The Hinge of Salvation: Body, Liturgy, and Bioethics

Abstract

Dominant trends within the philosophical debate over personhood and identity tend to discount the significance and meaning of the human body and often slip into dualistic conceptions. I will argue that a Catholic theology of the body challenges many of the prevalent understandings in bioethics today. Such a notion takes Christ’s Incarnation as its foundation and seeks to develop an account of the human body in the context of the call to communion imprinted on humanity as made in the image of the Trinitarian communion of love. Such a conception counteracts forms of utilitarian or technological reductionism of the person. While Catholic bioethicists will need to consider how such an account will have practical applicability to cases, the call to communion ought to be fostered through the liturgical life of the Church, which enables Catholic bioethicists to develop a liturgical worldview that guards against devaluations of the dignity of the human person.