The Theology of the Body is St. John Paul II's teaching that the human body reveals something true about God and about who we are: that we are made in his image, made male and female, made as a union of body and soul, and made for love.

It takes its name from 129 talks he gave during his Wednesday addresses between September 1979 and November 1984. The word theology comes from the Greek theos (God) and logia (word). Theology, then, is literally a "word about God," and the Theology of the Body can be described as a word about God and the body.

Looking for books, studies, or curricula? See our Theology of the Body Resource Guide.

An Adequate Anthropology

St. John Paul II said that in developing these addresses he was trying to provide people with an "adequate anthropology." What does that mean?

The Theology of the Body came out of his extensive study of humanity and philosophy. He witnessed the horrors of Nazism and communism firsthand in Poland during and after World War II. He studied philosophy extensively and found that modern philosophical thought was missing something. The world was losing an appreciation for the interconnectedness between God and man, the world and the Divine, the body and the soul.

The meaning of human life, the definition of healthy relationships, and authentic Christian identity were being lost amid a culture that valued physical comfort and power. When John Paul II said he wanted to give people an "adequate anthropology," he meant he wanted to offer good answers to those questions.

"The physical makes visible the invisible."

Nuts & Bolts

At its core, the Theology of the Body helps us answer two questions:

• Who is God?
• Who am I?

St. John Paul II examines the creation of man and woman in Genesis, Jesus' words in the Gospels, and other Scripture texts to help answer them. Those answers become a lens through which we can view every other part of our lives: our relationships, our worship, our morality, even our culture.

Guiding Points

When answering those two questions, St. John Paul II reminds us:

• God created humanity in his image (Gen 1:26).
• God created humanity male and female (Gen 1:26).
• God created humanity with body and soul (Gen 2:7).
• God saw that humanity, male and female, body and soul, was "very good" (Gen 1:31).

As he examines and explains these texts, St. John Paul II helps us see how God reveals himself to us through the physical world, including and especially through our bodies.

More than "Catholic Sex"

If you have any familiarity with the Theology of the Body at all, it is most likely through Catholic sexual morality. Natural Family Planning advocates, marriage preparation programs, and chastity speakers were among the first to embrace this teaching. It is true that the Theology of the Body addresses sexual morality: sex before and outside marriage, contraception, the definition of marriage, masturbation, and pornography.

It is also true that the Theology of the Body is about far more than sex. More and more Catholic theologians, teachers, speakers, and writers are taking up the many other applications of St. John Paul II's "adequate anthropology."

"The glory of God is man fully alive."

For Your Life

The Theology of the Body covers a vast amount of Scripture and doctrine. It has a reputation for explaining the marital sexual relationship, and it does that well. But its applications touch every part of life:

Nothing New

One of the beautiful things about the Theology of the Body is that it is as old as creation itself.

"What is new is the delivery system — the language, structure and approach that gets the Church's sacramental worldview into the minds of men and women raised in a sexually crazed and morally confused world. Which is why that delivery system is meant to be studied by accountants, lawyers and the guys working the line at the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Ind. It's theology for everyone who needs it. And we all need it."

— Emily Stimpson Chapman, author