Today is the anniversary of John Paul II’s first papal audience on the Theology of the Body (5 September 1979). In honor of the anniversary, I’ve updated my collection of links on the topic.
What is the Theology of the Body? Here’s a brief description from Dr. Peter Colosi:
Pope John Paul II had the rare ability to respond very deeply to questions people have about the most important aspects of being human. He did this in an utterly unique way, and it seems to have been a special calling of his to do so in his Theology of the Body. The text represents a massive undertaking of philosophical, theological and scriptural study to get at the very heart of love, marriage, sexuality and male/female complementarity. What we have received from him in this text turns out to be a rich exploration of metaphysical, human, relational and theological points, forming a complete anthropology which can become a source for understanding very many dimensions of the meaning of life, personhood, and God, as well as a way to express the underlying reasons on which the moral teachings of the Catholic Church are based.
TOB International Symposia website
I first discovered the audiences of John Paul II in 1992 during a college course on Christian marriage, and they have shaped much of my thinking about human life and love in the years since. I’ve read through the audiences twice in the format of study groups, and I did what I could during my years in Los Angeles to spread the teaching… distributing summaries of Love and Responsibility on Hollywood Boulevard, leading a study group in 2004, followed by a presentation titled The Gospel of the Body in Hollywood. I also attended two of the International Symposia on the Theology of the Body (in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands).
There’s a relatively new English translation of the audiences by Dr. Michael Waldstein which I look forward to reading soon.
Excellent summary, Clayton! I’m starting the lay person study of this text (indeed, Michael Waldstein’s translation) on Monday Sept. 26…come join us or jump on Zoom!