Rescuing Sex from the Christians

Taking the long view, the Christian religion for two thousand years maintained a disapproving attitude toward human sexuality ("sex is dirty"). As David Carr of Union Theological Seminary observes, "From the outset, Christianity has depicted sex as a dangerous, chaotic, anti-spiritual force." Such a negative attitude raises the question: Why has the church over the centuries exhibited a hostile attitude toward sex? Sullivan attempts to answer that question in Part One of this book. He contends that early Christian theologians failed to understand the mythic character of the Adam and Eve story and read into it ideas which are not there. In addition, early theology preached that "the soul and the body - which is inferior to the soul - are constantly at war with one another." Since human sexuality involves the body (which is inherently bad), early theologians concluded sex must be bad. In Part Two of "Rescuing Sex from the Christians", Sullivan examines the controversial subjects of masturbation, homosexuality, adultery, and prostitution and demonstrates how the Christian idea of sexuality has vilified these practices, not always for the good.