Was Benedict XVII’s first encyclical God is Love influenced by Theology of the Body?
Yes. I think it definitely was. I wrote an article for Homiletic and Pastoral Review, which was a look at the first part of this encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, where he talks about love as “eros” and love as “agape.” In this you can directly see the influence of Theology of the Body. God’s love is not just agape, which is disinterested love. God’s love can also be considered to be eros, similar to passionate human love. You can see here a very clear reflection of Theology of the Body. George Weigel has that beautiful line in his book Witness to Hope that says Theology of the Body is like a theological time bomb, and as it starts to go off, it is going to revolutionize not only theology, but also family life. And thanks be to God that is starting to happen! You see Christopher West’s programs, and programs like God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage starting to take off in parishes, and being used in Pre-Cana and Marriage prep programs. 10. You mention George Weigel. He did the introductio
