The Theology of the Body Institute has opened its website. The Theology of the Body Institute "seeks to permeate the culture with a vision of sexuality that appeals to the deepest yearnings of the human heart for love and union." If you are unfamiliar with the Theology of the Body, it's a set of talks on human sexuality given by John Paul II, and they are absolutely incredible. John Paul wanted to come up with a "positive" theology of sexuality rather than one based on "don't do this, don't do that". George Weigel, author of Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, calls this papal study of human sexuality “one of the boldest reconfigurations of Catholic theology in centuries” — a “theological time-bomb set to go off with dramatic consequences ...perhaps in the twenty-first century.” It's a deeply Biblical teaching but a dynamic one that appeals to the sense of reason that so dominates our culture today. This stuff is life-changing — you've never heard erotic and conjugal love affirmed in a Catholic context like this before.
As for the Institute itself, they aim to promote Theology of the Body in both the secular and Christians spheres. From their website, "Through graduate and undergraduate courses, seminars, workshops, books, articles, newsletters, pamphlets, audio and video recordings, and exposure in popular media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the Internet, Theology of the Body Institute seeks to penetrate and permeate the culture with a vision of sexuality that appeals to the deepest yearnings of the human heart for love and union."
