Theology of the body

Catechesis on the book of

Genesis
Robert Colquhoun
Robert543@gmail.com
Essential Points of Genesis
We are made in the image and
likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-7)
God created male and female
First commandment of God to man,
“Be fruitful and multiply”
God gives man dominion over the
earth
God created out of nothing.
On Imaging God in the
communion of Persons
“Formed in the image of God, aslo
inasmuch as they form a true
communion of persons, the first
man and the first woman must
constitute the beginning and the
model of that communion for all
men and women, who, in any
period, are united so intimately to
be one flesh.” (Nov 21, 1979)
On Imaging God in the
communion of persons
“Man becomes the image of God not so much in
the moment of solitude as in the moment of
communion. Right ‘from the beginning,’ He is
not only an image in which the solitude of a
person who rules the world is reflected, but also
, and essentially, an image of an inscrutable
divine communion of persons.” (Nov 14, 1979).
Essential Points of Genesis
“God saw everything that he had made,
and behold, it was very good.” (Gn 1:31)
They were “Naked without shame” (Gn 2)
Original Innocence – outside the sphere
of knowledge between good and evil.
Naked without shame
“According to this passage, the man and
woman saw themselves, as it were,
through the mystery of creation. They saw
themselves in this way, before knowing
that they were naked… They see and
know each other with all the peace of the
interior gaze, which creates precisely the
fullness of the intimacy of persons.” (Nov
14, 1979)
Further Points of Genesis
Gaudium et Spes n. 24: Man “The only
creature on earth that God has wanted for
its own sake.”
Man, with intellect and will, can form
relationship of communion, solidarity and
self giving.
Man can enter relationship of knowledge
and love of God.
God created the human soul.
Catholics can believe in evolution.
Essential Points of Genesis

Two accounts of creation:

Elohist – Genesis 1
Yahwist – Genesis 2
Genesis 2:18 – “It is not good that man
should be alone- I will make him a
helper fit for him.”
Self consciousness of man.
Creation is a gift to man.
The Mystery of the tree of
knowledge
“You may freely eat of every tree
in the garden, but of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat of it you shall die.”
(Gn 2:16-7).
Genesis 2
“Bone of my bone, flesh of my
flesh” Gn 2:23.
Adam rejoices in the discovery of
woman.
“Two become one flesh” Gn 2:24
Conjugal act –a ‘powerful bond
established by the creator.’
Nuptial meaning of the
body
“Man can fully discover his true
self only in a sincere giving of
himself.” GS 24
Disinterested love
Personalistic Norm
The principle that recognizes that
the only proper and adequate
attitude toward human persons is
love.
The opposite of love is to use
someone as a means to an end.
The Fall
Eve was tricked into questioning the
generosity and motives of God. She
thought she was missing out on
something. Adam did nothing to defend
or protect her.
Satan convinced them that if God had
his way, they would live miserable lives.
Adam and Eve lacked trust in God.
To what extent do we live out this
original lie today?
On Shame
“Man is ashamed of his body because of
lust. In fact, he is ashamed not so much
of his body as precisely of lust. He is
ashamed of his body owing to lust. He is
ashamed of his body owing to that state
of his spirit to which theology and
psychology give the same name: desire
or lust, although with a meaning that is
not quite the same.” (May 28, 1980).
Shame is absorbed by Love.
Do we have to believe
everything in Genesis as literally
true?

“Following the contemporary philosophy

of religion and that of language, it can
be said that the language in question is
a mythical one. In this case the term
‘myth’ does not designate a fabulous
content, but merely an archaic way of
expressing a deeper content.” (Nov 7,
1979).
Therefore, the answer is negative.