Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions

Browning

, Green

manners, a contemporary Episcopalian liturgy “A riveting, definitive, must-read guide through family and religion,
Sex,
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S E X , M A R R I A G E ,
&
F A M I LY

                       , this for same-sex unions, Qur’anic passages on the
Marriage, and Family in World Religions
collects and elucidates the seminal itte

new collection brings together writings and equality of the sexes, the K¯amas¯utra on husbands, texts of six ancient faiths that today permeate regional cultures, both divid-

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teachings about sex, marriage, and family from ds

I N W O R L D R E L I G I O N S

wives, and lovers, Buddhist writings on celibacy, ing and offering hope of unity to a fragile global world.”

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the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian teachings on filial piety.

and Confucian traditions. Chosen and introduced
Sex, Marriage, and Family in World Reli-

           

by leading scholars of each religion, the volume’s
gions
deepens our understanding of the many Harvard University

selections include a wide array of traditional texts.

profound issues concerning sex, marriage, and ( author of
A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People
) I

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The book also contains contemporary writings, N

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family. In doing so, it opens up a new dialogue responding to the changing mores and conditions

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between the world religions and between reli-W

of modern life.

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gion and the modern disciplines of law and the M

Sex, Marriage, and Family in World Religions
social sciences.

“This is the best single source for understanding how our most influential R

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reveals the similarities and differences among the L

religions arrived at their contemporary perspectives on our most intimate R

various religions and the development of ideas D

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human bonds.”

and teachings within each tradition. It sheds R IA

light on each religion’s views on a wide variety         .       

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of subjects, including sexuality and sexual pleaL

University of Minnesota

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sure, the meaning and purpose of marriage, the G

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( author of
Take Back Your Marriage: Sticking Together in a World That Pulls Us Apart
) role of betrothal, the status of women, the place I

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           is the Alexander Campbell Professor Emeri-O

of romance, grounds for divorce, celibacy, and

tus of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences at the University F

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sexual deviance.

of Chicago. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, A

including
Marriage and Modernization: How Globalization ThreatS

Separate chapters devoted to each religion M

ens Marriage and What to Do About It
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include introductions that contextualize the read-L

 .               is a visiting lecturer on ethics at ings and explore how the traditions have changed Y

Harvard Divinity School and senior fellow in the Center for the over time. The authors also consider the ways in Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.

which practice, narratives, ethics, and institutions                              

         is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law and di-



shape the interpretation of sex, marriage, and the 

rector of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory 

www.columbia.edu/cu/cup

       



family within each religion. Drawn from a vari-University. He has published numerous volumes and is a coedi-



             .  .  .

tor of
The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and


Human Nature
.



Don S. Browning

ety of genres including ritual, legal, theological, , M. Christian Green,

poetic, and mythic texts, the volume encompasses 

such diverse examples as the Zohar on conjugal : 

    ---

Columbia



and
John Witte Jr.



           :
Family Group

( ) by Henry 

Moore (. cm). Reproduced by permission of the Henry 

Moore Foundation.

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Sex, Marriage, and Family

in World Religions

Sex, Marriage, and Family

in World Religions

Edited by

Don S. Browning

M. Christian Green

John Witte Jr.

c o l u m b i a u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s

n e w y o r k

Columbia University Press

Publishers Since 1893

New York, Chichester, West Sussex

Copyright ᭧ 2006 Columbia University Press

All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sex, marriage and family in world religions / edited by Don S. Browning, M. Christian Green, John Witte Jr.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index

ISBN 0-231-13116-X (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-231-50519-1

1. Sex—religious aspects. 2. Marriage—Religious aspects. 3. Family—Religious aspects.