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Locating a Spousal Meaning of the Body in the Summa Theologiae

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Locating a Spousal Meaning of the Body in the Summa Theologiae THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Locating a Spousal Meaning of the Body in the Summa Theologiae: A Comparison of a Central Idea Articulated in the Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II With the Mature Work of St. Thomas Aquinas A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Sacred Theology © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Thomas Petri Washington, D.C. 2010 Locating a Spousal Meaning of the Body in the Summa Theologiae: A Comparison of a Central Idea Articulated in the Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II With the Mature Work of St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Petri, S.T.D. Director: John S. Grabowski, Ph.D. This study offers a comparison of the mature thought of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa theologiae with The Theology of the Body catecheses of Pope John Paul II, specifically concerning the notion of “the spousal meaning of the body” that the pope articulates. The study argues that The Theology of the Body was one of several attempts, and certainly the most elaborate, by John Paul to defend Humanae vitae, the 1968 encyclical on birth control by Pope Paul VI. There are two premises argued by this study. First, that the birth control debate was partly the result of an insufficient methodology in moral theology at the time, which overemphasized the exterior structure of human action at the expense of a unified view of the human person. Second, that John Paul sought to reconnect theology with the experience of human persons. Therefore, this dissertation first offers an historical narrative describing the departure from the unified theology articulated by St. Thomas Aquinas which yielded the deficient theological methodology of the early twentieth century implicated in the debate surrounding birth control. This study then offers a survey of John Paul’s pre-pontifical work. Through an examination of that corpus, the study argues for a certain respect John Paul had for Aquinas even though he was fascinated by the consciousness-based philosophical school of phenomenology. In his published defenses of Humanae vitae, John Paul argued that since the human body represents the person to the world, the body speaks a certain language. In The Theology of the Body, he would insist that the body has a spousal meaning—a drive for another person to whom one can make a complete gift of self. This spousal meaning of the body is inherent in the constitution of every person. While John Paul did not offer any positive reference to Aquinas in his Theology of the Body, this study explores Aquinas’s mature work to conclude that his metaphysical anthropology provides a suitable foundation for the notion of the pope’s spousal meaning of the body. At the same time, John Paul’s articulation corrects some deficiencies in Aquinas’s own thought. This dissertation by Thomas Petri fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in sacred theology approved by John S. Grabowski, Ph.D., as Director, and by William C. Mattison, Ph.D., and John D. Corbett, O.P., Ph.D. as Readers. ____________________________________ John S. Grabowski, Ph.D., Director ____________________________________ William C. Mattison, Ph.D., Reader ____________________________________ John D. Corbett, O.P., Ph.D., Reader ii Contents Signature page............................................................................................................ ii Table of Contents....................................................................................................... iii List of Abbreviations................................................................................................................. vi General Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: From Aquinas to the Manualists............................................................... 13 Introduction................................................................................................................................. 13 I. From St. Thomas Aquinas to Nominalism......................................................................... 14 A. The Early Penitentials and Confessionals 14 B. The Synthesis of St. Thomas Aquinas 16 C. William of Ockham and Nominalism 29 II. After William of Ockham.................................................................................................... 38 A. The Development of Casuistry after the Thirteenth Century 38 B. The Birth of Neo-Thomism 44 Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 2: Personalism in the Debate on Marriage and Contraception.................... 56 Introduction................................................................................................................................. 56 I. The Stirrings for Change Before 1953................................................................................. 57 A. The Anglican Communion and Casti Connubii 57 B. Personalism and Marriage: Dietrich von Hildebrand and Herbert Doms 62 C. The Roman Rota and Pope Pius XII 67 II. The First Phase of the Debate (1953-1962)...................................................................... 70 A. The Hesperidin Pill and the Principle of Double Effect 70 B. The Therapeutic Use of the Progesterone Pill 72 C. The Emergence of Personalist Arguments in the Birth Control Debate 75 III. The Second Phase of the Debate (1962-1968)................................................................ 78 A. John Rock and the Widening of the Birth Control Debate 78 B. The Second Vatican Council 82 C. The Reports of the Papal Commission 87 IV. Humanae Vitae and the Aftermath...................................................................................... 95 A. The Encyclical 95 B. Reactions to the Encyclical 102 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................108 Chapter 3: The Moral Theory of Karol Wojtyla........................................................... 111 Introduction................................................................................................................................111 I. Karol Wojtyla’s Early Studies............................................................................................... 113 A. Experience and Theology: Wojtyla Studies St. John of the Cross 113 B. Experience and Philosophy: Wojtyla Studies Max Scheler 118 II. Wojtyla’s Early Teachings.................................................................................................... 124 A. The Lublin Lectures: The Relationship of Phenomenology and Ontology 124 iii B. Development from the Lublin Lectures to Love and Responsibility 128 C. Love and Responsibility 134 III. A Philosophy Matures........................................................................................................ 138 A. The Shift after Love and Responsibility 138 B. The Acting Person 141 C. After The Acting Person 148 Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 4: Karol Wojtyla’s Ethics of Sexuality........................................................... 153 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 153 I. Sexuality and Marriage........................................................................................................... 154 A. The Personalistic Norm and the Sexual Urge 154 B. Love and the Gift of Self 158 C. The Nature of Marriage 162 II. The Body in Wojtyla’s Early Works................................................................................... 169 A. The Religious Experience of Purity 169 B. The Body in Love and Responsibility 172 C. The Body in The Acting Person 175 III. Karol Wojtyla’s Analysis of Humanae Vitae..................................................................... 182 A. Conjugal Love and Responsible Parenthood 184 B. Integration and the Conjugal Act: Its Significance and Meaning 186 Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 193 Chapter 5: The Spousal Meaning of the Body in The Theology of the Body............ 195 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 195 I. The Analysis of Creation....................................................................................................... 198 A. Creation and Original Solitude 198 B. The Body in Creation 203 II. The Meaning of the Body after the Fall............................................................................ 211 A. Sin, Shame, and Concupiscence 211 B. The Redemption of the Body 215 III. The Language of the Body in Marriage........................................................................... 221 A. Consent, the Body, and Truth 221 B. The Moral Norm of Humanae Vitae 226 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 232 Chapter 6: The Anthropology of St. Thomas Aquinas............................................... 238 Introduction
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