What is the Bible's stance on such controversial issues as homosexuality and polygamy? What does it have to say about sexual behaviors that some would deem perverted or criminal? Is sex always wrong if it is not used to create life?

Ellens answers these and other questions in a book that argues that our understanding of what the Bible has to say about sex is frequently misguided. He corrects our impressions with a look at the Scriptures themselves, considers what they might have meant to people in the past, and reflects on how we understand, or misunderstand, them today. Focusing on early interpretations and contemporary misconceptions, Ellens guides readers through what the Bible actually says, showing how these messages have been interpreted in different contexts, and suggesting new ways of reading and translating them for use in our own lives. Readers hoping to reach a better understanding of the Bible's views on sexual practices and sexuality in general will find their questions answered here.

What does the story of Adam and Eve reveal about sex and sexuality? What does the Old Testament say about sex and how might we interpret that in our own lives today? How does the New Testament say we should behave in our sexuality and our lives? What lessons can we learn from a closer examination of the Bible and its teachings on human love, marriage, and sexuality? These are among the many questions Ellens answers in an effort to help us all come to a better understanding of the gift of sexuality and its attendant behaviors in our lives. In non-judgmental prose, he elucidates the Bible and our understanding of its teaching on these and related issues.

"We are accustomed to hear about sexuality from those with only a casual acquaintance with biblical scholarship, or about the Bible from those with only a casual acquaintance with the study of human sexuality. Here, at last, is a book brief in scope and yet enriched by serious learning--as well as deep humanity--on both sides of the dialogue." -- Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize Recipient; Author of, God: A Biography and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God

About the Author

J. Harold Ellens is Editor for the Praeger Series in Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality. He is a Research Scholar at the University of Michigan Department of Near Eastern Studies, a retired Presbyterian theologian, an ordained minister, a retired U.S. Army Colonel and a retired Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Psychology. He served 15 years as Executive Director of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies, and was Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychology and Christianity. He has authored, coauthored, or edited 164 books, including The Destructive Power of Religion, 4 volumes (Praeger, 2004).

Reviews
"Ellens believes interpretation of any biblical passage must attend to cultural context. Present culture is significantly different enough from those of biblical times to affect one's understanding of biblical passages. In the Bible, women are important for the family line, but are often viewed as property. Sometimes readers are uncertain whether sex relationship or property relationship was the central issue in this or that biblical story. Similarly, knowing whether an admonition refers to a context of holy worship and is significant only in worship settings--or also in ordinary human relationships--is difficult. Ellens seeks to clarify these contextual matters in specific biblical references to sex. He discusses ways that today's culture differs significantly from the cultures of biblical times. He points out the distinctive effects of Jerome and Augustine upon a pronounced separation of sexuality from spirituality. He reminds readers that New Testament authors lived in cultural contexts different from those of the Old Testament. Jesus's response to the law of the Old Testament was more of a situational ethics than people today are prone to admit. Ellens is generally successfully in his attempt to write at a level suitable for general readers. Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers." - Choice
"Ellens, an eminent scholar of the Bible and psychology, serves as both series editor and author of this work on the Bible's views on sex and sexuality, in which he also contemplates such topics as reproduction's purposes, original sin, gender roles, adultery, divorce, monogamy, and homosexuality. In some instances, e.g., homosexuality, he does an outstanding job of presenting the social and historical context for the Bible's abomination of its practice, pointing out its origins in pagan religious practices of the time. . . . [H]is study is accessible and comprehensible; public libraries will find it popular." - Library Journal
"[D]oes a better job than most at prodding us to encounter the biblical texts in all their strangeness....[E]llens is a welcome guide worth reading and learning from and arguing with and reading again." - Books & Culture
"Compelling writing and thoughtful engagement with matters textual and sexual make this a fine resource for anyone confronting contemporary sexual issues." - The Christian Century
"Sex in the Bible is a book that can be enjoyed by clergy, students of theology, and lay persons alike....Sex in the Bible: A New Consideration is exactly that -- a man telling the truth as he has discovered it, over a lifetime of study of human nature and biblical texts. And that truth is a breath of fresh air, indeed." - Observer & Eccentric
"Ellens aspires to discuss all aspects of human sexuality and the perspective offered by the numerous and varied authors of the 66 books of the Holy Bible during the 1,000 years or so that they wrote. He tries to look at the texts as they were intended by their original writers to be understood by their original readers, rather than as they are now read after 2,000 years of dogma, interpretation, and moralizing. He also mentions teachings of the Quran and Islam that are influenced by Christianity and Judaism." - Reference & Research Book News
". . . this book is clearly and playfully written, in order to entice and allure the reader, but basically it has a very clear, contemporary-oriented thesis." - Biblical Archaeology Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780275987671
Author J. Harold Ellens
Format Hardback
Page Count 216
Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc