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Christopher West (born 1969) is a Catholic author and speaker, best known for his work on Pope John Paul II’s series of audience addresses entitled the Theology of the Body.
AboutWest has been delivering lectures since 1997, mostly on topics such as Christian anthropology, the Creed, morality, sacraments, marriage, sexuality, and family life. He has also spoken on national radio and on television. He is one of the
He and his wife Wendy reside in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (USA), and have five children.
EducationChristopher received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 1992 from the University of Maryland. In 1996 he was certified as an Instructor of Marriage Preparation from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. In 1997, he obtained a Master of Theological Studies at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America, and became a Certified Catechist by the Archdiocese of Denver Catechetical School.
CriticismsTheologian David L. Schindler charged that West promotes a “pansexualist tendency” that ties all important human and supernatural activity back to sex without making necessary distinctions.
Moral Theologian Dr Janet Smith defended West saying his work is "completely sound" and that she found Schindler's response "puzzling." Smith, in her response to Schindler's critique of West, says that Schindler "provides a list of his objections to West’s theology without citing one text to substantiate his charges...As it stands, I do not find that his concerns correspond with what I have read in West’s work or heard in his lectures."
Theologian Michael Waldstein, who wrote the definitive translation of the Theology of the Body, addressed Schindler’s remarks in an essay published on InsideCatholic.com.
Waldstein said that Schindler’s essay was a “blanket negative statement” that made “sweeping accusations” against a position he did not recognize as West’s.
Most recently, Justin Cardinal Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia, and Kevin Rhoades, Bishop of Harrisburg, issued a joint statement in support of West's work.
They said,
"We are convinced that John Paul II's Theology of the Body is a treasure for the Church, indeed a gift of the Holy Spirit for our time
. Yet, its scholarly language needs to be 'translated' into more accessible categories if the average person is to benefit from it. To do this is the specific mission of the Theology of the Body Institute, and we believe that Christopher West, the Institute's popular lecturer and spokesman, has been given a particular charism to carry out this mission. With great skill as a presenter, with keen insight as a thinker, and with profound reverence for the mystery of human sexuality, he has been able to reach thousands in our sexually wounded culture with the Gospel of salvation in Christ."
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