Study points for Body and Gift

The Beginning
– The family is the first community, the basic building block of society and the Church
– Jesus tells us that if we want to learn about God’s plan for marriage, we have to begin at the beginning -with God’s original blueprint
– An man and a woman don’t become one flesh on their own - God unites them. Marriage is not a mere social institution. It is a holy union instituted by God; it cannot be dissolved by man

In God’s Image
– The key reference point for understanding our humanity is that we were created in God’s image
Genesis 1 explains four things about man
– man’s relationship to God defines who he is
– humans transcend the natural world; a part of it yet set apart from it
– Man is given stewardship over the earth
– Man alone is made in God’s likeness

Original Innocence
– The first chapter of Genesis is objective, the second is subjective
– The two are interrelated because all our subjective experiences correspond to the objective reality that we are created in God’s image
– To learn God’s intent for marriage, we must look back to the state of original innocence, when Adam and Eve had no knowledge of good and evil

The Promise of Redemption
– The tree of the knowledge of good and evil stands on the dividing line between original innocence and human sinfulness
– God responded to man’s sinfulness with a plan for redemption
– We Christians participate in two histories- human sinfulness and the redemption won by Christ. We are shut off from original innocence, but open to the mystery of redemption

Original Solitude
– What did it mean for the first man to be alone?
– When God said “It is not good for man to be alone” His statement applies to male and female
– Two meanings of original solitude
– Human beings are unique and alone among the living creatures of the earth
– Adam is alone without a suitable companion

Person and Body
– In Genesis 2, three things show that man is above the other animals
– the power of language
– a subject and not an object
– has free will
– Man alone has been chosen for communion with God. Every person has a unique, unrepeatable, exclusive relationship with God.
– Adam becomes aware that he is a person through the body

Death or Immortality
– Many philosophers have spoken of man as divided into two distinct parts - soul and body
– The Biblical view - the fundamental division is between dust and breath - unformed matter and living things
– Man is not a soul inserted into a body - he is a uniform being
– The body reveals man’s identity, giving visible form to his inner life

Original Unity
– The meaning of original unity is rooted in the creation of man as male and female
– Original unity arises from the unity of masculinity and femininity - two complementary ways of “being a body” created in God’s image
– Genesis is mythical in the sense that it truthfully describes things that are beyond human knowledge

The Communion of Persons
– In Genesis, the creation of man is complete when he is created as male and female
– Original solitude made it possible for Adam and Eve to become a “communion of persons” because they were capable of a deep relationship with one another
– Four things enable people to live in communion - Our common human nature, our sharing of the divine image, our free will, our bodies

One Flesh
– Adam and Eve were created to live in unity and harmony
– The one flesh union is most clearly realized in marriage when the spouses give themselves to one another and open themselves to the creation of new life
– Sex is a powerful bond established by the Creator so that husband and wife are no longer two separate individuals, but are now a communion of persons

Original Nakedness
– Original nakedness is the key to understanding the biblical vision of man’s created nature
– Original nakedness is a description of human consciousness inside the minds of Adam and Eve, revealing how they experienced their bodies
– The experience of shame marks the border between original innocence and man’s sinfulness

Unashamed
– The first experience of shame brought a change in the way we experience the meaning of our bodies -
– fear for one’s self in the presence of another self
– fear of being used by another,
– fear of being rejected
– Shame reveals an instinctive need to be accepted and affirmed by the other
– The words “they felt no shame” indicate that Adam and Eve fully understood the meaning of the body; they look at the naked body and see the person

Creation is a Gift
– Adam and Eve looked upon each other in the state of original innocence with wonder and gratitude
– “Nakedness” signifies the original goodness of creation in God’s eyes
– Creation is a radical form of giving because God calls forth creation out of nothingness
– Only man is capable of giving and receiving love, only man can understand Creation as a gift

The Body is a Gift
– Man reach his full potential only by living with, or even more, for someone else
– The fulfillment of our original aloneness comes in living for each other as gifts, in a communion of persons
– The body is a witness that all creation is a gift of love; masculinity and femininity is the sign of a gift
– Human sexuality mirrors the Creator’s love because it is self-giving and fruitful

Free to Love
– Adam and Eve were free from the constraints of sin
– Freedom gives us the power to offer ourselves as a gift
– A man can only find himself by giving himself away
– We fulfill the meaning of our existence by living according to the gift-giving (nuptial) meaning of our bodies
– To achieve freedom, we must learn self control

The Radiance of Love
– Creation is a gift from the Creator’s boundless love
– Grace is the communication of God’s holiness, the radiance of His Spirit
– Happiness is the fruit of love, which can never be eradicated, even by the Fall
– Grace is what enables a man and woman to make a sincere gift to one another

A Gift for Each Other
– Nakedness becomes shameful when the woman is an object for the man,or the man an object for the woman.
– The body ceases to be a gift when we turn it into an object, using it for self-gratification
– Eve discovers herself and the meaning of her femininity because Adam accepts her in the way the Creator meant her to be accepted
– Love begets love

Innocence and History
– Even though sin clouded our perception, it has not changed God’s intent
– Throughout history, the fundamental fact of human existence is that God created them male and female
– Understanding the nuptial meaning of the body is indispensable for knowing who we are, who we were meant to be and how we should live in the world
– It means to make of ourselves a gift and to accept others selflessly

Body and Sacrament
– Man bears the stamp of God’s gift within himself
– The body is a primordial sacrament because It is a visible sign of God’s mystery, the mystery of truth and love
– Through man, created in God’s image, the sacramentality of the world is revealed
– The fruit of love - of which the body is a sign - is not death, but life

Sex and Knowledge
– Man and woman were created for marriage - and procreation
– Adam and Eve were created as brother and sister, sharing the same humanity
– The biblical term “knowledge” signifies the deepest essence of married life – man and woman become one flesh
– This term raises human sexuality above the level of animals to the level of persons

Motherhood
– The mystery of femininity is revealed in motherhood
– When Eve became a mother, the mystery of masculinity was also revealed- the life-giving, fatherly meaning of Adam’s body
– Procreation expands the knowledge shared between man and woman - they more fully understand one another through a third person, sprung from them both
– The woman’s body is the place where the divine image is passed on

The Cycle of Life
– Procreation has such immense dignity because it brings a new image of God into the world
– The generation of new life is the fulfillment of the nuptial meaning of the body
– Every time new life is generated, the world shines with the awe and mystery of creation

The Total Vision of Man
– The Bible is the first place Christians turn to learn the truth about man
– The vision of man in Genesis give us a solid foundation for understanding what the sciences tell us about man in the light of the image of God
– The center of our faith is the Incarnation
– Marriage is a vocation, a path to holiness and salvation
– A solid Biblical understanding of the body is crucial to this vocation