hardly. How much can Our Lord do with men who are too timid to take the chance to preach the truth at all?

So God Bless Christopher West, and I hope he continues to give interviews, continues to write books, and continues to present The Theology of the Body. We need more men like him.

 

[Ana]

Well said, Stonehouse!!!

 

[Agatina]

God Bless Christopher West! His presentation of T of the B on EWTN was one of the first things that husband & I really got into as we were drawn to the church. John Paul ll was an amazing & wonderfully spiritual person. The way C. West presented his teachings is great. Everyone who does a good work will end up having negatives thrown at them sooner or later. It is almost a given. Guess that is why Jesus said in Matt. 5:11 "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. 12; Rejoice & be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.

 

[LongingForLight]

Another person whose life was strongly affected for the better by Christopher West here. This guy is saving souls, and promoting a much healthier attitude towards sexuality. Yes, you do need to hear everything he says in context. But it’s also really darn difficult to talk about sex in this day and age without saying something that sounds bad out of context - nearly every phrase related to sexuality has been tainted.

Christopher West gives us an everyday way to talk about sexuality based on the writings of a great Pope who is probably a saint in Heaven. This was something my husband and I seriously needed to get us to someplace healthy and holy before we married. Our college Newman Center showed his films, and basically got a collection of 20 to 30 people between the ages of 18 and 25 to talk openly about sex and holiness. This is a LOT better than having young people talking behind closed doors about sex and sin. I can see where his style might be off-putting to people who don’t really need to hear his message, but I can assure you it’s doing great things for those who do need it.

And as for this article / seven minute clip - I haven’t seen it yet, just the commentaries on it. But it’s getting attention, and hopefully even something so flawed will be used by God to get people to look into Christopher West and learn what he really teaches. No person could read “The Good News About Sex and Marriage” and still think West thinks a major pornographer is a hero (actually, I’ve lent it to a couple struggling with pornography, with good results . . . like never getting the book back, and seeing it on a shelf near their bed while visiting years later, and having them ask me for more info about NFP - which was a real step for them from where they’d been).