Experience of “Original Nakedness”

According to John Paul II, the third “original experience” that Adam and Eve have undergone at the dawn of creation, prior to the entry of sin, is what he calls the “experience of original nakedness.” The Pope bases his reflections on this experience on this passage, Genesis 2:25: “And the man and woman were both naked, and were not ashamed.” He says that this passage is “key” to understanding the meaning of the body as God had intended it.

But what is this “nakedness without shame” that the Pope is talking about? Nowadays, being naked usually brings about the experience of shame in us. Just imagine, for instance, that you are taking a shower, and then all of a sudden someone walks into the bathroom. What’s your first reaction? You cover yourself with a towel, right? And why? You cover your naked body, because somehow you are ashamed of it. But Genesis says that our first parents were both naked and they were not ashamed of it. What could Genesis be telling us here?

John Paul II says that the phrase, they “were both naked and were not ashamed,” is an accurate description how Adam and Eve experienced the full meaning of their male and female bodies in the state or original innocence, before the advent of sin. In the state of original innocence, Adam and Eve saw clearly that their naked bodies expressed their total gift for one another. In their naked bodies, they fully understood God’s plan for them, that is, that their male and female bodies were vehicles for the communion of persons to which they have been called. Their naked bodies fully revealed the gift of their persons, and their mutual self-donation to, and acceptance of, one another. Their naked bodies fully revealed God’s call to a communion of persons in love so that they could image the Trinity here on earth. They fully saw their naked bodies as a “sacrament” of something divine.

They did not “look” at each other’s nakedness with the intent to use the other simply as an object of pleasure. They beheld their nakedness as God would behold it: “And God saw everything he made, and behold it was good.” In short, they fully saw in their nakedness the nuptial meaning of their bodies.

Nowadays, we cover our nakedness before others and our nakedness always brings about a certain experience of shame? Why? John Paul II says that the experience of shame indicates that deep within us, we feel the need to protect that God-given dignity and meaning of our bodies from being demeaned or threatened by others. We still hear an “echo” of our creation.


Finalist in the 2007 Catholic Mass Media Awards:

I am happy to tell you that my two books on John Paul II's Theology of the Body (Book One and Book Two) have recently been chosen as one of the three finalists for the 2007 Catholic Mass Media Awards, Theology of Liturgy category. Thank you for your support.