Theology of the Body 2012/11/13

Once more, I should point out that this series of posts titled "Theology of the Body" presents excerpts from Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body in Simple Language, an adaptation made by Sam Torode and published by Philokalia Press. I recommend occasionally reviewing the series, which began in 2010, since my postings are not frequent enough to keep the whole thread of the work clearly in mind. Or since I began the series in the middle of the book, you could go back to the post of December 18, 2011, which is where I start making excerpts from the beginning of the book. It's all under the label "Theology of the Body."

"Adam and Eve realized they were naked at exactly the point where they ceased to be completely selfless gifts for each other. And, for the first time, they were ashamed.

"The Fall radically changed the way man experiences the body. This change involved the interior forces of man — the heart, mind, and will. It also affected man's sensitivity to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Before the Fall, man was in complete communion with God; but sin separates us from him. We can see what a difference the Fall made by comparing our own experience with that of Adam and Eve as described in Genesis 2.

"When Jesus asked, 'Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator "made them male and female"?' he directed us back to the mystery of creation. We must attempt to follow that direction, fully aware  of the gift of original innocence and how original sin separated us from that innocence. We are striving to understand the connection — made by Christ — between original innocence and our historical state after the Fall.

"We've tried to discern the original meaning of the body. We've seen how the body becomes a gift when it is given and accepted in freedom and innocence. This truth isn't relevant only to Adam and Eve before the Fall. It is central to God's design for the person and the body, both then and now. Sin has clouded our perception of the design, but it has not changed God's intent.

"In the beginning, man and woman were … given to each other by the Creator. This gift was not limited to the first couple, … but extends to the whole human family. Throughout all of history, the fundamental fact of human existence is that God 'made them male and female.'

"After the Fall, man lost his original grace, making it harder to see the nuptial meaning of the body. But the meaning of the gift remains inscribed in the depths of the human heart. Through the veil of shame, man must continually rediscover himself as the guardian of the gift. He must defend his body from being reduced to a mere object.

"By looking to the beginning, we can see more clearly who we are as persons, and how we should act. To make of ourselves a gift, and to accept others selflessly — this is the goal to which we should all aspire. For that reason, the nuptial meaning of the body is indispensable for knnowing who we are, who we were meant to be, and therefore how we should live in the world."

Theology of the Body 2012/11/04

"In Genesis we see the body as a gift, revealed in all its radiant purity — its 'nakedness.' In the state of original innocence, nakedness wasn't shameful. Nakedness becomes shameful when the woman is an object for the man, or the man an object for the woman.[*] Interior innocence kept Adam and Eve from reducing each other to the level of a mere object. They were united by their shared awareness of the body as a gift.

"When does the body cease to be a gift? When we turn it into an object, using it for self-gratification. This denial of the gift marks the end of innocence and the beginning of shame.

"In their nakedness, Adam and Eve gave of themselves and accepted each other. This exchange of the gift involved the whole of their being — their humanity, their masculinity and femininity, their bodies and souls.

"At this level, the giving and the receiving are so intertwined that there is almost no distinguishing between them. The two become one — it is difficult to know where giving stops and receiving begins.

"In the mystery of creation, the woman is brought to man as a gift. Thanks to original innocence, she is accepted by him as a person good in and of herself, not as an object. …Eve discovers herself and the meaning of her femininity …. because she's been accepted [by Adam] in the way the Creator meant her to be accepted.

"From the beginning, the woman was a gift for the man. She was entrusted to his eyes, his sensitivity, his heart. To complete the exchange of the gift, he must give himself to her in return.

"This mutual self-giving creates the communion of persons, enriching both the man and the woman. Love begets love."


[*] I'd add that it also becomes shameful when people regard others of the same sex as objects.

Theology of the Body 2012/10/16

"The mystery of creation … is that it is a gift from God's boundless love. Only love creates what is good. … The creation of man as male and female, the nuptial meaning of the body, the original happiness of Adam and Eve — all these things are aglow with the radiance of love.

"The opening verses of the Bible speak not only of creation, but of grace. Grace is the communication of God's holiness, the radiance of his Spirit. …

"Happiness is the fruit of love. Man was happy in the beginning because he was created by Love and gave love in return. But even after the Fall, love didn't vanish from the world — because it can never be eradicated. Generations after sin entered the world, Christ came to redeem it — bearing witness to the irreversible love of God first expressed in creation.

