7. (the last post) What’s the use?
In my opinion, TOB has its uses. It seems that it is pastorally effective. People have converted from a life of sin after being introduced to it. It is persuasive for many.
The art of persuasion is rhetoric. Rhetoricians attempt to manifest reasons that a certain action should be undertaken or not. In this endeavor, any good reasons are adequate; one need not only relate the per se and proper reasons. Rhetoric normally has recourse to singular examples (read, “experiences”) and arguments from likelihood. This, in my opinion, is what TOB does. It is not a theological treatise on the causes of rightness or wrongness of acts. It is not a new field of undiscovered theological territory. It is an apologetical tool; it is arguments to live what the Church teaches.
Hence, I think that there is no need to rid the world of it. But I do think that Catholic theologians should realize that it is not a new interpretative key for the whole of theology. It gets people back on track, morally.
Sometimes, some of those people will ask further questions; they will wonder why contraception really is wrong; they will wonder why fornication really is wrong; they will wonder what man’s highest calling is; they will wonder what depths of wisdom and knowledge divine revelation has freely granted to men; they will wonder about the order of the universe and the deep things of God as He is in Himself. As Fr. Angelo Geiger put it, “apologetical explanations are not sufficient to complete a catechesis. If a new vision of human sexuality gets them in the door, only the tradition of the ages will get them to the sanctuary.”
Some will think this is not true. Some will think it is unrealistic, perhaps pointing out that no one is satisfied with the traditional theological exposition on marriage. Well, I simply don’t know if that’s true. I tell people what St. Thomas says, I tell them what St. Alphonsus says, I expound what I have expounded here to people, and I have tended to find that people do like it. Ideas that have lasted since the beginning of man’s search for wisdom tend to ring true in people’s ears. But I admit, I don’t generally deal with the sexually wounded. I am not an apologist, I don’t tend to deal with the large crowds of Catholics who can’t figure out any reason for the Church’s teaching on sexual morality.
But I do have the optimism that Wisdom, which judges all things in light of the highest causes, and sees things in terms of their order in the whole, rather than from just their particular intentionalities–I tend to hope that such wisdom, though regarded as rare in the ancient world, is within the reach of all who have access to the fonts of grace. Indeed, St. Augustine claims that one of the triumphs of Christianity is that it makes the masses of men able to obtain what the ancient philosophers regarded as only possible for a few. In my opinion, every baptized individual is called to be a theologian to some extent. If you love God, you want to be united to Him, and this will push you to try to know him more, not always by learning new things, but certainly by contemplating Him. Such a desire is not satisfied until the Beatific Vision, but it does not therefore remain idle in this life. We can continue to grow in our knowledge of God by prayer and study. When people advance in this knowledge of God, I think that sex might take on a little more perspective. As Peter Kreeft once put it, asking if there will be sex in Heaven is like a kid asking if adults can eat candy when they’re having sex. Admittedly, it’s a matter that is on the forefront of most men’s minds. But it was not the principal reason for God’s revelation. Those who take up the office of teaching theology should not be that afraid to tell people that we could always use a little bit of curbing and a re-directing of our energies and focus.
[So what about John Paul II? I think that, for the most part, JPII's project was thoughtful, inventive, and effective. But one thing I have noted in my doctoral studies is that every genius, by definition, brings to the body of knowledge an excellent contribution; but for some of them, the problems begin in the following generation with those pupils who only learn the doctrine of the genius without first learning what the genius himself/herself learned. I see this time and again. And I see it in much of my contact with TOB pupils. This is to be expected... not everyone can learn everything in every generation. But at least there will always be those who pioneer the new, and those who remind people of the old... It's the way things have to be. And it is part of the mission of Novantiqua.]
Just a very quick word (I hope) to address Part VII above. I haven’t read all 7 posts, but I like many of your conclusions in the post above. I especially like your statement that TOB “is an apologetical tool; it is arguments to live what the Church teaches.” You’re correct that TOB is not a new theology per se, and so your observation that the real benefit of TOB has been people changing their behavior to be more in line with Church teaching is the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow.
I also appreciate your disclosure that you don’t deal with sexually wounded or the even larger number of Catholics who lack a solid grounding in the faith and don’t believe in the central tenets of the faith or don’t know what they believe. Too many are members of both groups, although I’m the only person I ever met who sexually sinned while maintaining a full awareness I was wrong to do so.
I offer myself as a case in point. Immediately following my reading of “Theology of the Body for Beginners: An Introduction” by (dare I say it?) Christopher West, I had a profoundly compelling spiritual experience that led me more deeply to Jesus than I ever anticipated.
Although I could not understand how I could ever prevail over an addiction which had tormented me even in my years outside the Church, He invited me to turn all of it over to Him. In so doing I have not fallen back into porn at any time. Every temptation is successfully dispatched with a Hail Mary or two.
It was TOB which led me to the deeply personal experience I mentioned, and I believe it was the Holy Spirit who brought me to TOB. Jesus brought me into full chastity through Him and has kept me there so long as I continue to assent and to pray; to turn it over to Him.
The more I have studied TOB and read the contributions offered by all those working to get that message out to sexually wounded like myself, the greater strength I take from it. I appreciate your recognition that TOB offers value in this over-sexualized world and I share your view that many brought back into compliance with church teaching via TOB will be positioned to eventually learn and embrace the more substantive bases for Her teachings.
It is unusual to encounter someone with a deeper and perhaps a more traditionalist theological background to express the POVs which you offer regarding TOB. It is my wish that folks like yourself might consider how you can collaborate, perhaps, to put together programs, workshops, books, etc. that might (forgive the term) “popularize” the foundations to Church teaching so that there might be accessible media available to the faithful.
I mean this to suggest that given the success of West’s DVD workshops traditionalists might not build on his success by taking the best of what he teaches in TOB and use that as an entree to drill down deeper for all of us hungry souls. My concern about the hard-core traditionalist reaction against West and TOB is that too many of these critics seem to fit Christ’s description of the Pharisees as placing a heavy burden on the people while not lifting a finger to relieve their burden. Constructing a program to address the shortfalls in West’s teaching would put the many talents in our Church to a use not nearly so well served by the ongoing criticisms through which they maintain their ongoing conversations in their own echo chamber.
Thanks again. I hope I made my points effectively. I threw this together spontaneously and gave it no critical editing to better shape my thoughts or sentence structure.
Phil
Dear Phil,
Well put. I do hope that what you present comes to pass. It is always a challenge to try to meet both worlds. I think the first step would be for someone to trained in both to write a book or something… or perhaps for two or more persons to collaborate. Let’s hope that it can happen.
Thanks for your very sound comments!
Kevin Keiser