Theology of the Body: Elevating the Material

It would seem that, in a modern world which over-emphasizes the material, it may be counter-productive to elevate that which needs no further elevation. However, if we look at what material is being elevated, and how it is being "elevated", it is not so clear that "we are living in a material world".

What's Going On?

When we think of the ways the culture elevates the material, we quickly realize the true problem. Beer commercials "elevate" the material bodies of women to promote their product ("Drink this beer, and hot half-naked women will mud wrestle in front of you"), or clothing companies elevate the material in order to convince you to buy their product ("wear this mini-skirt and that cute boy will notice you"). Heck, even on a less shallow level, many Scientists will claim that their is nothing beyond the material, or the matter that we can sense and analyze. "So, Samuel, how is it that the culture needs to elevate the material even more than it already does?" A good answer (via analogy) to that comes from a fantastic chastity speaker by the name of Matthew Fradd. He says "The problem with pornography is not that it shows too much, but rather that it shows too little". In "elevating" the material to a position of sola materia (or matter alone), the culture in reality devalues the material. Let's use another analogy to drive this home. One of the more incredible parts of the human anatomy is the brain. It may be (depending upon your anatomical fancies), the most incredible part of the body. However, if we were to sever the brain from the human person and attempt to elevate it as a human in itself- it does not elevate the brain, it devalues it. The brain can only find its value when in connection with the whole human person. In such a context, the brain can perform heart surgery, write a play (or a blog), or fly to the moon. But outside of the human person, the brain is simply a collection of cells. So too, the material is nothing without acknowledgement of the entire reality of existence- matter and spirit.

The Truth of the Matter

Side-note: the pun was totally unintended! Anyway, the material is only truly elevated when it is placed in the context of the entirety of reality. In particular to the topic of discussion (Theology of the Body): the Human Body is GOOD, and Sexual Intercourse is GOOD- it's great actually (from what I've heard). God commands us to be fruitful and multiply, and Genesis 2:25 says "The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame." They felt no shame, because in their pre-fallen state they saw the beauty and the glory of their bodies in the greater context of the whole human person. Furthermore, it is through the Human Body that God made himself incarnate, died on the cross, and rose from the dead- redeeming us of our sins and iniquities. Another side-note: I think people too often underestimate how incredible that is. If I was God (which, I am not), I would totally be incarnate as a fire-breathing, flying, Ox. But he didn't, he came as a man, and that is incredible. Moving on. However, all these examples which clearly elevate the human body, do not do so at the detriment of the rest of the human person. God became incarnate as a man, and in doing so, elevates humanity bodily and spiritually above the heavenly hosts and into His very self. Through Human sexuality we partake in the spiritual eros and agape through which God created the world. These are things that the cherubim and seraphim cannot partake in, and it is why Lucifer himself fell- because he couldn't accept that this creature, made from dirt and subject to the laws of nature, should rise above him and into God's very being. The body and the material are incredibly invaluable, but that value is only realized in connection with the spirit.

St. Augustine says "it must be firmly established that virtue, the condition of right living, holds command over the parts of the body from her throne in the mind" (City of God, Book 1, Chapter 16). The body and the material are elevated to their highest when they have conformed to the will of God in His creation, through the virtue of chastity. In doing so, we elevate the body to the status of a person, who not only has a body, but a spirit, a soul, and a will. In recognizing that people's bodies are not simply bodies but people, we not only elevate the value of the person, but we elevate the value of the body. The human body is the element through which we are most definitively connected with Christ (yes, as Catholics we believe that He also had a human soul, spirit and will, but throughout time these have been questioned far more often than the human body of Christ). Furthermore, through the sexual act we are so blessed as to participate in the creating eros and agape that is God's love. But when the body is separated from the whole person- body, soul, spirit, and will- it alone cannot partake of these two mystical realities. But through the whole person, the human body is able to participate in God's creative act through sexual intercourse and is united to Him through Christ's flesh- which in this not-so-humble theologian's opinion elevates the body to the Highest of Highs (or the Holiest of Holies).

God Bless,