"As we've seen, man and woman felt no shame from the beginning. Freedom from shame is the result of love. … Because they were in complete communion with God and with each other, Adam and Eve experienced creation at its fullest and deepest dimension. Filled with grace, they walked in God's holiness. This was the source of their innocence. Grace is what enables a man and woman to make a sincere gift to one another.

"For Adam and Eve, the body was a witness to innocence. The statement that they were 'both naked and felt no shame,' is unique in the Bible. … Elsewhere, nakedness is associated with shame and even disgrace. In the ancient Middle East, clothing was linked to status. …

"In this context, we can see just how striking Genesis 22:5 is. Innocence was a gift of grace to Adam and Eve. Because their hearts were pure by the radiation of God's love, they were able to see the true meaning of their nakedness and give themselves completely to each other.

"Original innocence speaks of the Creator's gift. It speaks of grace …."

Theology of the Body 2012/09/28

"Freedom lies at the heart of the gift-giving meaning of the body. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were free from the constraints of sin. Naked and unashamed, they weren't oppressed by the urge to misuse each other.

"The human body … is not only a source of … procreation. It also has the power to express love, allowing the person to become a gift. This self-giving love is unique to human beings — other living creatures reproduce, but they don't love each other in the image of God's love.

"Beyond marriage, Christ revealed another vocation for men and women — that of remaining unmarried for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (Mat 19:12). This only confirms the nuptial meaning of the body. In freedom we have the power to offer ourselves as a gift — to another person, or even to the kingdom of heaven.

"So many people wonder: … Why am I here on this earth. The answer is found in this self-giving love. We were created by Love, and we're called to love in return. A man can only find his true self by giving himself away. When we live according to the nuptial meaning of our bodies, we fulfill the very meaning of our existence.

"In order to make a gift of himself, a man must be free. Adam and Eve were totally free because they were totally innocent. … For us to achieve freedom, we must learn self-control. The gift-giving, nuptial meaning of the body can only be realized when we're free from sinful passions."

Theology of the Body 2012/09/03

"Adam and Eve were naked before they realized they were naked. In the state of original innocence, they looked upon each other in wonder and gratitude. In this way, they shared the vision of their Creator, who saw all that he had made and declared it 'very good' (Gen. 1:31).

"'Nakedness' signifies the original goodness of creation in God's eyes. …[T]hrough [God's vision] we see the high value of man and woman and the purity of sex and the body. …[T]here was no opposition between the physical and the spiritual. There was also no opposition between male and female — the two existed in unity. Adam and Eve looked at each other … with the eyes of their hearts.

"Shame limits our ability to see each other fully. But … Adam and Eve were unashamed. They were not afraid to open up to each other, to become vulnerable. They saw and knew each other intimately … . Because they were complementary — Adam's masculinity and Eve's femininity completed each other — they had a special understanding of the meaning of their bodies. They became gifts for each other.

"At the beginning, Adam and Eve shared a particular understanding of their bodies as gifts. This is the gift-giving or 'nuptial' meaning of the  body.

"As Christ reminds us, God is the Creator, man is the creature. … Why does God create? Why did he call all things from nothingness into being?

"Because he is love (1 John 4:8).

"We do not find [the word 'love'] in the creation story. But the narrative tells us repeatedly, 'God saw what he had made, and it was very good.' …[O]nly love gives birth to goodness and delights in what is good (1 Cor. 13). Creation is a gift.

"… With any gift, there is a relationship established between the giver and the receiver. We see this relationship most clearly in the creation of man — God gave us his image, and this puts us in a unique position with him. Among all creatures, only man is really capable of giving and receiving a gift.  Only man can understand that creation is a gift, and offer himself to God in return.

"Creation is God's gift, bestowed on man. But man is not only the recipient of a gift — he is also a gift himself — with the freedom to give himself to another."

The question has occurred to me: What would have happened if Adam and Eve had not lost their original innocence, if they had not sinned? Could nakedness without shame have continued  when there were children with parents, brothers and sisters, and extended human community? If so, the nuptial meaning of the body would not have meant that each person was a gift to every other person in the same way that Adam and Eve were to each other. But would nakedness have meant some non-sexual, less than total, degree of gift?

Theology of the Body 2012/08/14

I'm continuing with excerpts from the book Pope John Paul II' Theology of the Body in Simple Language. In the light of my own opinions (here and here) and experience of nakedness, I think the section I have now come to is important for my own reflection and understanding, and perhaps for my readers to consider when they form their opinions about my thoughts and actions.

In my previous excerpts, the Pope raised the point that before the Fall Adam and Eve were naked in each other's presence without shame.

"Shame is … very complex …. [Some aspects of shame are] "fear for oneself in the presence of another … an instinctive need to be accepted and affirmed by the other … the longing for self-acceptance. Shame is a barrier between persons, but at the same time it seeks to draw them together.

"Shame — in particular, sexual modesty — plays an important role in the formation of society by affecting the relationship between the sexes [and, I expect, between same-sex-attracted members of the same sex]. It expresses the rules for the communion of persons, while also reminding us of our original solitude as individuals before God. But what does absence of shame mean in the state of original innocence?

"We often hear childhood described as a 'time of innocence.' But it would be misleading to compare Adam and Eve's situation with that of children. "The words of Genesis 2:25, 'they felt no shame.' don't express a lack of development, but a fullness. …Adam and Eve had a full understanding of the meaning of the body, bound up with their nakedness. When this fullness is lost, shame appears. What, then, is this understanding of the body and original nakedness?

"To answer this question, we have to remember man's original solitude — his aloneness among the other living creatures. This solitude, together with the creation of man as male and female, prepared the way for Adam and Eve's joyful discovery of their humanity. At the same time, this discovery was made possible by the body. The naked body was the visible source of this realization, which established their unity.

"The words of Genesis 2:25 … bring us inside the experience of Adam and Eve. This interior perspective is necessary to discover the fullness of interpersonal communication that allowed Adam and Eve to be naked but unashamed.

"… [I]n its original and deepest meaning, communication takes place between person, face to face. We communicate on the basis of our shared humanity.

"In light of communication, the body takes on an entirely new meaning, beyond the exterior. It concretely expresses our interior selves. [Emphasis added.] The body enables man and woman, right from the beginning, to communicate with each other as God created them to, in the fullness of a communion of persons.

"Original nakedness can only be understood in the context of this communion. The words 'they felt no shame' indicate an original depth of understanding between persons. Adam and eve perfectly accepted each other, affirming each other's masculinity and femininity.

"This fullness of understanding, expressed by physical nakedness, prarllels our nakedness before God. 'Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account' (Heb. 4:13).

"Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were truly naked — revealed in all their simplicity and beauty before God and each other."

Theology of the Body 2012/07/15

"Genesis 2:25 says, 'The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. …[T]his detail … introduces us to one of the main elements in the story: the theme of original nakedness. This is, in fact, the key to understanding the biblical vision of man's created nature.

"This verse … is a description of human consciousness. … It describes Adam's experience of femininity as revealed by Eve's naked body, and, at the same time, Eve's experience of masculinity through Adam's naked body. …

"Several verses later, in the account of man's Fall, we read:

…Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Gen. 3:7)

"After breaking their covenant with God, Adam and Eve experience their bodies differently — for the first time, they become conscious of their nakedness and are ashamed. Between Genesis 2:25 and 3:7, there is a fundamental shift.

"… Does this mean that before the Fall Adam and Eve didn't really see each other's naked bodies? Or has a change taken place on a much deeper level.

"It is not simply that Adam and Eve have gone from a state of ignorance to "knowing." Instead, there has been a radical change in the meaning of the original nakedness of man and woman in front of each other. This change emerges from their conscience; it's a fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

"This change directly involves the way we experience the meaning of bodies. After their eyes are 'opened,' Adam and Eve first cover their bodies from each other's sight; then they try to hide from God.

But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.' (Gen. 3:8-10)

"Shame is a fundamental human experience. … In Genesis, this experience marks the border between original innocence and man's sinfulness. To understand what it means to be without shame, and what significance this has for us today, we must look back to the time of original innocence."