so What is TOB?
Theology of the Body is the is the topic of a series of 129 teachings delivered by Pope St. John Paul II during his Wednesday Audiences, over a period of 5 years from 1978 through to 1984.
In Theology of the Body, John Paul II intended to establish an adequate anthropology in which the human body reveals God. He examines man and woman before the Fall, after it, and at the resurrection of the dead. He also contemplates the sexual complementarity of man and woman. He explores the nature of marriage, celibacy and the redemption of the body, and expands on the teachings in Humanae vitae on contraception.
It is an integrated vision of the human person, body and soul referring to numerous Scriptural references where fundamental questions are asked of human life such as:
- Why were we created male and female?
- Does it really matter if we are one sex or another?
- What does the marital union of a man and woman say to us about God and His plan for our lives?
- Is there a real purpose to life and if so, what is it?
- What is the purpose of the married and celibate vocations?
- What exactly is “love” and how is this applied in the vocations of marriage and celibacy?
- Is it truly possible to be pure of heart?
It is important to note that the Theology of the Body is nothing new. Instead, It presents a deeper understanding and a new appreciation for the in-depth, forgotten and unspoken reasons behind the Catholic Church's unwavering teachings on sexual morality.
Theology of the body is simply another way of saying “Made in the Image of God.”
This means that our bodies are not only biological. They are also, and even more so, theological. Our bodies offer us, if we have the eyes to see it, a profound “study of God.” Just as a work of art points to the heart of the artist, so too does the human body point to the heart of the God who made us.