I am not sure if you took that from Christopher West’s book, but please don’t spread it any further. It is not an accurate account and leads people to think there is nothing wrong with looking at naked or scantily clad people of the opposite sex.
Dawn Eden wrote a thesis on this.
In a footnote, West cites Helen Waddell’s account of Nonnus and Pelagia in The Desert Fathers. 100 However, the story she relates, translated from Eustochius’s Latin version of James the Deacon’s Greek account, differs from his own on many key points. Nonnus’s tears are not because “such beauty is being sold to the lusts of men.” Rather, the bishop feels ashamed upon witnessing the effort that the harlot puts into preparing her appearance for men, for he believes he has not put nearly so much effort into his appearance before God. Returning to his chamber, he flings himself upon the floor and repents to Christ: “for a single day’s adorning of a harlot is far beyond the adorning of my soul.”101
The original story also counters West’s implication that casting a look of “mature purity”
upon a “scantily clad prostitute” may cause her to notice the loving gaze and so discover God’s love. Pelagia, in Waddell’s account, does not notice that Nonnus looks at her on the street; her conversion comes about afterwards, when she hears him preach. Most significantly, when Pelagia then writes to the bishop and asks to see him, he agrees only on the condition that there be other bishops present. “**
eek not to tempt my weakness,” he writes.**102
catholicnewsagency.com/DawnEdenThesis.pdf
That false Pelagia story is dangerous in that it appears to condone sin. In continuation with the Baltimore Catechism:
Q. 773. Is a person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, rightly disposed for confession?
A. A person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, is not rightly disposed for confession, and he will not be absolved if he makes known to the priest the true state of his conscience.
Q. 774. How many kinds of occasions of sin are there?
A. There are four kinds of occasions of sin:
Near occasions, through which we always fall;
Remote occasions, through which we sometimes fall;
Voluntary occasions or those we can avoid; and
Involuntary occasions or those we cannot avoid.
A person who lives in a near and voluntary occasion of sin need not expect forgiveness while he continues in that state.
This last part is very important. If you know you are attracted to the opposite sex, you are sinning by not averting your eyes when you stumble upon a naked or immodestly dressed person. There is no excuse for seeking it out or continuing to stare unless there is some type of grave situation where the principal of double effect comes into play. See examples in my first post. Scripture tells us to avert our eyes. The early Church fathers say the same thing. God made Adam and Eve wear clothes for a reason.
I really hope people read through this post. It pains me to see so many Christians think they can go join a nudist camp or something as long as they don’t lust.
To the OP, the naked body is not bad. Our bodies are good. Sex is beautiful and good, but only in the context of Holy matrimony. Sex outside of marriage is unholy. So yes, our bodies are good, but there are parts that should only be looked upon by one’s spouse. No one has a right to unwrap a gift that isn’t theirs.
