Sex and the church
Subtitle: gender, homosexuality, and the transformation of Christian ethics
By: Kathy Rudy.
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Boston, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 157
Subjects: Homosexuality -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.; Sex role -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.; Sex -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.; Sexual ethics.; Christian ethics.
Description: Sex and the Church is a groundbreaking book that brings lesbian and gay theory and experience to bear on questions of sexuality and its relationship to Christian life. Ethicist Kathy Rudy begins by showing how the Christian Right's campaign for "family values" has profoundly shaped American debates about gender and sexuality, and how mainline Protestant denominations have responded by focusing narrowly on questions of inclusion and exclusion, rights and privileges for lesbians and gay men. She then moves the debate onto a new level, drawing on queer theory and the lives of gay and lesbian Christians to answer new questions: Are gender and sexual orientation categories by which we should define ourselves and judge each other?

Is the nuclear family the best site for Christian commitment? What is the purpose of sex, and what does it have to do with God? And what kind of intimate relationships best contribute to the formation of Christian community? Rudy concludes by proposing a new Christian sexual ethic that adapts the ancient notion of unitivity and procreativity to the church of today. This provocative work offers a powerful vision of a renewed Christian community, open to all.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [131]-153) and index.