A Video Series on the Theology of the Body

In this video we explain the overall structure of JPII's TOB to help get a general understanding of the text it.

In this video we examine JPII's treatment of Genesis 1. Topics include:
1) The Documentary Hypothesis
2) The cosmological, theological, and metaphysical characteristics of Genesis 1's account of creation.

In this video we explain three overarching themes:
1) Who is historical man?
2) What is the perspective of redemption?
3) What is this appeal to experience at the end of the audience?

In this video we examine the following:
1) Covenant
2) Experience of the body
3) Man's role in tilling the earth

In this video we examine the following:
1) Original Unity
2) Masculinity and Femininity
3) The Meaning of Torpor
4) The Meaning of Rib
5) Freudian Analysis of Torpor

In this video we examine the following:
1) The Intersection of Original Unity, Original Solitude, Masculinity, Femininity, and the Conjugal Act
2) Original Unity and Self-Determination

In this video we examine the following:
1) The concept of shame
2) Interpreting why the first man and woman did not feel shame
3) The dialectics of objective-subjective and exterior-interior perception
4) The meaning of communication

In this video we examine the following:
1) The concepts of alone and help in reference to gift
2) The beatifying function of gift
3) The body and gift
4) The spousal meaning of the body
5) Some reflections on norms concerning the spousal meaning of the body

In this video we examine the following:
1) Love and creation in light of original innocence
2) Historical man as a hermeneutic for understanding original innocence
3) Beatification and original innocence

In this video we examine the following:
1) John Paul II's theological approach
2) The meaning of synthetic in light of Immanuel Kant's philosophy
3) The spiritualization of the first man and woman in contrast to man in original sin
4) The ethos of the body

In this video we examine the following:
1) The ethos of the gift
2) How original sin affects this ethos
3) The human body as a sacrament
4) How Genesis 2 describes the first marriage feast

In this video we examine the following:
1) The meaning of Gen 4:1 "I have acquired a man" as a second naming
2) The relationship between knowledge, possession, and human nature with regards to procreation
3) The relationship between knowledge and original sin

In this video we introduce chapter 2 of part 1. This audience introduces Matt. 5:27-28 from the Sermon on the Mount. In this audience two themes are introduced:
1) The normativity of Christ's words in the Sermon of the Mount
2) Christ's message as a fundamental revision in understanding God's moral law
Lastly, a few comments are made on the German philosopher Max Scheler.

In this video we discuss:
1) The threefold concupiscence of 1 John 2:16-17
2) Concupiscence and Genesis 3
3) The Man of Desire

In this video we continue examining the phenomenon of shame. In particular, we discuss:
1) JPII's distinction between cosmic shame and sexual shame
2) The three characters or properties of sexual shame
3) Concupiscence as a resistance of the body against the spirit of man.

For this video, we begin discussion of the meaning of man dominating woman in Genesis 3:16. In this episode, we
1) Make some initial observations of Gen. 3:16
2) The relationship between shame, concupiscence, and domination

In this video we discuss:
1) The relationship between concupiscence, the body, and the heart, in regards to the man of desire in Matt. 5:27-28
2) How concupiscence is an assault on the human person

In this video we introduce a new section within the chapter, focused on the ethical content of Matt. 5:27-28. This audience introduces the concept of "hardness of heart" and gives us directions on where JPII will go in his future analyses.

TOB 36 continues investigating the legislative interpretation of the 6th commandment. The language of this interpretation demonstrates that what was considered sexual was "impure", that the focus was on the maintenance of social order, and not concerned with the dimension of the heart as Christ appealed to in Matthew 5:27-28. JPII next introduces the prophetic tradition, which is taken up again in the next audience. The prophetic tradition shows
1) An analogy between Israel and God and the relationship between husband and wife
2) Israel's departure from God for other gods was considered to be adultery

In this video we discuss:
1) The New Testament ethos in relation to the legalistic-casuistic ethos found in some of the Old Testament traditions
2) The meaning of desire in light of the Wisdom Tradition

In this video we discuss:
1) The meaning of desire in Matt. 5:27-28
2) What is the "eternal feminine" and "eternal masculine"
3) The important distinction between attraction and desire

In this video we talk about:
1) JPII's method for analyzing Matt. 5:27-28
2) Interpretation of Matt. 5:27-28
3) The meaning of adultery of the heart
4) Raise the question of whether one can commit adultery in the heart with one's spouse. (JPII gives his answer in TOB 43).

