Created as Male & Female: God's Original Plan - Talk 2

By Jack Chui

Theology of the Body - Talk 2. Is about going back to where it all began... to the very beginning in Genesis and the intention of God's whole creation of us as people - man and woman. We need this because history has morphed what sex really is about. There are different views of sex now - depending on who you hang around, but JPII in TB tries to enlighten us on what the truth is meant to be (as best he humanly can) in a series of his reflections of Genesis.

One big caveat of Genesis is that the book shouldn't be taken literally and should be appreciated as a symbolic representation of a deeper understanding. It written in symboli lanugage to help us understand a deeper spiritual truth. I didn't actually understand the book or at least the story of creation like this but after the 2nd talk, this makes more sense for me. God inspired the writer of Genesis to write a story of creation in a way which we humans could understand it at the time --- and a that time us humans didn't know a lot =P

A lot of the below are just notes which I've written. All of it is good, but not all of it makes perfect sense or is understandable to me (some things have to be a mystery right =P) I didn't take a lot out that was mind blowing or anything so best I can do is just rehash the bits I found useful - which is most of it. The reflections are apparently very deep so this only scratches the surface, but I think its good enough for me...

JPII talks about 3 fundamental truths of Genesis.

1. Original Solitude - Man is "Alone" in the World

A-Dam is actually the Hebrew word for "man". So when Genesis mentions "Adam", its more that God is talking about 'man' or people rather than a person called Adam...

"It is not good that the man should be alone" Gen 2:18. This is a reference to human beings (male and female) are "alone" in the visible world as a person. We (humans) are spiritual because God 'breathed' into Adam. Adam realises he's "different" from the animals. We have freedom - the capacity to choose between good and evil. Animals do not have the capacity for evil or love. Man is "spiritual" - Freedom and Love are spiritual.

Adam discovers a lot of the above by looking at his body. He's different to the animals by their look, but similar in other ways - yet he still reached the conviction that he was 'alone'. Maybe a blunt way of putting this is that as a male, he wasn't just hard wired to go and have sex with all the other female animals...

2. Original Unity - Called to Live in Relationship

Man can't be alone, because we need someone to actually love...

"Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh" Gen 2:24.

Becoming 'one flesh' refers not only to the joining of 2 bodies but is a "sacramental" expression which corresponds with a deep spiritual communion of persons. A sacrament makes visible what is invisible - something a wedding ring is to marriage. The sexual plan is not the result of sin - it was the plan from the beginning - "be fruitful and multiply", "and God saw that it was good". Men and women were designed to live in the image of God - relationship/sex is the original blessing of creation! Our bodies were meant to reveal the inner mystery of life of the Trinity.

* Does our society view our fertility as a blessing or curse?

3. Original Nakedness - Naked with Shame

The key for understanding God's original plan for man and woman. (I'm not sure how this is meant to be "key" but I'll take it from JPII =). God created sexual desire to be a free gift of love - to express love.

"And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed" Gen 2:25

We experience sexual desire only as the desire to love in God's image. It signifies the original good of God's creation. There's no shame (or fear) in love.

A man's body makes no sense by itself - with woman 'things' just fit! Man and Woman were pure - they saw God's goodness in their bodies. Jesus loved us by giving his body - we are called to be a gift to each other and sex is meant to be a self donation for the good of the other.

So why don't we believe (or at least society) believe in the above?

!! Original Sin - Questioning the Gift

God is the 'creator' and we are the 'creation'. We are the receivers from God just like women are receivers in the act of sex. The serpent targets the woman because She represents humanity to open up God's gift - God wants to impregnate our humanity with his divine life - us humans.

Because we are the receivers from God so we are supposed to discover good and evil. Instead, eating the apple has 'opened our eyes' and so now we start to create or determine what is good and evil. We conceive God as a slave driver - or a killjoy, when in fact, God is perfect love.

God's love 'died' in our hearts, sexual desire became inverted - self seeking. We desire sex for selfish pleasure. Eve covers her body because it is so very good, to protect her dignity against lust. Lust is sexual desire without God's love. Lust causes us almost to stoop back to the level of animals, yet we still know we're called to more - we're called to love.