Academic dean echoes criticism of West’s treatment of concupiscence
I plan on making a post in the near future which compiles links to essays and articles from both critics and defenders of the Christopher West brand of Theology of the Body as it currently stands.
EDIT: Do read the article at CNA, but then go to a piece upon which the CNA article is written at the blog of Dr. David Delaney. There is a very rich and productive dialogue taking place in the combox, mostly amongst people with theology backgrounds who are bringing some great insight into the discussion. It has been a dignified discussion, at least through the 30 or so comments I just saw. St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure anybody? Go read: Concupiscence in the West-Schindler Debate at Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex.
I would like to note the following about the author from the CNA article...
Delaney, the academic dean of the Mexican American Catholic College, has a doctorate in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America. He teaches the Theology of the Body at the undergraduate and graduate levels and presents it popularly at parishes. He is currently broadcasting a series on Guadalupe Radio and Catholic television in San Antonio
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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!
Note: The recommended links below are automatically generated by the tool, so they are not necessarily related content.
3 Comments:
I have been commenting on this excellent piece over on his blog. It is phenomenal - explains things very thoroughly and brings up points I have not seen brought up yet.
Agreed.
I hope the dialogue will continue in a dispassionate manner as he asks.
After reading the CNA piece, I think people may want to go over to David Delaney's blog for the original post on which the article was based (the combox is also interesting).
Other recent articles on the West brand of ToB by Delaney includes:
- In All Things, Charity
- Reversing the Analogy: Why the Paschal Candle Is Not a Corporal Symbol of the Marital Act
Here is what the Church teaches on the meaning and kinds of concupiscence (from the Catechism of the Catholic Church):
2514 St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.301 In the Catholic catechetical tradition, the ninth commandment forbids carnal concupiscence; the tenth forbids coveting another's goods.
2515 Etymologically, "concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the "flesh" against the "spirit."302 Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man's moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins.303
2516 Because man is a composite being, spirit and body, there already exists a certain tension in him; a certain struggle of tendencies between "spirit" and "flesh" develops. But in fact this struggle belongs to the heritage of sin. It is a consequence of sin and at the same time a confirmation of it. It is part of the daily experience of the spiritual battle:
For the Apostle it is not a matter of despising and condemning the body which with the spiritual soul constitutes man's nature and personal subjectivity. Rather, he is concerned with the morally good or bad works, or better, the permanent dispositions - virtues and vices - which are the fruit of submission (in the first case) or of resistance (in the second case) to the saving action of the Holy Spirit. For this reason the Apostle writes: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."304
301 Cf. 1 Jn 2:16.
302 Cf. Gal 5:16,17,24; Eph 2:3.
303 Cf. Gen 3:11; Council of Trent: DS 1515.
304 John Paul II, DeV 55; cf. Gal 5:25.
Catechism abbreviations: http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/abbrev.htm
More on concupiscence: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/index/c.htm#Concupiscence
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