In this video the question is raised as to whether the heart is accused given the fact of concupiscence. One answer some have given is Manichaeism, believing that the body, sex, and procreation are evil. This audience and the next one, TOB 45 discuss this topic.

In this video we revisit the question of whether the heart is accused or not by talking about a third interpretation. Using the concept of "masters of suspicion" by Paul Ricoeur, JPII talks about how Freud, Marx, and Nietzsche hold the heart in suspicion. These three masters argue concupiscence has the final say about man. JPII presents the ethos of the New Testament as the counter to these thinkers. In this video we dedicate some time to also explaining who is Paul Ricoeur and Sigmund Freud.

In this video we continue the analysis of TOB 47 by placing the discussion of eros and the New Testament ethos within the context of a new question, the role of erotic spontaneity within the ethos of the New Testament. JPII distinguishes between two kinds of spontaneity, calling us to mature spontaneity.

In this video we continue our discussion of TOB 49. We begin by discussing the Old Testament conception of purity and how it led to a wrong ethos. Christ, in contrast, emphasized a new understanding of purity, purity of the heart.

In this video we discus:
1) Life according to the Spirit versus life according to the flesh
2) Rom. 8:12-13 and how we need to put to death the works of the flesh
3) What are the works of the flesh

In this video we discuss 1 Thess. 4:3-7. In particular, we talk about
1) The meaning of purity
2) Purity as a virtue, part of temperance
3) Who St. Thomas Aquinas is
4) What is the virtue of temperance
5) Purity as reverence
6) Dietrich von Hildebrand and the concept of reverence

In this video we introduce the context in which St. Pope John Paul II will begin his investigation. The fundamental question raised here is what is meant by Christ's appeal to "the beginning" in his discussion with the Pharisees on divorce.

In this video we examine JPII's first look at Genesis 2. We discuss:
1) Overall characteristics of Genesis 2
2) Meaning of myth
3) Some linguistic features
4) The introduction of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

In this video we examine the following:
1) Original solitude and the concept of a fit helper
2) Man naming the animals
3) Aristotle's concept of rational animal
4) The concept of subjectivity

In this video we examine the following:
1) Consciousness of the body
2) The role of the body in human activity
3) The introduction of death
4) The concept of self-determination

In this video we examine the following:
1) Unity and Duality Based on Masculinity and Femininity
2) Communion of Persons
3) Image of God and Original Unity
4) Original Unity and the Conjugal Act

In this video we examine the following:
1) The concept of original experience
2) Essence
3) The role of shame in understanding original nakedness

In this video we examine the following:
1) The concepts of nakedness, experience, gift
2) Creation as gift

In this video we examine the following:
1) The teaching of Gaudium et Spes 24.3
2) The gift of self and freedom
3) The spousal meaning of the body

In this video we examine the following:
1) Original innocence as the exchange of the gift of self
2) The gift of self of the woman and of the man

In this video we examine the following:
1) The ethos of the gift
2) How original sin affects this ethos
3) The human body as a sacrament
4) How Genesis 2 describes the first marriage feast

In this video we examine the following:
1) The meaning of archetype and Carl Jung
2) The meaning of motherhood and fatherhood
3) The meaning of begetting and procreation

In this video we conclude chapter 1 of the theology of the body. With it, we follow JPII's reflections on the past 22 audiences, while looking forward to what will come next in chapter 2. In this audience,JPII demanded a recovery of what Paul VI called the integral vision of man in his encyclical Humanae Vitae, and also argued for the role his analyses on the theology of the body have on every single human person in order to fulfill himself or herself as a human person.

