The Abbey and Honoring the Body

Reading Response #9

        One common theme between The Abbey and Honoring the Body is that our sexual bodies belong to God.  This is seen in chapter 8 of honoring the body where Paulsell mentions that by following the Christian faith in chastity until marriage people are declaring their bodies belong to God (Paulsell, 143). This is similar to the scene in The Abbey where Mark asks Father Paul what he knows about sex.  Father Paul joked about not having always been a monk and tells Mark about how he fell in love twice prior to joining the monastery (Martin, 121).  These two situations are very different in that Father Paul has taken a vow of chastity in order to devote his life to God and God’s word where average people take a vow of chastity only until marriage.  However they are similar in that both are doing this to honor God and sacrifice to show that their sexual bodies belong to God.  When Father Paul took his vow of chastity he committed to give up sexual experiences in order to become closer to God.  When regular people choose to be celibate until marriage they are making a spiritual commitment to God by sacrificing potential experiences to honor God’s word.  Overall the common theme of Christian spirituality of the body between The Abbey and Honoring the Body is making a sacrifice to show that they are declaring their bodies to God.