This week (May 24th-May 31st) we will be studying the chapters "The Way of the Gospel" up to and including "The Voice of Wisdom." Happy Week-Before-Memorial Day!
Hello Everyone! Happy Memorial Day! I had a few thoughts that I'd like to share with you (and forgive me if I'm just talking to myself...):
The first thing that struck me was the theme of the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law. I'm sure I'm restating the obvious when I say this, but sort of the crux of theology of the body is about the spirit versus the letter. The letter says that because we can, we should. The Spirit says we can and we should, but as we were in the beginning. This carries over to everything. I know I personally get hung up in doing things the right way. I like rubrics and checklists and solid boundaries. God is insufferably un-categorical and un-checklistable. If nothing else, we should take away a reminder that before making judgments or decisions we should examine whether we are following the spirit or the letter of the law.
I also was struck for the first time by what Jesus really meant when He said "I came not to abolish but to fulfill the law." It's as if we didn't really know what the law was for, and since Jesus came, he came to reveal why we were following this rule, and consequently a new attitude and deeper love of the rules. This is what it means to have the law written on our hearts. I think our consciences always know what God's true intention is; that's why we have consciences. If we have studied God's law (and sometimes even when we haven't) and we listen to our gut, it usually leads us in the path that follows the spirit of the law. When we ignore it or allow it to be deceived by evil, we end up looking like an idiot or someone gets hurt. In the "Legalized Sin" chapter, it was amazing to me to be reminded of how many "loopholes" were in the "law" regarding marriage. I'm almost certain the people in Moses', David's, and Solomon's day knew on some level that this was not the way we were supposed to love. Even today, I think people know this is not how we are supposed to love. We have legalized sin again. We have divorce, successive polygamy, etc, which are legally acceptable but cannot be justified if we truly subscribe to the true meaning of the body.
I was taken aback by the similarity between the Old Testament prophets' descriptions of Israel's infidelity and Christ's descriptions of adultery. This makes sense when we think of our relationship with God as a marriage between Christ and the church, as bridegroom and bride. Polygamy and unfaithfulness in marriage damages the relationship of the man and the woman. Sin and unfaithfulness damage our relationship with God.
Finally, I'm totally going to read the Book of Wisdom now. I for one want to learn how better to be a good woman of God and a good wife if/when I marry. I know this was probably not the main idea of this chapter, but Sisters in Christ, how much power we have as women of God. We are to be models of faith and virtue. Look at Mary! She was such a woman of faith and look what she did for us! I was reading a little more about women covering their heads during prayer/mass and the one article I read wrote that we are to be models to the angels (which I assume can go for men and women). It's a little daunting, but DANG, I really want to be a strong and holy Christian woman!
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Hello Everyone! Happy Memorial Day!
I had a few thoughts that I'd like to share with you (and forgive me if I'm just talking to myself...):
The first thing that struck me was the theme of the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law. I'm sure I'm restating the obvious when I say this, but sort of the crux of theology of the body is about the spirit versus the letter. The letter says that because we can, we should. The Spirit says we can and we should, but as we were in the beginning. This carries over to everything. I know I personally get hung up in doing things the right way. I like rubrics and checklists and solid boundaries. God is insufferably un-categorical and un-checklistable. If nothing else, we should take away a reminder that before making judgments or decisions we should examine whether we are following the spirit or the letter of the law.
I also was struck for the first time by what Jesus really meant when He said "I came not to abolish but to fulfill the law." It's as if we didn't really know what the law was for, and since Jesus came, he came to reveal why we were following this rule, and consequently a new attitude and deeper love of the rules. This is what it means to have the law written on our hearts. I think our consciences always know what God's true intention is; that's why we have consciences. If we have studied God's law (and sometimes even when we haven't) and we listen to our gut, it usually leads us in the path that follows the spirit of the law. When we ignore it or allow it to be deceived by evil, we end up looking like an idiot or someone gets hurt. In the "Legalized Sin" chapter, it was amazing to me to be reminded of how many "loopholes" were in the "law" regarding marriage. I'm almost certain the people in Moses', David's, and Solomon's day knew on some level that this was not the way we were supposed to love. Even today, I think people know this is not how we are supposed to love. We have legalized sin again. We have divorce, successive polygamy, etc, which are legally acceptable but cannot be justified if we truly subscribe to the true meaning of the body.
I was taken aback by the similarity between the Old Testament prophets' descriptions of Israel's infidelity and Christ's descriptions of adultery. This makes sense when we think of our relationship with God as a marriage between Christ and the church, as bridegroom and bride. Polygamy and unfaithfulness in marriage damages the relationship of the man and the woman. Sin and unfaithfulness damage our relationship with God.
Finally, I'm totally going to read the Book of Wisdom now. I for one want to learn how better to be a good woman of God and a good wife if/when I marry. I know this was probably not the main idea of this chapter, but Sisters in Christ, how much power we have as women of God. We are to be models of faith and virtue. Look at Mary! She was such a woman of faith and look what she did for us! I was reading a little more about women covering their heads during prayer/mass and the one article I read wrote that we are to be models to the angels (which I assume can go for men and women). It's a little daunting, but DANG, I really want to be a strong and holy Christian woman!
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