While much has been said of the harmful effects of pornography upon the individual, family and society, we do not hear nearly enough about its impact on the spiritual life. On this matter there is no greater commentator than Bishop Paul S. Loverde, author of the pastoral letter, “Bought With a Price: Pornography and the Attack on the Living Temple of God”.
His letter is anchored in the Beatitudes as Jesus promises, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8).” Christians believe that in heaven the veil is lifted and man contemplates God directly, as St Paul writes; “Here we see Him in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1 Cor 13:12). Hence, heaven in the Christian tradition has been called the ‘beatific vision’.
But this vision is more than just ‘seeing’. When Jesus says that the pure of heart will ‘see’ God, we have to understand the complexity of ‘sight’. Bishop Loverde describes this in both metaphorical and literal terms; metaphorically he is speaking of the intellectual capacity to see the wisdom of God, but also literally as Christians believe in the resurrection of the body. And on that Last Day, it will be that vision that delivers us: “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 Jn 3:2) By gazing upon him we shall receive salvation—it is that vision itself that makes us blessed.
Now we are in a better position to appreciate the gravity of the pornography problem from a soteriological perspective. When our earthly vision is distorted by sin that contaminates our hearts, we distort a faculty crucial to our salvation:
“Perhaps worst of all, however, is the damage that pornography does to man’s “template” for the supernatural. Our natural vision in this world is the model for supernatural vision in the next. Once we have distorted or damaged that template, how will we understand the reality? Our Lord has given us the gift of sight with the intention that we ultimately may see Him. The sinful use of this faculty both warps our understanding of it and – worse still – cripples our ability to realize its fulfillment in heaven. What man should use for receiving the true vision of God and the beauty of His creation, he uses instead to consume false images of others in pornography. How can we understand the supernatural sight God desires for us – i.e. the contemplation of God in the beatific vision – once our natural sight has been damaged and distorted?” (BWP p.4)
Given the stakes, it is time to revive a debate that so many in our society—especially in Canada—consider ‘resolved’, and to join in Bishop Loverde’s prayer that, “we may ever more fully live out our God-given use of human sight.”
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“Bought With a Price: Pornography and the Attack on the Living Temple of God” is available online:
http://www.arlingtondiocese.org/offices/communications/boughtprice.html
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