Why does the Church teach against pre-marital sex? Were Adam & Eve unmarried? How do all the difficult parts of marriage fit into the idea that "God wants to marry us"? What advice do you have for an older couple that had a vasectomy done in the early part of their marriage?

Ask Christopher West is a weekly podcast in which Theology of the Body Institute Director Christopher West and his beloved wife Wendy share their humor and wisdom, answering questions about marriage, relationships, life, and the Catholic faith, all in light of John Paul II’s beautiful teachings on the Theology of the Body.

This week’s questions:

Q1: Please explain more on God's plan & call for us to wait until marriage for sexual union. Living together is everywhere. How do we understand that Adam & Eve were married? How does their union differ from people living together in commitment and then (maybe) coming to the Church for a blessing?

Q2: Please explain more on how the sexual union images God? And if marriage is the key to understanding everything, what about marriage and sexual union that is an horrendous thing, ugly & hurtful? What about rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence, broken relationships etc etc? All the hard stuff? How does this fit with 'God wants to marry us'? Some people may well think - well if this is what marriage is like I want nothing to do with God marrying me!

Q3: After 40 years of marriage and 3 children, I have finally read TOB for Beginners. My spouse had a vasectomy when we were both 25. We were ignorant of TOB and Humanae Vitae. We were dreadfully poor and erroneously thought vasectomy was the only way to provide for our 3 children. We feel incredible remorse even though we have confessed our sin in the sacrament of Reconciliation and been forgiven. How do we now live TOB at the age of 59? (We were 19 when we got married.) We still enjoy the nuptial embrace as a means of giving ourselves to each other.

Submit your question at AskChristopherWest.com.

Resources mentioned this week:

Sterilization Reversal Book from One More Soul

TOB Institute Community

The Good News about Sex and Marriage

Theology of the Body for Beginners

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Christopher and Wendy hope their advice is helpful to you, but they are not licensed counseling professionals. If you are dealing with serious issues, please consult our list of trusted professionals.

Featuring music by Mike Mangione.

Produced by Sounder and Key.