John Paul II's Theology of the Body:

Q. Are these reflections based on Scriptures?

A. Definitely. John Paul II's reflections and teachings have always flowed from God's Word in Scriptures. Just take the case of his encyclical letters. The Pope always begins with a passage from Scripture. In the case of his Theology of the Body, one can divide his reflections into 5 parts or cycles, each of which starts and is based on a particular Scriptural passage or passages.

Q. What are these 5 cycles?

A. Well, the first cycle deals with the meaning of the human body in creation. Cycle 2 focuses on the distortions introduced by sin into the meaning and value of the body. Cycle 3 has to do with the redemption of the body. Cycle 4 reflects on the body in the perpecstive of the resurrection of the body and its meaning in the vocations of marriage and celibacy, and the final cycle zeroes in on the teachings of Paul VI's in his most controversial encyclical, Humanae Vitae.

Q. Why speak of a "theology of the body" Why is the Body a "Theology"? What could the expression "theology of the body" mean?

A. According to John Paul II, the body is a visible sign that points to something invisible: it points to God’s inmost mystery. “The body, in fact, and it alone,” says the Holy Father, “is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus to be a sign of it.” (Feb 20, 1980) And what is this mystery hidden in God? Says our Catechism: “God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange” (CCC, n. 221). This “ is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself.” (CCC, n. 234) In short, the Blessed Trinity is a divine communion of love. As beings created in God’s image and likeness, we are also called to live a life of communion, a life of total self-giving with and for someone, and thus image, in the world, the Divine Communion of Persons. Inscribed in our creation as male and female, in our human sexuality, as well as in the sacrament of marriage, is the call to image God’s life and love in the world, by becoming a sincere gift to one another in love. “God,” says Christopher West, “imprinted in our sexuality the call to participate in a “created version” of his eternal “exchange of love.”