How does Orthodoxy view Theology of the Body?

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AnthonyJ

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I don’t know much about TOTB myself. I have read a little about it. It seems to be popular among some Generation X RCs. Does it line up with the scriptural and patristic view of marriage and sexuality?
 
I don’t know if anyone can comment at this point in time because the whole thing (as presented) is too new. It is a construct of the late Pope John Paul II that has taken vogue in some RC circles…I think one of it’s promoters should be able to point to any Patristic connections it may have but I am sure there are no Orthodox clergy involved with it.

My former pastor Thomas Loya is a prominent speaker on the subject, he happens to also be a Byzantine Catholic priest. He doesn’t regard it as a conflict with his theology but he is not an Orthodox Catholic. You might wish to contact him for an opinion though, you can email him from the link or contact him through ByzCath.Org where he is a moderator.

+T+
Michael
 
AnthonyJ,
don’t know much about TOTB myself. I have read a little about it. It seems to be popular among some Generation X RCs. Does it line up with the scriptural and patristic view of marriage and sexuality?
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I’m unaware of any official response to it. I think for many Orthodox it is something completely off their radar.

I have some of my own views on it, but that is likely not what you’re looking for.
 
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Hesychios:
My former pastor Thomas Loya is a prominent speaker on the subject, he happens to also be a Byzantine Catholic priest. He doesn’t regard it as a conflict with his theology
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Yes. He is very knowledgeable on this wonderful teaching!
 
It appears to be a very Eastern view of the body – but as was said above, it’s off the radar of the Orthodox. . .
 
Glory to Jesus Christ!

I’ve been studying John Paul the Great’s *Theology of the Body * for several years now.

It lines up with the scriptural and patristic view of marriage and sexuality. At our Patristics “Great Books” club, TOB comes up often. The pages of the Fathers are full of the Theology of the Body.
 
Glory to Jesus Christ

Dear (New) Friends,

In regard to the Theology of the Body and Eastern Christianity:

Fr. John Schroedel is an Orthodox priest in Chicago who has a website dealing with Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.” He and I have worked together in this area and will be teaming up again on a national forum on the Theology of the Body to be held in Mundelein, IL. April 28-29, 2006. For more information on this forum and to register contact: www.theologyofthebody.net This national forum is organized by TOBIA, Theology of the Body International Alliance which is headed by Eastern Catholics. I am a part of TOBIA as well as the Tabor Life Institute for formation and education in the Theology of the Body which is also headed up by Eastern Catholics and centered out of my parish of Annunciation in Homer Glen, IL…

The Theology of the Body is essentially John Paul II reaching into Eastern Christianity as well as of course into the Fathers, Scripture, Church Tradition, Liturgy, science and reason. Its starting point is the Holy Trinity and is based on the articulation of the Trinity as a “union and communion of persons in a self-giving love that is at the same time fruitful.” This is the language of Eastern Christianity as well although not all of his language lines up exactly with Eastern language.

While John Paul II includes Thomistic thought at the same time he moves well beyond it toward a mystical and phenomenological approach. The Theology of the Body is “made to order” for Eastern Christians because it is all about the invisible made visible through the physical. In the Theology of the Body, Sign, sacrament and symbol participate in the reality that they signify.
It has a very strong liturgical dimension to it as well.

I would refer you to the work of Orthodox theologian Paul Evdokimov as well as to Keselopoulos’s book on a study of Symeon the New Theologian in regard to “Man and the Environment” and also St. John Chrysostom on Marriage.
Sam Torode, an Orthodox Christian, has written books on the Theology of the Body which in our region have been selling well. These are some of the references in which you will see the principles of the Theology of the Body.

Eastern Christianity would use other terms in respect to some of the principles of the Theology of the Body. But when you really get down to it, in a sense, we Eastern Christians, “invented it.”
You can hear me speak live on TOB on Relevant Radio at 7:00AM (CST) ever Thursday on AM820 in the Chicago area. Or you can listen online: www.relevantradio.com What I do is to take the principles of TOB and apply them to every aspect of life. Pornography, marriage, the environment and liturgy are some of the areas that I sort of “specialize in.” You can also acquire CDs and DVDs of Fr. Schroedel’s talk and my talks on the Theology of the Body from www.theologyofthebody.net.

You can even see principles of TOB in Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, “God is Love.” I am very upfront about the fact that I believe that the Theology of the Body is the “answer to all of life’s questions.” As Orthodox Christians learn more about it, they will see that it is also a powerful ecumencial tool simply because it is so authentically and universally human. Whenever I give presentations on TOB, Latin Rite Catholics will often remark that "you Eastern Christians “own” the Theology of the Body. "

At the moment I cannot recall Fr. Schroedel’s website but I will get back to you on this. Good talking with all of you!

–Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB., MA.
 
Fr. Tom Loya:
Glory to Jesus Christ

Dear (New) Friends,

In regard to the Theology of the Body and Eastern Christianity:
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Bless Father,

Welcome to the forum!
Thank you for this information. TOB is a true blessing!
 
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Hesychios:
My former pastor Thomas Loya is a prominent speaker on the subject, he happens to also be a Byzantine Catholic priest. He doesn’t regard it as a conflict with his theology but he is not an Orthodox Catholic. You might wish to contact him for an opinion though, you can email him from the link or contact him through ByzCath.Org where he is a moderator.

+T+
Michael
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Michael,
Can you please explain the bolded parts from your comment. I know it is off topic so if you wish you can PM me.

All I have to say is this shows the division some see in the Byzantine Churches. Just as the Latin Church has those who call themselves “Traditional Catholics” and those that are viewed as not being so.
 
Glory to Jesus Christ!

