An Evaluation of How John Paul Il’s Critics Engage the Arguments that He Uses to Support Natural Family Planning and to Oppose the Use of Artificial Birth Control. Thesis Submitted to The School of Religious Studies of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Master of Theology in the Religious Studies Department By Daniel Joseph Engel University of Dayton Dayton, Ohio June, 2004 Approved by: ABSTRACT AN EVALUATION OF HOW JOHN PAUL Il’S CRITICS ENGAGE THE ARGUMENTS THAT HE USES TO SUPPORT NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING AND TO OPPOSE THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL. Name: Engel, Daniel Joseph University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. Dennis Doyle This thesis seeks to study the arguments that John Paul II uses to support Natural Family Planning and to oppose the use of Artificial Birth Control. It seeks also to evaluate which of the critics’ arguments further this debate by accurately portraying and engaging John Paul Il’s positions and which ones misrepresent what he is saying. After a thorough reading of the arguments that have been presented by John Paul II and his critics, this thesis intends to demonstrate that most of the critics’ arguments fall within three categories. The first category includes those arguments that misrepresent John Paul Il’s positions and thus hinder the debate by misleading people. The second category includes those arguments that accurately present John Paul Il’s positions, but that fail to really advance this debate because they do not develop a sustained argument against those positions. The third category of arguments are those arguments which accurately engage John Paul Il’s positions and further this debate because the reasons for their arguments are developed against John Paul Il’s actual positions. The conclusion of this thesis is that more study and debate needs to continue over the arguments presented in the second and third categories so that people will be able to make an informed decision and not be mislead by unsubstantiated arguments. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank those who have been instrumental in the creation of this thesis. A great deal of thanks goes to Dr. Dennis Doyle for all of the times he read my rough drafts and offered his encouragement, constructive criticisms, and guidance. There are many others who have had a role in this research. Behind the scenes were my wife Chrissy and daughter Anna who sacrificed many hours of family time so this thesis could be completed; thanks go to Christopher West whose shocking interpretations of John Paul Il’s works whet my appetite to discover if the pope really was saying such things about love, sex, marriage, and eternity; to Dr. Therese Lysaught whose willingness to supervise an independent study on John Paul Il’s writings and unwillingness to accept mediocre work provided the foundational research for this thesis; to Dr. Kelly Johnson and Dr. Brad Kallenberg who agreed to be readers on this thesis though they did not know me, to the library staff at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, particularly Sr. Edwina and Rita who supplied me with copious amounts of books and articles to do my research, even when books were overdue; to my parents whose sacrificial love and work ethic have played the greatest role in my understanding of married life; to John Paul II whose writings formed one of the foundations for this thesis; and to his critics, whose views challenge those who support Natural Family Planning to think more deeply on the issue and to seek answers to their concerns. Finally, I would like to offer my greatest thanks to God, through whom we are wonderfully made, redeemed, and reborn so that all things are possible. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................ vi INTRODUCTION: THE BIRTH CONTROL DEBATE.......................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: BUILDING A CASE FOR ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL.........................3 The Purposes of Marriage and Sex Throughout Church History............................3 Casti Connubii................................................................................................................. 7 The Second Vatican Council..........................................................................................9 A Summary of the Revisionists’ Arguments from the So-called Majority Report............................................................................. 13 Criticisms of Humanae Vitae....................................................................................... 17 Revisionists’ Teachings are Not a Break from Traditional Values....................... 19 Various Criticisms About NFP and the Condemnation of ABC............................ 24 THEOLOGIANS WITH CRITICISMS OF JOHN PAUL Il’S ARGUMENTS.................... 27 Luke Timothy Johnson...............................................................................................27 Ronald Modras............................................................................................................. 34 Richard Grecco............................................................................................................. 37 Lisa Sowle Cahill...........................................................................................................38 Summary......................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER TWO: JOHN PAUL Il’S VISION OF GOD’S PLAN FOR HUMAN LOVE.....43 Natural Family Planning................................................................................................43 The Phenomenology and Personalism of John Paul II............................................46 John Paul Il’s The Theology of the Body...................................................................59 The Sacredness and Unity of the Body and Soul...................................................66 The Difference Between Loving and Using Each Other..........................................69 Scripture Reveals What Spousal Love is Supposed to Be....................................72 NFP Compared to ABC..............................................................................................77 Summary....................................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF HOW WELL THE CRITICS ENGAGE JOHN PAUL Il’S ARGUMENTS............................................................. 81 Body, Passions, Emotions, and Sensuality............................................................. 81 Procreation and Concupiscence..................................................................................89 Dualism........................................................................................................................ 93 Johnson’s Criticisms................................................................................................... 95 Emphasis on Procreation to the Denigration of the Relationship.......................101 The Couples’ Experience Is Not Taken Seriously.................................................103 The Changing of the Kantian Imperative and the Problem of Using People.............................................................................107 vi Biblical Scholarship and Exegesis................................................................... 109 John Paul Il’s Positions Undermine Women..................................................... 113 An Unlivable and Inhuman View of Sexuality and Marriage..............................117 HIV: Condoms and Genocide......................................................................... 121 Conclusions.......................................................................................................122 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................ 124 vii INTRODUCTION THE BIRTH CONTROL DEBATE For many years one of the most passionately debated topics in the Catholic Church has been the use of artificial birth control (ABC) within marriage. On numerous occasions the Church has issued statements condemning the use of ABC and sterilization for the purpose of fertility regulation. The only option presented as a moral means of fertility regulation is natural family planning (NFP). Many people mistakenly believe the Church accepts NFP and opposes other forms of fertility regulation because NFP relies upon nature and the others do not. This is not the position of John Paul II; he uses a phenomenological analysis of scripture and a philosophy of personalism as a basis to examine the fundamental rights and responsibilities of all persons, including the realm of human sexuality.1 John Paul Il’s approach represents an attempt to explain the official Catholic teachings in a new way, by connecting people’s experiences with the moral norms accepted by the Catholic Church. The morality of different birth control methods has been debated so extensively that in 1995 James Gaffney said “it is no longer imaginable that any new arguments will be advanced either for or against the reasonableness” of the Church’s