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Theology of the Body
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January 6, 2025Theology of the Body (TOB)
What is the Theology of the Body (TOB)? And why does it matter for youth? The little acronym “TOB” packs a big punch in today’s culture. I liken it to a treasure chest with an abundance of both quality and quantity of gems. Similarly, the purpose of this monthly column will help you discover the many different gems of TOB and how they can help you understand and teach nearly every concept and subject… even math! Some of the more obvious applications of TOB are in religion and literature, but what can be most exciting is to see how this set of teachings can help a student be a better scientist and athlete too.
Some understand TOB to only teach about sexuality. This is only partially true. In fact, only 1 in 12 of the widely adopted TOB standards has to do with sexuality. What are the other 11 about? While that answer will be fully flushed out in the series of monthly columns that follow, here are some of the main tenets of TOB:
1. Your life is a treasured, unrepeatable, unique gift.
2. Your unique body expresses your unique soul.
3. Your key relationships help you live for Heaven.
4. Your relationships come fully alive through mutual self-gift.
Saint John Paul II was really onto something big when he started explaining this en masse in the 70s and 80s. Were these concepts new to our faith at that time? Absolutely not. Were they truths being drowned out by the rise of a materialistic individualistic culture? Yes. JPII was able to profoundly see and articulate that the culture had the anthropology of the person all wrong. The culture said that people are to be used, not utilized; that people are a nuisance, not a gift; that the body can be used in ways separate from or even counter to the purpose of the soul. JPII presented this teaching of TOB to re-focus a centuries-old understanding of the dignity and purpose of human personhood as first taught by Christ.
This column will explore how both educators and parents can help apply principals of TOB to all subjects and areas of student life. You will get handy tips and resources for every major subject studied in school, all the specialties, as well as areas of student life such as school Mass and CYO sports.
In the entry of my home I have a large canvas print that says, “The world needs who you were made to be.” I want every person who visits my home to know this truth. I want every person in my life to know that they are a unique, treasured, unrepeatable gift from God. It is on this truth that the foundation of the Theology of the Body is built. We are made by and for God, and in every subject, every activity, every single action we can honor this truth. This is not a teaching to be relegated to the end of religion class; it is a truth to be celebrated and announced in all ways, at all times. Because within this truth lies the answers to life’s most challenging questions and difficulties. If we always begin with this truth in mind and allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we will never, ever land at an incorrect conclusion.
I am so pleased to be able to walk beside you in the exploration of the Theology of the Body through this monthly column. For more information on the TOB standards mentioned above (also called the Standards for Christian Anthropology), and to read them in entirety please see the Resource of the Month (below).
Resource of the Month: Standards for Christian Anthropology
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/standards-christian-anthropology/
