San Antonio, Texas, Oct 9, 2010 / 09:14 am
Christopher West’s interpretation of John Paul II has merit, but criticism of his views on continence and concupiscence are warranted, theology of the body instructor David H. Delaney has said. Discussing the pitfalls of West’s application of the Theology of the Body, Delaney noted several points where he appears to contradict Catholic belief and tradition.
Delaney, the academic dean of the Mexican American Catholic College, has a doctorate in systematic theology from the Catholic University of America. He teaches the Theology of the Body at the undergraduate and graduate levels and presents it popularly at parishes. He is currently broadcasting a series on Guadalupe Radio and Catholic television in San Antonio.
On his blog “Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex,” he published a summary of his upcoming Homiletic and Pastoral Review article titled “Concupiscence in the West-Schindler Debate” about the “important” discussion over West’s work.
Commenting that West correctly identified concupiscence as the primary issue, Delaney said concupiscence underlies most of the concerns of West’s critics. In Catholic moral theology “concupiscence” is a term describing the human propensity to sin.