Week 2
Before the Fig Leaves: God’s Original Plan for the Body and Sex
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
Before the Fig Leaves: God’s Original Plan for the Body and Sex
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8
“The man and his wife were naked, yet they felt no shame.”
“The man and his wife were naked, yet they felt no shame.”
Genesis 2:25
“Love is our origin, our vocation, our end.”
“Love is our origin, our vocation, our end.”
Christopher West
Recap of last week, “What is TOB?”:
o What types of questions does TOB answer?
o The body is a physical sign of God’s mystery
o “Theology of the Body” is a study of God through the body
o What types of questions does TOB answer?
o The body is a physical sign of God’s mystery
o “Theology of the Body” is a study of God through the body
o Why is the body and sex “attacked” and mistreated in our world today?
o Which book of the bible is the “juiciest?” Song of Songs
o What is God’s ultimate plan? to marry us! How does God reveal this plan to us? through our bodies!
o Which book of the bible is the “juiciest?” Song of Songs
o What is God’s ultimate plan? to marry us! How does God reveal this plan to us? through our bodies!
In the Beginning…
1. When some Pharisees questioned Jesus about the meaning of marriage, they recalled to Him that Moses allowed divorce.
2. Jesus’ reply provides one of the keys to understanding the Gospel: “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” Matthew 19:8
3. In the beginning God created Adam and Eve to be pure and holy
4. They didn’t have relationship problems like we do today and their relationship was filled with pure love, pure generosity, and pure passion
5. They were truly naked without shame
6. There was no need to cover themselves because they had no fear of being used
7. They saw in their naked bodies the call to be a gift to each other, and they knew how to live that out
8. If we are to understand God’s purpose for our sexuality and the meaning of the “one flesh” union (aka: sex), according to Christ, we have to go back to the beginning, before sin entered the picture
1. When some Pharisees questioned Jesus about the meaning of marriage, they recalled to Him that Moses allowed divorce.
2. Jesus’ reply provides one of the keys to understanding the Gospel: “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” Matthew 19:8
3. In the beginning God created Adam and Eve to be pure and holy
4. They didn’t have relationship problems like we do today and their relationship was filled with pure love, pure generosity, and pure passion
5. They were truly naked without shame
6. There was no need to cover themselves because they had no fear of being used
7. They saw in their naked bodies the call to be a gift to each other, and they knew how to live that out
8. If we are to understand God’s purpose for our sexuality and the meaning of the “one flesh” union (aka: sex), according to Christ, we have to go back to the beginning, before sin entered the picture
9. According to John Paul II, three experiences in particular define the human person in the original state of innocence and purity: solitude, unity, and nakedness.
Original Solitude: The First Discovery of “Personhood”
1. “Then the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18
2. The most obvious meaning of this “solitude” is that the man is alone without woman. But there is a deeper meaning from this verse.
3. This creation account doesn’t even distinguish between male and female until after Adam’s “deep sleep.” Here, Adam represents humanity
4. Genesis 2:20: Adam differs from the animals. How? His Freedom.
a. Adam isn’t determined by bodily instinct
b. Unlike the animals, he has the “breath of life” inspiring his body Gn 2:7 and he is invited to enter a “covenant of love” with God himself
5. Man is “alone” because he’s the only bodily creature made in God’s image and likeness.
6. Why is it not good for man to be alone?
a. Man must have someone else to be able to fulfill the call to love as God loves, as a communion of persons.
7. Why was Adam given freedom?
a. Adam was called to love, and without freedom, love is impossible
b. In his solitude, Adam realizes that love is his origin, his vocation, his destiny
c. Freedom is given for love. It can lead to destruction and division, but it’s intended to give us life and unity. It is our choice.
1. “Then the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18
2. The most obvious meaning of this “solitude” is that the man is alone without woman. But there is a deeper meaning from this verse.
3. This creation account doesn’t even distinguish between male and female until after Adam’s “deep sleep.” Here, Adam represents humanity
4. Genesis 2:20: Adam differs from the animals. How? His Freedom.
a. Adam isn’t determined by bodily instinct
b. Unlike the animals, he has the “breath of life” inspiring his body Gn 2:7 and he is invited to enter a “covenant of love” with God himself
5. Man is “alone” because he’s the only bodily creature made in God’s image and likeness.
6. Why is it not good for man to be alone?
a. Man must have someone else to be able to fulfill the call to love as God loves, as a communion of persons.
7. Why was Adam given freedom?
a. Adam was called to love, and without freedom, love is impossible
b. In his solitude, Adam realizes that love is his origin, his vocation, his destiny
c. Freedom is given for love. It can lead to destruction and division, but it’s intended to give us life and unity. It is our choice.
Original Unity: The Communion of Persons
1. “So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.” Genesis 2:21-22
2. The Hebrew word for rib is a play on the word “life”
3. Woman comes from the same life as man, therefore she is equal in dignity
4. Notice that the woman comes from the side of Adam. What does this mean?
5. Since woman is equal, she shares the same humanity and life of man – she also shares the same call to LOVE
1. “So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.” Genesis 2:21-22
2. The Hebrew word for rib is a play on the word “life”
3. Woman comes from the same life as man, therefore she is equal in dignity
4. Notice that the woman comes from the side of Adam. What does this mean?
5. Since woman is equal, she shares the same humanity and life of man – she also shares the same call to LOVE
6. “When he brought her to the man, the man said: ‘This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh…” Genesis 2:23
7. Adam finally found his “complement.” He found the one he could love and with whom he could image God and be a gift (remember, sin has not entered into the world yet)
7. Adam finally found his “complement.” He found the one he could love and with whom he could image God and be a gift (remember, sin has not entered into the world yet)
