Bridgetown Audio Podcast · Bridgetown Church

God is Love - The Fathers Love

·52 min·4 clips

After a ski jump severed his femur, the speaker questions why humans can experience such extreme pain.

This episode features Christopher West, a Catholic author and speaker specializing in the "theology of the body," delivering a sermon at Bridgetown Church. He explores the Christian concept that God's invisible love is made visible through the human body, particularly through the creation of male and female. West argues that a distinct, biblical vision of the body counters philosophies, like Plato's, that view the body as a mere prison for the soul. He grounds his teaching in the work of Pope John Paul II, who asked why God created humanity male and female. West explains that the body uniquely makes the invisible spiritual reality visible, with the sexual difference specifically imaging God's life-generating love. He references Thomas Aquinas, stating souls in heaven await bodily resurrection, affirming the body's eternal importance. West shares a personal story of severing his femur in a skiing accident to illustrate intense bodily pain, which can tempt people to reject their physicality. A central insight is the distinction between "looking" and "seeing," where Jesus invites a deeper, spiritual sight. West claims the "enemy" or Satan, who is envious of humanity's embodied ability to co-create, violently attacks the concepts of male and female and the call to "be fruitful." He connects the Greek root "gen" (to give birth) to words like generous, genesis, and gender, suggesting our generative capacity tells a divine story. The biblical narrative, from Genesis to Revelation, is framed as a marriage story culminating in the "marriage of heaven and earth." West recounts a pivotal moment in his own marriage when his wife challenged his qualification to write a book called "Loving Her Rightly," revealing his own hypocrisy and emotional wounds. He describes how he unconsciously expected his wife, Wendy, to fulfill a yearning for union that only God could satisfy, damaging their relationship. His personal journey involved confronting pain from an emotionally abusive relationship with his older brother, which he had replicated with his wife. West states that through his wife's merciful confrontation, he began to experience the Father's lavish love, moving from a place of shameful hiding to peaceful self-exposure. The tone is sermonic, educational, and deeply personal, blending theological exposition with autobiographical confession. It is conversational and illustrative, using analogies like putting on glasses for a new way of seeing and contrasting a "starvation diet" gospel with a "fast food" gospel. Listeners interested in Christian theology, embodiment, marriage, and personal spiritual formation would find this episode compelling. Those uncomfortable with traditional Christian teachings on gender, sexuality, or a theological interpretation of human biology might choose to skip it.

As heard by us

A sermon on seeing love, bodies, and the revelation they are said to carry.

The sermon starts with sight and keeps returning to the gap between looking and really seeing, especially around how to see the love of God when God is invisible.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want a sermon that moves from seeing to embodiment, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Bridgetown Audio Podcast