An der Grabstätte von Kronprinzessin Cecilie
1 week ago
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Theology of the Body — 2010/3/9
"This is a demanding teaching. It is a call to live in the fullness of God's image. It reminds us that we are far more than just biological creatures driven by impulse. We are moral beings, capable of choosing between right and wrong, and responsible for our decisions." — Emphasis added.
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2 comments:
While agreeing with the principal that we are moral beings and capable of choosing between right and wrong I think it's somewhat unrealistic to believe that we can completely deny our animal aspect.
Personally I believe that spirituality and sexuality can properly co-exist indeed I think that they should. I also think that the somewhat ill defined "lustful thought" tends to be a rather subjective judgement.
I think John Paul II would agree with your first paragraph — at least in the sense that we can't, and shouldn't try to, live as if we were disembodied spirits — and I'm sure he'd agree with the first sentence of your second paragraph.
As for defining "lustful thought," like the thought itself, the judgment is interior. Subjective? As I continue this series, there should be an "objective" definition. But it is a matter of judgment whether that definition fits a particular thought. We humans are, among other things, masters of self-deceit and bundles of mixed motives. So we find it all to easy to rationalize our way out of a correct judgment of our thoughts and actions and we end up believing our own excuses. And there can be true appreciation of another's beauty at the same time there is a desire to use the other's body for our own gratification.
Returning to your first paragraph and the beginning of the second — I began these excerpts with the end of the first section of the book. Before that, he goes into the Genesis creation accounts and finds that our bodies are the physical representation of our spirits and that since we are image and likeness of God they are also the physical representation of God. And they are most highly the physical representation of God in the sexual intercourse of husband and wife.
I haven't finished reading the book yet. If there is nothing remaining to make this clear, perhaps I'll go back and post some excerpts from the first part that show the affirmation of sexuality.
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