Hello David,
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ByzCath:
Michael,
Can you please explain the bolded parts from your comment. I know it is off topic so if you wish you can PM me.

All I have to say is this shows the division some see in the Byzantine Churches. Just as the Latin Church has those who call themselves “Traditional Catholics” and those that are viewed as not being so.
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Of course. Sorry that my post was not clear, that was not my intention, I also try very hard to be respectful.

What I meant was father Tom is in communion through his own bishop with the bishop of Rome, not with the bishop of Constantinople. Nothing more.

I hope that helps.

+T+
Michael
 
Welcome Fr. Loya!

I’m pleased to see that you’re on here.

I hope that you will contribute a lot more on other posts such as theologyofthebody.net forum as well as byzcath.org forum.

Do you have a book out yet? I’m looking for an Eastern Catholic version of Christopher West’s books. I forgot the name of the book…but one that stands out is the purple one…I think it’s called “Good News About Sex and Marriage” or something…or “Questions and Answers…”

Christopher West’s books are very EASY to understand…in more simplistic way…easy words…nothing over my head. But I can fully tell that he’s speaking in Western terms.

So, I’m hoping for Eastern version of Christopher West. Heh.

Again, welcome, Fr. Loya! 👍

Deaf Byzantine
 
Fr. Tom Loya:
Sam Torode, an Orthodox Christian, has written books on the Theology of the Body which in our region have been selling well.
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Dear Father,

I had never heard of Sam Torode so I did a google search and the first article up describes him and his wife as Protestants.

nationalreview.com/interrogatory/interrogatory080902.asp

A Protestant Couple Rejects Birth Control
What they want others-of all backgrounds — to know.

Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez

http://www.nationalreview.com/images/spacer.gif
http://www.nationalreview.com/images/dropcaps/S.gif am and Bethany Torode are co-authors of Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception.

amazon.com/gp/product/0802839738/ref=ase_nationalreviewon/104-4755178-5900706?s=books&v=glance&n=283155&tagActionCode=nationalreviewon
 
Fr Ambrose:
Dear Father,

I had never heard of Sam Torode so I did a google search and the first article up describes him and his wife as Protestants.

nationalreview.com/interrogatory/interrogatory080902.asp

A Protestant Couple Rejects Birth Control
What they want others-of all backgrounds — to know.

Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez

http://www.nationalreview.com/images/spacer.gif
http://www.nationalreview.com/images/dropcaps/S.gif am and Bethany Torode are co-authors of Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception.

amazon.com/gp/product/0802839738/ref=ase_nationalreviewon/104-4755178-5900706?s=books&v=glance&n=283155&tagActionCode=nationalreviewon
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Actually, Sam Torode converted with his family to Eastern Orthodoxy a year or two after the National Review article was written. See www.touchstonemag.com for an article by him entitled My Big Fat Greek Annointing written in 2004 and referring to his recent reception into the Orthodox Church
 
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goreyfan:
Actually, Sam Torode converted with his family to Eastern Orthodoxy a year or two after the National Review article was written. See www.touchstonemag.com for an article by him entitled My Big Fat Greek Annointing written in 2004 and referring to his recent reception into the Orthodox Church
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Thanks for the information. I have found something from an Orthodox viewpoint and it seems to be a case of a convert being a bit too young in the faith and not having yet had time to let go of his earlier religious background and, if you like, religious hobby horses. We see the same thing at work with, for example, Clark Carlson whose “Orthodox” books are saturated in the anti-Catholic polemecism of his previous denomination and, to a lesser extent, with Frankie Schaeffer.

Here is a reponse by an Orthodox priest, a former Protestant minister, to the ChristianityToday article

fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2005/07/reconsidering-meaning-of-conversion.html

“The latest issue of Christianity Today has an essay by Sam Torode, entitled *“It’s All About Jesus: A Convert to Orthodoxy Reconsiders Evangelicalism.”
*
“I should begin by saying that I am sure that Sam Torode means well, and is sincerely trying to grapple with the Orthodox Faith and Ortho-praxis – so I don’t wish anything I am going to say as a criticism of him personally. However, given that his article was published in Christianity Today, there are a number of things he has stated that need a response…”
 
Interesting responses to the article. But aren’t converts a lot of times more grounded in their new religion than cradle members who sometimes take it for granted or look upon their faith more as a cultural tradition than as the pathway to God?
 
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goreyfan:
Interesting responses to the article. But aren’t converts a lot of times more grounded in their new religion than cradle members
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Not so much for the Orthodox whose faith and its conveyance is basically grounded in their life of worship. It needs many years of participation in worship to become attuned to the faith and acquire an Orthodox mindset. People whose experience of Orthodoxy amounts to just a couple of years and who allow themselves to write articles in Evangelical magazines which only confirm the Evangelicals in their opinion that Orthodoxy is dead faith and works - well, such converts are not those we really need representing Orthodoxy to the world at large.
 
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Chotki:
Fr. John’s website can be seen here:

web.archive.org/web/20041010000111/www.paratheke.net/stephanos/
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This is a very good website which I often reference. The new theology of the body section must have been added recently; I have not noticed it before.

But notice Fr John Schroedel’s Caveat:
“What is offered here to the public is posted with some fear and trepidation. For one thing, there are many rough edges—there has not been time to refine everything. Furthermore, I am aware that some of the topics discussed here are controversial. Please be aware that these things are posted in a spirit of dialogue—I hope that this material will spur (not spurn) further discussion, reflection, debate, and real conversation.”
It is interesting that an OCA priest is offering the new sexual theology of Pope John Paul because I do not imagine that many of the OCA bishops are aware of it, but in the spirit of the Caveat which Fr Schroedel has given (above) and in the spirit of intellectual debate I suppose he can do so without the need for episcopal approval.
 
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