A lily among the thorns
Subtitle: imagining a new Christian sexuality
By: Miguel A. De La Torre.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Wiley; Jossey-Bass
Published: 2007
Place of publication: San Francisco, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9780787981464
Subjects: Sex -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.; Sex -- Biblical teaching.
Description: Author Miguel De La Torre, a well-respected ethicist and professor known for his innovative readings of Christian doctrine, rejects both the liberal and conservative prejudices about sex. He instead develops an ethic that is liberative yet grounded soundly in the Bible; a sexuality that celebrates God's gift of great sex by fostering intimacy, vulnerability and openness between loving partners. In A Lily Among the Thorns, De La Torre examines the Bible, current events, history and our culture-at-large to show how and why racism, sexism, and classism have distorted Christianity's central teachings about sexuality. The author shows how the church's traditionally negative attitudes toward sex in general -- and toward women, people of color, and gays in particular -- have made it difficult, if not impossible, to create a biblically based and just sexual ethic. But when the Bible is read from the viewpoint of those who have been marginalized in our society, preconceived notions about Christianity and sex get turned on their heads. Taking on hot-button topics such as pornography, homosexuality, prostitution, and celibacy, the author examines how "reading from the margins" provides a liberating approach to dealing with issues of sexuality.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Liberating the female body; title: Liberating the body of color; title: The body and its pleasures; title: A sexual ethics for the body; title: Great sex in marriage; title: Sex and the single Christian; title: Same-sex relationships; title: Predatory sex.