TOB Still Around

The Conference Will Definitely Be a Mixed Bag

Christopher West Coming to Town

This coming weekend.

I have a conflict in my schedule that day; all for the better because if I were to go and listen and critique what needs to be critiqued, it wouldn't be for the right reasons.


Theology of the Body NoCal

The Cor Project: July 19, 2014 :: San Jose, CA :: Fill These Hearts: God, Sex, and the Universal Longing
FB event
Christopher West: Fill These Hearts

His Fill These Hearts book tour comes to the area --

 

Queen of Apostles
4911 Moorpark Ave
San Jose, CA 95129
Saturday, July 19, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Open to all. Suggested donation at the door of $10.00
For more info contact: 408.213.6509

Details: http://corproject.com/july-19-2014-san-jose-ca-fill-these-hearts-god-sex-and-the-universal-longing/

Christopher West - Fill These Hearts from Catholic Westminster on Vimeo.

Should I be surprised that Christopher West recommends this video?

Why shouldn't one suspect his interpretation of theology of the body then, as something created by a white-knight, SWPL mindset? The video is an example of liberal misandry disguissed as compassion.

Post by Christopher West (Official).

Sleep alone will not be enough to lead him to change his mind.


The Republican Mind: Cato and Cora

Janet Smith responds to Dawn Eden regarding Christopher West

Engaging Dawn Eden's Thesis (via Pertinacious Papist). For Dawn Eden's master's thesis, go here.

A recent post at Mary Victrix: Where I Am at Right Now with Theology of the Body

Dawn Eden releases free copy of Theology of the Body thesis on CNA

Dawn Eden releases free copy of Theology of the Body thesis on CNA (h/t to Mary Victrix and Dawn Eden)

I note that Christopher West was on Al Kresta's show on Tuesday, but there is no archived audio available. I was able to listen to only 10 minutes of it. Even if Mr. West correctly provides the substance of Catholic teaching on sex, marriage, and love (and this is contested), his rhetoric concerning theology of the body is irksome. He doesn't engage in self-promotion as much as promotion of theology of the body, prone to exaggerated claims about its significance and novelty. (Too much of a "John Paul II Catholic"?) Taking what the manuals (and earlier works of moral theology) said about sexual morality in isolation may give the disorted picture that the pre-theology of the body treatment of married love was dry, inadequate, etc. But a scientific treatment of moral theology will proceed with its analysis in such a manner -- it is up to the teacher to remind the students to re-integrate what has been broken down back into a broader understanding of the Christian vocation and of caritas. Moreover, I suspect that there weren't a few books intended for a more popular audience that dealt with married life and so on, rather than just the morality of sex acts. Certainly many of the Church's saints have dealt with marriage in their preaching and writings. It seems to me that at the very least, there is some poor history (and historiography) at work in Mr. West's marketing of theology of the body.

I did hear him explain his comparison of John Paul II and Hugh Hefner (which got so much attention in his Nightline appearance), and I think he gets Hugh Hefner's personal history wrong. Was he really reacting to a Puritan mentality regarding sex? Or was there something else deviant to explain for his actions? As for the priest Karol Wojtyla, was he really dealing with negative attitudes towards sex on the part of Catholics?

He took one caller from a woman who did not have any interest in sex, and first recommended that she read Love and Responsibility, assuming that she was feeling that way because her husband was only interested in her for pleasure. (I think what she actually said that she wasn't interested in sex, and only had relations in order to give her husband pleasure.) Then he suggested that she seek marriage counseling. (Did he realize that there might be a different issue at work here?)

There have been criticisms of Pope John Paul II for putting women on a pedestal. Is this true of Christopher West? Does he recognize the psychological differences between women and men, and how this affects their personal dynamics, especially in sexual matters?

Related:
Love and Responsibility Lecture Series

Alice von Hildebrand gives an appraisal of Christopher West's work

Dietrich von Hildebrand, Catholic Philosopher, and Christopher West, Modern Enthusiast:Two Very Different Approaches to Love, Marriage and Sex
By Alice von Hildebrand

(h/t to The Western Confucian and Dawn Eden)

Dawn Eden: My revised master's thesis is now available (via Mark Shea)