Sex, Marriage, and Family in World Religions - Softcover

Don Browning; M Christian Green

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231131178 ISBN 13: 9780231131179

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Spanning thousands of years, this new collection brings together writings and teachings about sex, marriage, and family from the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions. The volume includes traditional texts as well as contemporary materials showing how the religions have responded to the changing conditions and mores of modern life. It reveals the similarities and differences among the various religions and the development of ideas and teachings within each tradition. Selections shed light on each religion's views on a range of subjects, including sexuality and sexual pleasure, the meaning and purpose of marriage, the role of betrothal, the status of women, the place of romance, grounds for divorce, celibacy, and sexual deviance.

Separate chapters devoted to each religion include introductions by leading scholars that contextualize the readings. The selections are drawn from a variety of genres including ritual, legal, theological, poetic, and mythic texts. The volume contains such diverse examples as the Zohar on conjugal manners, a contemporary Episcopalian liturgy for same-sex unions, Qur'anic passages on the equality of the sexes, the Ka–masu–tra on husbands, wives, and lovers, Buddhist writings on celibacy, and Confucian teachings on filial piety.

Contributors include: Michael S. Berger, Emory University; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Richmond School of Law; Alan Cole, Lewis and Clark College; Paul B. Courtright, Emory University; Patricia Buckley Ebrey, University of Washington; Raja M. El-Habti, Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights; Luke Timothy Johnson, Emory University; Mark D. Jordan, Emory University

About this title

Book Description:

Spanning thousands of years, this collection brings together writings and teachings about sex, marriage, and family from the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Confucian, and Buddhist traditions. It reveals the similarities and differences among the teachings of each tradition and the development of their ideas and practices over time. Selections address a range of subjects, including sexuality and sexual pleasure, the meaning and purpose of marriage, the role of betrothal, the status of women, the place of romance, divorce, celibacy, and sexual deviance. Drawn from a variety of genres, including ritual, legal, theological, poetic, and mythological texts, the chapters present and analyze a diverse range of sources, such as the Zohar on conjugal manners, a contemporary Episcopalian liturgy for same-sex unions, Qur'anic passages on the equality of the sexes, the Ka-masu-tra on husbands, wives, and lovers, Buddhist writings on celibacy, and Confucian teachings on filial piety.

About the Author:

Don S. Browning is the Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, including Marriage and Modernization: How Globalization Threatens Marriage and What to Do About It.M. Christian Green is senior fellow and senior lecturer in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and author of a forthcoming title on fatherhood in the Western tradition.John Witte Jr. is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He has published twenty-four books, including The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0231131178
• ISBN 13: 9780231131179
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 496