Reflection on September 5, 1979 –

http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2tb1.htm

The first thing that came to mind was that these talks began in the context of preparing for a significant conference to discuss the family unit and its importance. When you think of Theology of the Body, you think of husband and wife, male and female, God and man, sex, and many other things. I don’t know if the family unit is something that would normally come to mind. I think it puts the entire Theology of the Body into a context right away. Today we are seeing the idea of what “family” means dissolve. More children are born to single parents than married, gay marriage is changing what the definition of parents mean, and those that try to defend the tradition of a traditional nuclear family are being condemned and labeled bigots. All that we are going to learn about the importance, necessity, of husband and wife, male and female, will all be under the context of the importance of the family unit to the faith community and the community as a whole. We can see what the dissolving of the family unit has done to our society and the morality of the secular world, yet it increasingly wants to move further and faster in the same direction, like a runaway train heading for disaster. Hopefully going through this Theology of the Body will not only give us a better understanding of the relationship between man and woman, husband and wife, but what that means for the family unit as a whole.

It amazes me that so many Christians accept divorce so readily, especially the ones that are so adamant about Sola Scriptura. It is obvious that Christ is teaching against divorce. The ones in favor of divorce are the Pharisees. Anyone that has a minimal understanding of the Gospels will tell you that a Christian should follow what Christ says as opposed to the Pharisees. They are propped up, time and again, as the example of what not to do. Yet, if your Christian fellowship or gathering teaches that divorce is fine, you are siding with the Pharisees. I do not understand how that can be glossed over so easily.

Words I looked up –

Juridical - of or pertaining to law or jurisprudence; legal. (Had a pretty good idea, but wanted to see if it meant more than I thought)

Casuistic - pertaining to casuists or casuistry.

Casuistry - specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; sophistry. (Made much more sense seeing how the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus.)

Interlocutor - a person who takes part in a conversation or dialogue.

In Extenso – At full length