Book Review: Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West

Theology of the Body was first presented by John Paul II as a series of 129 talks between 1979 and 1984.

Christopher West presents an explanation of the main ideas, the main thesis of which is that the body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the 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. He delves into the creation, redemption, and resurrection of the body, as well as Eros in the context of marriage being both a divine gift and a human sign of divine love. He briefly discusses celibacy. His explanation of the Catholic position on birth control is the final chapter before concluding by summarizing how the divine creation of sexual love (Eros) within the context of marriage is God’s picture of the fulfillment of the love between Christ and the church.

I cannot evaluate whether this book accurately recounts the official position of the Catholic Church. Since it has been endorsed by Bishop Robert Barron among others, I infer that it has been reviewed, but that is not the primary point of this review. There is a minor problem and a major problem with this otherwise uplifting account of the Biblical view of sexuality.

The minor problem is that holding to the perpetual virginity of Mary (after Jesus’ birth, for the rest of her life) offers no explanation for the New Testament passages referring to Jesus’ brothers. (e.g.. Matthew 12:46-47; 13:55; Mark 3:31-32; Luke 18:19-20; John 2:12; 7:3-5; Acts 1:14;) Jesus’ comments after some of these verses state that faith is a stronger bond than natural family ties, but it is difficult to read His words as saying that the men that the crowd thought were his natural brothers were in fact not so, not even half- brothers (obviously having a different father, but the same mother). But this is not really germane to the key point of the book. Maybe Mary and Joseph adopted a bunch of kids after Jesus was born.

The major problem is that this doctrine elevates the act of sex within marriage to a sacrament. This is to elevate the significance of the intimate relationship between husband and wife so that is not looked down on as a concession to the flesh, or the mere satisfying of an animal appetite. It is the loving offering of each spouse to the other the most private and personal part of their being. This is consistent with Scriptures from both Old and New Testament that use marriage as a parable for the relationship of God to His people, as in the Song of Songs (which is Solomon’s), Hosea, various parables of Jesus, the epistles of Paul, and the Revelation of John. The problem arises in sacramentalizing the sexual act within marriage. That it should be an expression of love and respect, of self-giving does not provide a basis for making every occurrence a sacrament. Otherwise we would similarly make every meal the Lord’s supper, and every bath a baptism into new life. This seems extreme, but there is more support for the former, at least, in the Lord’s words (1 Corinthians 11:25-26), than for this book’s position on Eros. And so, I respectfully disagree with the book’s position that every sexual expression of love within marriage is a sacrament.