TOB 25 begins the analysis of Matt. 5:27, "You have heard...". In this video, we discuss:
1) Whom Christ is addressing
2) The shift of ethos to the heart
3) The introduction of adultery and desire

In this video we examine the Biblical foundations concerning concupiscence. In particular, we analyze
1) Genesis 3:6 with its introduction of shame
2) Genesis 3:8 describing fear as a necessary component of shame
3) Church teachings concerning Adam and Eve
4) Defining concupiscence as a lack
5) Genesis 3:10 and the self-awareness of the first man

In this video we continue examining concupiscence. In particular, we discuss:
1) How shame and concupiscence introduced a change within the communion of persons
2) How shame and concupiscence changed man's perception of the body as the substratum for the communion of persons
3) How concupiscence leads to the difficulty of identifying the body within the sphere of subjectivity

This audience continues the analysis of TOB 30 which is examining the meaning of dominate in Genesis 3:16. In this video we discuss:
1) Shame as transformation of the human spirit
2) The meaning of man who is dominates woman
3) How domination perverts the communion of persons
4) How domination deforms the spousal meaning of the body

In this video we discuss:
1) How concupiscence leads to appropriation
2) The duty of men to be a guardian of the communion of persons
3) The distinction between two meanings of "my"
4) Negative consequences of concupiscence

In this audience, we begin analyzing who Jesus' listeners were and how they would interpret the Sermon on the Mount. This video focuses on the Legislative interpretation of the 6th commandment against committing adultery. The history of this legislative interpretation shows us its limitations since it accepted polygamy within its institutions. JPII argues that this led to a perversion in understanding the 6th commandment, which requires monogamy.

In this video we continue discussing the prophetic tradition of the 6th commandment against adultery. In particular, we talk about
1) The prophet Hosea
2) The prophet Ezekiel
3) The analogy of marital love between God and Israel and the corresponding language of idolatry as adultery
4) The sinfulness of adultery as antithetical to the marital covenant between man and woman

In this video we discuss:
1) Themes in Sirach 23:17-22 concerning concupiscence
2) Christ's use of the concept "look" in describing concupiscent desire
3) The philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre in regards to concupiscence and "the look"

In this video we:
1) Connect the concepts of intentionality, the "look" and desire
2) Discuss how desire reinterprets the existence of the other as an object to be consumed
3) Talk about the role of the sexual urge in our lives in consideration of concupiscence

In this video we continue our discussion of TOB 42. TOB 42 raised the important question of whether one can commit adultery with their spouse. We present JPII's answer to the question and the role of concupiscence in answer it. We also discuss the notion of purity of heart.

In this video we continue addressing the question raised in TOB 44 concerning whether the heart is to be accused or not due to the fact of concupiscence. One solution is Manichaeism, which believed that the body, sex, and procreation are evil. Here in TOB 45 JPII definitively rejects this interpretation. The Christian message is instead an appeal to the human heart. This video further discusses:
1) The difference in ethos of Manichaeism and Christianity
2) How the sexual revolution is really a kind of Manichaeism

In this video we come back to the topic of eros, the role of eros within the New Testament ethos. JPII reinterprets the Platonic view of eros within the teachings of Jesus Christ and the New Testament, giving us a new way of thinking about the erotic.

In this video we transition to analyzing the words of St. Paul in light of the Sermon on the Mount. Here we talk about some general points JPII makes about the purity of heart, continence, how Christ is the reference point for understanding morality, and an objection to the New Testament ethos.

In this video we begin our analysis of St. Paul's concept of life according to the Spirit and its connection Christ's purity of heart, starting with Galatians 5. In particular, we talk about
1) The meaning of flesh in St. Paul
2) The life according to the spirit versus life according to the flesh
3) The theological concept of justification
4) Romans 8
5) The fruit of the Spirit

In this video we discuss Galatians 5:13-14. In particular, we talk about:
1) Two kinds of freedom
2) Purity versus impurity
3) The task of self-mastery and introducing 1 Thess. 4:3-7

In this video we discuss 1 Cor. 12:18, 22–25. St. Paul describes some members of the body as "unpresentable", which JPII grounds in the concept of sexual shame and builds off of it the virtue of reverence for the body as part of being pure in heart.