In the spirit of “Martyrs Read Joel Osteen,” the main point of this article bears contemplating on the Feast of St. Justin Martyr.
So with that in mind:
A group of 50 bishops and theologians meeting in Rome last week has announced that they have discovered an apparently new element in Christian morality: love, as in a new “theology of love.” They say it is needed to replace the tired old theology of the body famously propounded by Pope St. John Paul II, who, after all, has already been dead for 10 years.
A “theology of love”? I thought we already had that: “God is love.” “If you love me, you will keep my commandments and my Father will love you and we will come and make our home in you.” “Greater love than this has no man.”
We must proceed with caution. As Chesterton said, “A new philosophy generally means in practice the praise of some old vice.” No doubt the same is true of a new theology.
(source: Who’s Afraid of the Theology of the Body?)
[sorry, the article’s not very well written–some writers just haven’t been told that half-sarcasm, half-polemic never works well in print, and works less well the longer it continues.]