Kevin Tierney at Catholic Exchange has written his best post yet on the Theology of the Body, correcting the sex-saturated pop-Catholic misinterpretations of it.
Kevin's article is about shame.
The Westians want us all to be "naked without shame" - as if that were a good thing.
It is a shame that Tierney has to instruct us on shame. It is a shame that shame is presented as a thing that is entirely negative by Catholics who should know better. It is a shame that these same Catholics are so ignorant not only of human nature but also of holy Scripture that they don't recognize how shameful we fallen men actually are.
Tierney alludes to Sirach 4:21
or, in another translation
... which reminds me of 2 Cor. 7:10
And in so far as the Westians are addressing the kind of shame laden with self-loathing that brings us to the sin of despair, they are right in counseling against it. But their program is not that; they want us to be "naked without shame" - in other words to overcome the shame that "is honorable and gracious".
The Greek word for shame that appears in Sirach 4:21 is the same word for shame that Christ uses in rebuking the Laodecians in Rev. 3:18, instructing them to put on the white garments of a Christian "so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen".
Is Our Lord a Puritan, a repressive Manichean? Hasn't He read Christopher West?
Apparently not. The remedy for shame, according to Jesus Christ, is not to remain naked, but to be clothed. Yes, this clothing is symbolic, but Our Lord does not say, "Laodecians, be naked without shame!" but "Laodecians, let me clothe you!"
Nakedness, in Scripture, from the Fall of Man on, is always shameful or at least embarrassing. If we don't feel that shame, there's something wrong with us, for shame is not merely a subjective thing, but an objective reality. When we feel shame for shameful things, our reason is in accord with reality.
Kevin's article is about shame.
The Westians want us all to be "naked without shame" - as if that were a good thing.
It is a shame that Tierney has to instruct us on shame. It is a shame that shame is presented as a thing that is entirely negative by Catholics who should know better. It is a shame that these same Catholics are so ignorant not only of human nature but also of holy Scripture that they don't recognize how shameful we fallen men actually are.
Tierney alludes to Sirach 4:21
There is a sense of shame laden with guilt, and a shame that merits honor and respect.
or, in another translation
for there is a shame that leads to sin and a shame that is honourable and gracious.
... which reminds me of 2 Cor. 7:10
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.
And in so far as the Westians are addressing the kind of shame laden with self-loathing that brings us to the sin of despair, they are right in counseling against it. But their program is not that; they want us to be "naked without shame" - in other words to overcome the shame that "is honorable and gracious".
The Greek word for shame that appears in Sirach 4:21 is the same word for shame that Christ uses in rebuking the Laodecians in Rev. 3:18, instructing them to put on the white garments of a Christian "so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen".
Is Our Lord a Puritan, a repressive Manichean? Hasn't He read Christopher West?
Apparently not. The remedy for shame, according to Jesus Christ, is not to remain naked, but to be clothed. Yes, this clothing is symbolic, but Our Lord does not say, "Laodecians, be naked without shame!" but "Laodecians, let me clothe you!"
Nakedness, in Scripture, from the Fall of Man on, is always shameful or at least embarrassing. If we don't feel that shame, there's something wrong with us, for shame is not merely a subjective thing, but an objective reality. When we feel shame for shameful things, our reason is in accord with reality.
Comments
To insist that fallen man can be "naked without shame" is to make immanent the Eschaton.
The Westian war on Catholic doctrine seems to me to be a war on the intimacy and grace of spousal relations as much as anything else. (If only the women I know invested in West understood this...)