Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics

338 Pages·2008·35.612 MB·English

by  Margaret Farley

ß L O O M S ß U R Y
JUST
LOVE
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J U S T
LOVE
A Framework for
Christian Sexual Ethics
Margaret A. Farley
\
λ
continuum
Continuum International Publishing Group
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York NY 10038
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SEI 7NX
www.continuumbooks.com
© 2006 by Margaret A. Farley
First published 2006
Papcrback edition first published 2008
Reprinted 2011, 2012
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by
permission. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the
publishers.
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library' of Congress.
ISBN: 978-0-8264-2924-7 (PB}
For Patricia and Robert Hammell,
lohn and Elizabeth Farley, Mary Farley Valenti,
and their cherished children and grandchildren
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CONTENTS
PREFACE...........................................................................................................xi
1. OPENING THE QUESTIONS.............................................................1
Finding the Way 2
Why Wc Arc Here, 3 · New Maps, 8 · Problems with the
Terrain, 12
The Task 15
2. THE QUESTIONS AND THEIR PAST........................................17
Sex, Morality, and History: Theories of Interpretation 18
Michel Foucault: The Historical Constitution of Desire, 18 ·
Catherine MacKinnon: Historical Silences/Gendered Violence,
22 · Evolutionary Histories: Sexuality and Change, 23
Sexual Ethics in the West: Historical Perspective 26
Sexuality in Antiquity: The Legacy of Grcecc and Rome, 27
• Judaism: Sexuality, Morality, and Religion, 34 · Christian
Traditions, 37 · Secular Paths: Philosophical Developments,
Medical Influences, 50
From the Past to the Present 56
3. DIFFICULT CROSSINGS: Diverse Traditions......................57
Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Importance for Sexual Ethics 58
Possibilities of Cross-Cultural and Interrcligious Awareness, 58
• Obstacles to the Search for Alternative Perspectives, 59
Colonialist Research and Its Postcolonial Critics 63
The Lessons of “Orientalism," 64 · Lessons for Sexual Ethics,
65
Vll
vin TUST LOVE
Pre-modern Islands of the South Seas 70
African Cultures 77
Sexuality and Community, 79 · Gender, Marriage, and
Family, 80 · New Interpreters and Critics: Sustainable African
Sexualities, 82
Kamasutra: Hindu Textbook on Erotic Love 90
The World of Islam, 95
Diversity UnlimitedI 103
4. SEXUALITY AND ITS MEANINGS..............................................109
How the Body Matters 110
Theories of the Body, 111· Transcendent Embodiment, 116
Whether Gender Matters 133
Gender Theory and Practice, 137 · Christian Theologies, 138
• Biology, Culture, and Experience, 144 · Biology, Culture, and
More Experience, 149 · Whether Gender Matters, 156
Sexuality and Its Meanings 159
Elements in Sexual Experience, 161 · Love, Desire, and
Sexuality, 164
5. JUST LOVE AND JUST SEX:
Preliminary Considerations................................................................174
Sexuality and Justice 175
Alternative Frameworks 178
Sources for Christian Sexual Ethics 182
Scripturc, 183 · Tradition, 186 · Secular Disciplines of
Knowledge, 188 · Contemporary Expcricncc, 190
Love and fust Love 196
Moral Norms for a Just Love, 200 · Love and Freedom, 204 ·
Desire, 205
Contents ix
6. FRAMEWORK FOR A SEXUAL ETHIC: Just Sex...............207
Justice 208
The Concrete Reality of Persons, 209 · Obligating Features of
Pcrsonhood, 211
Norms for fust Sex 215
1. Do No Unjust Harm, 216 · 2. Free Consent, 218 ·
3. Mutuality, 220 · 4. Equality, 223 · 5. Commitment,
223 · 6. Fruitfulness, 226 · 7. Social Justice, 228
Special Questions 232
An Ethic Only for Adults? 232 · Sexual Relations with Oneself,
235 · The Negative Potential of Sex, 237
Character, Faith, and Sexual Justice 240
7. PATTERNS OF RELATIONSHIP:
Contexts for Just Love.........................................................................245
Marriage and Family 245
Historical and Cultural Contexts, 247 · Christianity and Its
Influences, 252 · Descriptive and Normative Questions, 259
Same-Sex Relationships 271
Theological and Ethical Sources, 272 · Samc-Scx Relationships
and Justice, 288 · Sexual Orientation: Given or Chosen, 294
Divorce and Remarriage 296
The Marriage Commitment: Making, Keeping, Changing, 301
• Divorce, 304 · Remarriage, 307
INDEX 313