National Symposium on the Theology of the Body

Update: See update below.

I believe this is very big news! I don't know why I didn't hear of it before. It will be good for unborn children.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is advertising a National Symposium on the "Theology of the Body" to take place June 15-16, 2007 at the Shaw Conference Centre, Edmonton, Alberta.

Perhaps it symbolizes a major shift for the CanChurch and, if so, one that could indeed mark the beginning of a new sexual revolution.

Certainly the content of TOTB could reshape Canada’s thinking on sexuality and lift it to a higher and holier standard if thoroughly promoted by the Bishops to all Catholics. The fallout to non-Catholic Christians would be correspondingly profound.

The long term results of such revolutionary sexuality could be a reversal of the many perversions of sex which we currently see in Canada, many of them leading inexorably to the killing of unborns.

Go, Bishops, Go! Take this project to the limit. The Bishops need encouragement and I certainly hope they receive it!

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What is the “Theology of the Body?”

Offering a perspective for Protestants, Christianity Today in 2004 featured a review of John Paul’s reflections by Laura Merzig Fabrycky, a graduate of Wheaton College and Virginia Theological Seminary. [Full text here.] A notable excerpt:

Evangelical Protestants have worked hard to promote good sexual ethics, particularly abstinence before marriage, but discussion about the ethics of sex within marriage itself is another matter. Local bookstores offer a cornucopia of Christian sex manuals that rightly make up for years of prudishness, but they usually address positions rather than the heart's posture to God.

Marriage is not simply the arena where we get to "do it" legitimately, says the theologian of the body. God has something to say about "it" just as much as he has something to say about sin, redemption, and the restoration of all things. We have lifted marital sex high, but perhaps we have not plumbed its depths, embracing the spiritual and physical responsibilities that it demands. We have taken gifts and treated them lightly, and we are reaping the whirlwind through broken and spiritually bankrupt marriages in the church.

Dawn Eden speaks on Crosswalk.com of JPII’s book from close personal experience.

First articulated by Pope John Paul II, the theology of the body is espoused by mainline Protestant denominations as well as Roman Catholicism. Focus on the Family, the Protestant ministry founded by Dr. James C. Dobson, offers several helpful articles based on the theology of the body at pureintimacy.org, and there are many good books on the subject, such as Christopher West’s Good News About Sex and Marriage. These are fascinating, life-changing resources, and I can’t recommend them highly enough if you’re looking to explore what Christianity has to say about the deep and mystical meaning of sexual union between man and wife.

Why have a national Symposium on the Theology of the Body? For an answer to that question and an Overview of the Symposium, click here. [You may need to scroll down]

The agenda for the event ...here

"The body... is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine."

Pope John Paul II

Update: For some reason since posting this item just a few hours ago, the links to the Media Release for this event on the CCCB website no longer work. It seems as though the media release has been removed from the CCCB website altogether and the announcement no longer appears on their main page. However, the announcement does appear in detail on the COLF main page. The COLF (Catholic Organization for Life and Family) is an arm of the CCCB.