Original Nakedness: Key to Understanding God’s Original Plan
1. “The man and his wife were naked and felt no shame.” Genesis 2:25
2. There is no shame in loving as God loves.
3. Zoo Analogy…All the animals have taken cover! How absurd!
4. Why are humans the only creatures that experience shame?
5. Shame is self-defense from being looked at or treated like an object
6. Adam and Eve were created by God as something very good in their nakedness.
7. Did you know that Pope John Paul II ordered that all the painted over loin cloths be removed from the Sistine Chapel?
8. Sadly, many people harbor a deep hatred for their own bodies. How is this manifested? Eating disorders, cutting, steroid use, doing anything to get those six-pack abs, and exploitation (can anyone say Hollister?)
9. The reason both Adam and Eve were naked without shame is because they experienced sexual desire only as the desire to love in God’s image. There is no shame, or fear, in pure love. “Perfect love casts out all fear.” 1John 4:18
10. They saw in each other the nuptial meaning of their bodies. (more on this below)
How do they do this?
11. Because their bodies are complimentary: they go together!
12. Because they reveal the communion of God
“The body and it alone is capable of making visible what is invisible, the spiritual and the divine.” JP II February 20, 1980
13. Adam gazed upon his wife, and she upon him, as they each experienced the revelation of the body.
14. “The fact that ‘they were not ashamed’ means that the woman was not an object for the man nor he for her.” JP II February 20, 1980 Freedom allowed this to happen…“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
In the Image of God He Created Them…
1. Matthew 19:4-5
2. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” Genesis 1:26
3. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Genesis 1:27-28
4. “The body, in fact, and it alone is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine.”
5. The complementarity of the sexes somehow images God.
6. If we want to understand how we image God we must first understand who God is
Who is God?
“God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself in an external exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” CCC 221
7. This key statement summarizes the ultimate mystery of God and the meaning of human existence: LOVE
8. Whoever is without love does not know God for God is love IJohn 4:8
9. Because we are created male and female in the image of God, we too are called to a life giving communion of persons
10. Sexual union, the two becoming “one flesh” makes visible the invisible mystery of God…this is huge!
What is God’s love?
11. Free, Total, Faithful, Fruitful…where have we seen these before?
1. Matthew 19:4-5
2. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” Genesis 1:26
3. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Genesis 1:27-28
4. “The body, in fact, and it alone is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine.”
5. The complementarity of the sexes somehow images God.
6. If we want to understand how we image God we must first understand who God is
Who is God?
“God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself in an external exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” CCC 221
7. This key statement summarizes the ultimate mystery of God and the meaning of human existence: LOVE
8. Whoever is without love does not know God for God is love IJohn 4:8
9. Because we are created male and female in the image of God, we too are called to a life giving communion of persons
10. Sexual union, the two becoming “one flesh” makes visible the invisible mystery of God…this is huge!
What is God’s love?
11. Free, Total, Faithful, Fruitful…where have we seen these before?
The Nuptial Meaning of the Body
1. The nuptial meaning of the body reveals that man and woman are called to image God through bestowing the gift of themselves on each other, thus forming a life giving communion of persons.
2. “The human body…includes right from the beginning a nuptial attribute, that is, the capacity of expressing love. The love that precisely in which the person becomes a gift and – by means of this gift – fulfills the very meaning of his very being and existence.” JP II January 16, 1980
3. “Man can fully discover himself only in a sincere giving of himself.” GS, n.24 We can only discover who we are by loving as God loves.
4. Christ’s new commandment is “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jn 15:12
5. How did Christ love us? “This is my body which is given for you.” Luke 22:19
6. Love is spiritual, but Christ demonstrates that it is expressed and realized in the body
7. God wanted this to be so near to us that He “stamped” this call to love (to be a gift) in our bodies. We call this the “nuptial meaning of the body.”
8. A man and a woman’s body do not make sense on their own, but together they make sense that they are called to be a gift to one another
9. Not only that, but their mutual gift can even lead to a third!
10. “Adam knew his wife and she conceived.”
11. Genesis 1:28: God’s first commandment
12. Sexual love becomes an earthly icon of the Trinity, and it points us to Heaven! (Whoa…I bet you’ve never heard of sex like this before!)
1. The nuptial meaning of the body reveals that man and woman are called to image God through bestowing the gift of themselves on each other, thus forming a life giving communion of persons.
2. “The human body…includes right from the beginning a nuptial attribute, that is, the capacity of expressing love. The love that precisely in which the person becomes a gift and – by means of this gift – fulfills the very meaning of his very being and existence.” JP II January 16, 1980
3. “Man can fully discover himself only in a sincere giving of himself.” GS, n.24 We can only discover who we are by loving as God loves.
4. Christ’s new commandment is “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jn 15:12
5. How did Christ love us? “This is my body which is given for you.” Luke 22:19
6. Love is spiritual, but Christ demonstrates that it is expressed and realized in the body
7. God wanted this to be so near to us that He “stamped” this call to love (to be a gift) in our bodies. We call this the “nuptial meaning of the body.”
8. A man and a woman’s body do not make sense on their own, but together they make sense that they are called to be a gift to one another
9. Not only that, but their mutual gift can even lead to a third!
10. “Adam knew his wife and she conceived.”
11. Genesis 1:28: God’s first commandment
12. Sexual love becomes an earthly icon of the Trinity, and it points us to Heaven! (Whoa…I bet you’ve never heard of sex like this before!)
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