Theology of the Body in Context: Genesis and Growth
Overview
The zenith of John Paul II’s thought on the human person, marriage, and the family is found in his theology of the body. For the first time, William E. May provides a comprehensive yet readable overview of this work in the context of several other key writings of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II, providing rich insights into its development.
Works surveyed include Love and Responsibility, Familiaris consortio, Mulieris dignitatem, and Letter to Families.
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- Explains John Paul II’s writing in clear and concise language
- Offers a comprehensive view of the theology of the body
- Builds on four of John Paul II’s works
- Karol Wojtyla’s Love and Responsibility: Themes Relevant to the Theology of the Body
- Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World) and the Theology of the Body
- John Paul II’s Catecheses on the Theology of the Body: “Man and Woman He Created Them”
- Mulieris Dignitatem (The Dignity and Vocation of Women) and the Letter to Families
Top Highlights
“It is the specific kind of love meant to exist between spouses, the kind of love that leads them to sacrifice themselves willingly for each other and for the ‘common good’ of marriage, to which they had freely committed themselves.” (Page 22)
“Since the body expresses the person, and since persons are to be loved, an ethical consequence is that we must never express with our bodies anything unworthy of the person.” (Pages 74–75)
“What ‘makes’ marriage is the free and irrevocable consent of the man and the woman to give and receive each other as wife and husband and to pursue the ‘common good’ of marriage. Their marriage is sacramental if the man and the woman are baptized, i.e., irrevocably joined to Christ through baptism for weal or woe; and in baptism they commit themselves to the ‘common good’ of the triune God and of his adopted children in Christ, i.e., holiness.” (Page 11)
“One person wills that others flourish, that the goods of human existence flourish in them, and is unwilling deliberately to deprive them of these goods. Love of friendship also seems obvious. It is love that is reciprocated, and it is a love that loves that other person as ‘another self,’ as one for whom one is willing to sacrifice oneself, for example. It is a noble kind of love.” (Page 18)
“‘Man’s capacity for love depends on his willingness consciously to seek a good together with others, and to subordinate himself to that good for the sake of others, or to others for the sake of that good. Love is exclusively the portion of human persons’ (pp. 28–29).” (Page 10)
William E. May is one of my heroes. I am a former student of his, and his clear thinking and wit has left an indelible mark on my life. Reading Theology of the Body in Context was like being back in his classroom—an illuminating, thought-provoking joy. I’ve been awaiting just such a book, and May is the perfect one to have written it.
—Christopher West, cofounder, Theology of the Body Institute
What a rich, illuminating resource! William May has presented John Paul II’s revolutionary defense of love penned at a time when societies often undercut love. Brimming with insight, this book is an invaluable companion for anyone seeking today to ‘discover the beauty and grandeur of the vocation to love.’
—Carl A. Anderson, supreme knight, Knights of Columbus
- Title: Theology of the Body in Context
- Author: William E. May
- Publisher: Pauline Books & Media
- Publication Date: 2010
- Pages: 176
- Christian Group: Catholic
- Resource Type: Monographs
- Topic: Theology