Theology of the Body Explained
Overview
The first edition of Theology of the Body Explained quickly became a best seller, serving as a standard reference text in universities, seminaries, and private study. This newly revised and expanded edition is based on Michael Waldstein’s much improved translation of John Paul II’s catechesis published by Pauline Books & Media under the title Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body.
Key insights discovered through Dr. Waldstein’s access to the John Paul II archives have been incorporated.
- The text has been substantially reorganized to reflect what we now know about the structure of John Paul II’s original manuscript.
- The newly discovered headings of the his original text have been incorporated.
- The illuminating insights of John Paul II’s six undelivered and previously untranslated addresses on the Song of Songs, Tobit, and Ephesians are unfolded here for the first time.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Scripture citations link directly to English translations, and important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
- Explains the theology of the body accurately and precisely
- Reflects the structure of the original manuscript
- Offers a deep understanding of John Paul II’s work
- The Human Body, Catholicism, and John Paul II
- The Words of Christ
- Christ Appeals to the “Beginning”
- Christ Appeals to the Human Heart
- Christ Appeals to the Resurrection
- The Sacrament
- The Dimension of Covenant and Grace
- The Dimension of Sign
- He Gave Them the Law of Life as Their Inheritance
- The Gospel of the Body and the New Evangelization
Top Highlights
“‘marriage proposal.’ Christ entrusts himself as a gift to our freedom. Faith, then, is the human heart’s openness to the gift of divine love. It is man’s freely given ‘yes’ to heaven’s marriage proposal.104 Understood in this way, faith—as the only means of ‘mystical marriage’—is the only path to reconciling the ‘great divorce.’” (Page 47)
“As the Catechism insists, ‘God has no other reason for creating than his love and goodness.’31 All then is gift. Human happiness and flourishing come only by way of welcoming this gift. Every human hunger, every ‘ache’ and human longing is a cry of the heart for this gift—to participate in the eternal exchange of divine love for which we are created. If we listen carefully and prayerfully to what the body ‘says,’ we will come to hear it whispering to us this deepest secret hidden in God from all eternity: God is an eternal communion of love, and we are destined to share in this divine bliss! It is this theological reality that the human body signifies.” (Page 18)
“that Christ came to liberate eros from the distortion of lust” (Page 170)
“As the Pope’s thesis indicates, to look at a human body-person is to see not only the human spirit made visible, but also to see something of the divine made visible. In fact, to say ‘theology of the body’ is another way of saying that the human person is made in God’s image and likeness. This brings us to the second part of the Pope’s thesis. The human body ‘has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it’ (TOB 19:4).” (Page 17)
The first edition of this work was magnificent. This new edition is even more so. No one, in my opinion, has thought more deeply about John Paul II’s mind-opening theology of the body than has Christopher West. The result is a book that lives up to its title, for it surely does ‘explain’ the theology of the body accurately, clearly, and in such a way that any intelligent person can understand. Quite an accomplishment!
—William May, professor, John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family
We owe a debt of gratitude to Christopher West. Since he first discovered the Theology of the Body in 1993, he has been a pioneer in the difficult task of seeking the right language with which to explain John Paul II’s difficult theological and philosophical teaching. This newly revised commentary is the fruit of West’s own ever-deepening understanding and integration of the material. West’s work offers readers an excellent entry and much solid assistance in decoding John Paul II’s difficult text. It will encourage them to read John Paul II himself with more open eyes and with clearer reflection.
—Michael Waldstein, founding president, International Theological Institute, Austria
In this book, West recounts how the Theology of the Body had helped him heal from a long period of being a lapsed, worldly Catholic, and this sense of wonder and freedom permeates the book. There is food for the mind and the heart, as I have grown to appreciate the dignity of marriage, celibacy, and the human person in a way I would never have expected just a few years ago. The very methodical organization and annotation of this volume might lead one to suspect that this book is dry, but it in fact reads wonderfully. In the space of a few weeks I read the entire book, in spite of a busy schedule as a medical student.
—Gerald Nora, PhD, Pitt-Carnegie Mellon University
- Title: Theology of the Body Explained
- Author: Christopher West
- Edition: 2nd
- Publisher: Pauline Books & Media
- Publication Date: 2007
- Pages: 530
- Christian Group: Catholic
- Resource Type: Monographs
- Topic: Theology
Christopher West is recognized around the globe for his work teaching and promoting John Paul II’s theology of the body. He serves officially as a research fellow and faculty member of the Theology of the Body Institute near Philadelphia. West has also taught graduate and undergraduate courses on a number of other faculties, including St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha.