Ep. 144: Theology of the Body, with Jen Settle
Caitlin:
Welcome to the Woven Well Podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith. Let's get started.
Caitlin:
Welcome back to the Woven Well podcast. As Christians, it's important to welcome God into every area of our lives. Some areas come a little more naturally than others. We pray over whether or not to get married, what career path to pursue, whether or not to buy that house. But what about praying over our bodies, praying about family planning? We may not see these modeled for us nearly as much because it's much more personal of a topic, but you're not alone if you want God to be a part of these areas of your life just as much as those other areas. So how can we encounter God when we think about the very design of our bodies, their purpose, their function? Well, one approach is described through the Theology of the Body. I'm not going to tell you about it just yet because I've brought in a guest who is far more qualified to talk about it than I am. That is Jen Settle. She is the Director of Ongoing Formation at the Theology of the Body Institute. She has a bachelor's and master's degree in Theology and Parish Ministry and completed the Spiritual Direction Certificate Program through Divine Mercy University in 2020. She's also authored or contributed to several books, and we are so glad to have her on the show with us today. Jen, welcome.
Jen Settle:
Ah, thank you so much, Caitlin. I'm so happy to be here with you and your listeners.
Caitlin:
I am too, because Theology of the Body, it matters so much. I find it fascinating, extremely helpful. But for those who have never heard the phrase Theology of the Body before, can you share what it means?
Jen Settle:
Sure. So we all know that the word theology hopefully means the study of God. And so Theology of the Body means the study of God in the body. So it kind of sounds like a strong, a weird combination of words there. I remember the first time I heard it didn't really make sense to me. How can we study the Theology of the Body, which is a study of God in the body. But when you recognize that John Paul II is the one who actually authored the Theology of the Body, and he did so before becoming Pope in 1978, and he spent the first five years of his pontificate teaching the Theology of the Body in 129 Wednesday audiences in the Vatican. So what he was actually doing is that he was actually desiring to teach people to come to an understanding of what it means to be human.
Jen Settle:
You think throughout his life in World War II and all the, the struggles of the Jews in World War II and really a misunderstanding and degradation of the human body, to be able to respond to that. What is it about humanity that images God? And so he answers two questions in the Theology of the Body. First one is, what does it mean to be human? So this is about our identity. What does it mean to be created as a man, created as a woman? And the second question is, how do I live my life in order to find happiness? So it's about vocation. So those are the two main questions about our humanity, our identity, and our vocation, what we're called to. And so he really wrote the Theology of the Body as a response to Pope Paul VI, who wrote a document called Humanae Vitae, which means "of human life." Specifically, in that document, Paul VI called for someone to write an understanding of the human person, a full anthropology of the human person. And this is what John Paul II did, in the Theology of the Body helping us to come to know who we are and how we're called to live.
Caitlin:
And such important questions. Questions that every human being I hope is wrestling with and taking seriously. Now, you mentioned it was written by John Paul II before he was Pope. But that is very much in Catholic sphere. So is that something that is just meant for Catholics or is it something that can resonate with all Christians? What do you think?
Jen Settle:
It really resonates with all Christians. The hope is that it resonates with all Christians because it really is a biblical reflection. So there are over a thousand scripture passages that are quoted within the Theology of the Body. And so he uses scripture to help us to come to understand what it means to be human and how we're called to live. But it actually goes beyond that. John Paul II, he really wants the desire of his heart to, in everything that he says, to resonate with all humanity, just as you mentioned of like, what does it mean to be a man or a woman? And how do I find happiness? That's really the desire and the call and the question of every human heart. So in reality, John Paul II is is not just saying this is for Catholics or this is for Christians. He's, he's gifting this to all of humanity, really to help us to come to understand who we are. And we look in our culture today, it's definitely the main question of what does it mean? Our identity mean? What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a human? What does it mean to be a woman? And so there's no more poignant question than this, than John Paul II is trying to answer for all of humanity.
Caitlin:
That is such a good point that not only is it not just for Catholics, it's not even just for Christians, it's for every human being. Providing hope and direction in a time, world, space. I think the rest of all time will be needing it to point us back. So you mentioned, what does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be a woman? Well, our audience is primarily women. And we're talking about all sorts of natural fertility topics or family planning or things like that. But I'm interested in what ways you see Theology of the Body impacting the lives of women. Because we have listeners who are married, who are single, who are trying to conceive, who are trying to avoid, who are really digging into health issues and trying to figure out why they have reproductive health issues like painful periods or irregular cycles. How does Theology of the Body impact them?
Jen Settle:
You know, one of the major things that I've seen is helping women. And it's kind of ironic that like a celibate pope would, man, would be providing the Theology of the Body that can help women to come to understand their femininity and who they're called to be and created to be in God's image. But that's exactly what this is, but that's exactly what this is. It, it shouldn't be an obstacle that there's so much goodness here that John Paul II is wanting to share. As you mentioned, one of the questions is what does it mean to be a woman? And John Paul II again takes us through scripture, helping us in all of creation to understand why did God create woman? What was the purpose of his creation of woman as the pinnacle of creation? The last of his creation was woman.
Jen Settle:
Why, why did he desire women to exist? And that's part of our own question of why did God create me a woman? Why did he create me with the body that I have, the womb that I have, the ovaries that I have? Why did he create me with all of these parts that are different than what a man is created with? And so it, he comes to help us to understand that the body has a meaning. And so our bodies, every part of our feminine body has a meaning, and it is a gift. And so being able to recognize, first of all, that God created the feminine body, the female body for life that we bear life within us, that there are organs that we have that men don't have, and vice versa, that men can't bear life. Men can't open to receive the gift of a child within her womb, his womb, like woman can.
Jen Settle:
And so there's a space that God created in our bodies, specifically for that reason, for us to receive the gift of life. So understanding the gift of our bodies as a feminine called to give life. Now, I want to be honest. I, when I first learned Theology of the Body, I was single. So what does it have to do with me if my body gives life? John Paul II lays out beautifully how both men and women are called to be parents, biological, adoptive, or spiritual parents. Yeah. That it's within the human body of a woman to be mother. It's how he created us. So I have sense within the, the Catholic church, I'm, I'm what's called a consecrated virgin. It means that I am espoused to Jesus. And so I give the gift of my femininity to him. And as I give the gift of who I am, my feminine body to him, that there's life that's born inside of me, that there is a spiritual motherhood that I have, and that every woman is called to, regardless if you're single or consecrated or married, that we're all called also to spiritual motherhood. And so being able to recognize that my body functions, the organs in my body function in such a way that I'm called to motherhood, that I'm called to give life.
Caitlin:
I really appreciate you acknowledging the different types of motherhood, that as a woman, we have that capacity in a unique way. And that is a special gift to us. But it doesn't necessarily mean having biological children. Or having many biological children. It is a different call and a different story for each and every woman. But still having that connection to our bodies and knowing that it is a gift from God given to us intentionally for our good, for God's glory, allows us to have this relationship, hopefully a redeemed and transformed relationship with our bodies. That I feel like is very challenging. Not even just in this time, but especially in this time, I think just being a woman sometimes is hard. And so knowing that it's intentional and that God designed this with purpose is a comforting thought to me.
Jen Settle:
Yes. And it's a healing thought too. You know, I think growing up in certain time periods, you know, talking about our menstrual cycle, you know, it was called The Curse. And so it's like, how do we--I know it's, it hurts my heart.
Caitlin:
You're killing me, Jen!
Jen Settle:
I know, I know. But, but so many of us are like, Ugh, I'm having my period. I'm menstruating. You know, like all the side effects of that, which is, is, is hard and difficult. But it's also meant to be a joy. It's, it's meant to be how God created us so that we can bear life, whether that's biological or spiritual or even adoptive, that, you know, we, we look at all different forms of motherhood. And so the call for us, us within our feminine bodies, to be mother is such a gift that Theology of the Body brings. The other call is the call that I've seen in women and in myself, quite frankly, is the call to be a gift that we are called in a very specific way, the feminine heart, the feminine body, has a gift to offer the world that no man can give, and vice versa.
Jen Settle:
That there is a giftedness that we're all called to be gift in our femininity. You know, oftentimes we see in, in the world, women are called, you know, in order to be equal to man, they have to act like a man, especially in the business world, when in reality, no, the business world, all of creation, the whole world has needs the giftedness that is the feminine heart, that is the feminine mind, that is the feminine voice, that is the feminine vision of the world and of God, and of, of humanity. That men have different gifts through their masculinity and their masculine bodies. They have different gifts. We need both. And so there's really this beautiful call within the Theology of the Body for women to give the gift of themselves in their femininity, not only to their families, but to the world. And so that only I have that gift, Jen Settle, in my femininity. And only you, Caitlin, have that gift in your femininity to give. And the world needs it.
Caitlin:
I really appreciate that you were clarifying that we are all still different because we do live in a broken world And we sometimes think that living into our femininity means that we have to look or act a particular type of way. And it's not like that. It's not like that. Every woman is different and unique, but there is something special about being a woman, and there is a natural variety to what women are like and how they act and what their personalities are, what they prefer. Like, let's just live within the beautiful diversity of womanhood and not try to make ourselves like men, but also not try to worry about am I feminine enough or do I look or do I act? No, no, no. Just be who God created you to be. And I think that that extends into what we talk about with natural fertility topics, certainly natural family planning. You know, what does Theology of the Body have to say about those things?
Jen Settle:
Well, Theology of the Body, as I mentioned as we started, was the response of John Paul II to the document called Humanae Vitae, which is "of human life" by Paul VI. In the document Of Human Life that Paul VI spoke about. It sort of in a certain sense was controversial in the world at that time, in 1968, when it was coming out against the use of contraceptive within the marital act of sex. And so, maintaining as a Catholic church to maintain that sense of the sacredness of that act and the meaning of that act. And this is what John Paul II is really like bringing out in the Theology of the Body, is the awareness and the teaching that the Catholic Church teaches that there is a meaning to the body.
Jen Settle:
There is a meaning to that act of sexual intercourse between husband and wife. And those two meanings are unitive and procreative. And so obviously we know that the gift of sexual intercourse between husband and wife brings intimacy. It brings union, the two become one flesh. There's also the procreative aspect of it, and just with all sensitivity to those who struggle with infertility, that procreative meaning of the body is just not restricted only to a child. That the union of husband and wife is procreative in so many ways. It's fruitful in so many ways in our world and our culture and our families that spiritually as well as like physically, emotionally, you know, that there's, there's a giftedness. There is a life that's born from that act between husband and wife, that act of love between them, the desire, their love to be fruitful.
Jen Settle:
And so, in particular, the very last part of the Theology of the Body, John Paul II uses everything that he's taught as a foundation of what does it mean to be human? What does it mean? How do I live my life to find happiness? To then talk about issues related to Catholic sexual ethics or sexual ethics in general. Of, so now that we understand what does it means to be a man or a woman, what does that, how does that impact our understanding of natural family planning? So the church has always been very, very forward in its desire to promote natural family planning as a way to educate us, not only on our human bodies, but also in that maintaining that goal of the procreative life of, of the union between husband and wife. And so that that meaning of their life is meant to be a gift to one another.
Jen Settle:
And so John Paul II says, the body has a language, and it seems like is that revolutionary, we know that, but in a particular way, the, there is a language of the body in sexual intercourse, the giving and receiving of one another, and the openness to life. And so very specifically in that last part of the Theology of the Body, John Paul II does talk about the use of contraception, abortion, all of those different issues related to sexual ethics. And the church continues to advocate for natural family planning that really upholds the dignity of the act, the sexual act between husband and wife.
Caitlin:
I think that there is so much more that we could talk about today, even of the topics that we've discussed so far. I can see how we could dive in even deeper and have entire episodes on even a few sentences that we started to approach today. But I just want to thank you for giving of your time and giving this great overview of Theology of the Body and how it may help each of us walk our own fertility journeys, but even more than that, reconnect with our own design. So thanks for being on, Jen.
Jen Settle:
You're so welcome, Caitlin. God bless you.
Caitlin:
Listeners, this isn't the first time we've talked about the theological aspects and impacts of fertility, and it certainly won't be the last. So I'll be sure to link some of our most loved episodes about God's role in this area of our lives. In the show notes, I'll also have there ways to dig even deeper. So if you want to learn about Theology of the Body, we'll have links there, maybe to a book, maybe to a class that you could take. But I'll also have a link to our Substack page so that you can get access to really short pieces each week about the intersection of fertility and faith specifically. As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.