Theology of the Body

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I’m currently reading a book by Christopher West called Theology of the Body for Beginners. While it is obviously nowhere near the same thing as reading soon-to-be-Blessed Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, it’s defintely been very insightful and has made the concepts that JPII covers much easier to understand. I look forward to finishing it and checking out what else West has written. I might even attempt reading his much longer, more in depth work on the Theology of the Body.
 
I’ve read about two thirds of Theology of the Body Explained by Christopher West but quite frankly I lost interest and started reading some other books.

It’s not that the content was uninteresting, quite the opposite in fact. It’s just that the larger volume goes into great detail and one must hold together several parallel trains of thought at the same time throughout the entire book. I tend to read fast and it was quite exhausting work for me.

The general premise that Christ’s statement “From the beginning” points back to the way it was before sin entered the world and the fact that Christ came to actually give us a way to get back to that state cut to my heart. That alone was worth the price of the book and it illuminated the entirety of scripture for me in a new and amazing way.

So, is Theology of the Body for Beginners easy to follow? I think Theology of the Body Explained is more geared for theologians and such. Can anyone contrast those two books?
 
My former pastor who’s a great teacher (his homiles are the best I’ve heard, he always breaks down the readings into historical facts, interprets every action and word and then delivers the teaching. Its like a 15-minute Bible study on the day’s readings) has made himself an authority on this subject through studies and the Archbishop actually commissioned him to teach this full time in the diocese. I just attended a 1-day (4 hours) short introductory course to this and will be signing up to the full 11-week course which will begin after Easter.

I think this is ground breaking stuff. Its a whole new approach to catechesis, the Gospel explained in the context of today’s society where we are so sexually oriented and regard the body as nothing more than an object. I think this would speak to more people than any of our past catechism materials because this meets the minds of the people where they are today. Its amazing how everything in our faith ties down into the importance of our body. God created man body and soul and called us good. This is awesome stuff. I want to push the priest to write a book to explain this in layman’s terms (for dummies) but he’s busy preparing the materials for marriage prep and catechesis for highscholl and adults.
 
The most interesting thing about Theology of the Body is how marriage is presented at the very center of our faith. Everything in our faith centers on a marriage like relationship and the marriage relationship is a reflection of our faith.

One of the interesting things I learned so far is that Addonai, one of the Hebrew names of God meaning “Lord,” is also a proper name used by the proper wife to her husband. So in terms of Abraham, Sahar can call him “Addonai” and Hagar cannot.

Another is the Eucharist, which like marriage which makes one flesh between man and wife, so does the Eucharist make us one with Christ.

Also the comparisson of Genesis (the beginning) and Revelations (the end) where at the beginning of the Bible you get the marriage of Adam and Eve. In revelations you get the marriage of the Lamb and His bride, the Church.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Also the comparison of Genesis (the beginning) and Revelations (the end) where at the beginning of the Bible you get the marriage of Adam and Eve. In revelations you get the marriage of the Lamb and His bride, the Church.
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and then song of songs, smack dab in the middle. Full circle, no? 😛
 
PowderBear said:
and then song of songs, smack dab in the middle. Full circle, no? 😛
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Yes.

The intro course I took was too short, everything was just mentioned in passing. I guess its just to whet our appetite to take the full course. But I learned a lot in such a short amount of time.
 
I’ve been to all of the classes that the TOB institute has offered so far.

They have been the best weeks of my life. Amazing experiences all around. Top notch quality.

I would love to know the kinds of courses in parishes that are being offered and in what format. I know about the ascension press dvd series, but what else is there?

Constantine, I’d love to know who your former pastor was…did he go to the institute? (you can pm me if you want)
 
Awesome! I’d not only like to learn more about Theology of the Body, but also teach it as well.
 
agapewolf said:
I’ve been to all of the classes that the TOB institute has offered so far.

They have been the best weeks of my life. Amazing experiences all around. Top notch quality.

I would love to know the kinds of courses in parishes that are being offered and in what format. I know about the ascension press dvd series, but what else is there?

Constantine, I’d love to know who your former pastor was…did he go to the institute? (you can pm me if you want)
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We had a 2 day course at one parish; You registered and got a booklet. The classes were about 3 hours on Friday evening then probably somewhere around 7-8 hours on Saturday (Don’t remember the hours anymore :confused:). Christopher West taught it.

Then there was one at a campus parish that had exactly the same material but lasted for a semester, roughly. It was once a week for about an hour, where they’d show a section of the course on video, then they’d discuss questions in the booklet (same booklet as the previous course).

How did you manage to take all of the courses? Was this for 3 weeks or did you squeeze them into one? :eek:
 
PowderBear said:
We had a 2 day course at one parish; You registered and got a booklet. The classes were about 3 hours on Friday evening then probably somewhere around 7-8 hours on Saturday (Don’t remember the hours anymore :confused:). Christopher West taught it.

Then there was one at a campus parish that had exactly the same material but lasted for a semester, roughly. It was once a week for about an hour, where they’d show a section of the course on video, then they’d discuss questions in the booklet (same booklet as the previous course).

How did you manage to take all of the courses? Was this for 3 weeks or did you squeeze them into one? :eek:
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You probably attended “created and redeemed”

I’m afraid I don’t understand your question? The courses at the TOB institute are a week long. I’ve attended each one separately.
 
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