Sex, Marriage, And Family in World Religions

by Browning, Don S.; Green, M. Christian; Witte, John

• ISBN13: 9780231131162
• ISBN10: 023113116X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-14
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	xi
About the Contributors	xv
Introduction	xvii
Judaism	1	(76)
Michael S. Berger
Introduction	1	(11)
The Hebrew Bible	12	(9)
The Elephantine Marriage Contract	21	(1)
Hellenistic Jewish Philosophy in the Wisdom of Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)	22	(2)
The Damascus Document of the Dead Sea Scrolls	24	(2)
Josephus on Marriage Law	26	(2)
Mishnah on Procreation, Marriage, and Divorce	28	(3)
The Babylonian Talmud	31	(4)
Aggadic Midrash on Marriage and Family	35	(3)
The Babylonian Talmud on Marital Sex	38	(1)
The Babylonian Ordinance from the Academy on Divorce	39	(1)
The Ordinance of Rabbi Gershom (The Light of the Exile)	40	(2)
Medieval Marriage Contracts from the Cairo Geniza	42	(1)
Love Poetry from the Golden Age of Spain	43	(2)
The Order of the Get	45	(4)
Maimonides on Sex	49	(3)
Jewish Mysticism on Marriage and Sex	52	(4)
The Book of the Pious of Medieval Germany	56	(3)
``The Epistle on Holiness'' (``lggeret Ha-qodesh'')	59	(3)
Exchange Between Napoleon and the Jewish ``Sanhedrin'' on Issues of Marriage	62	(4)
Contemporary Development in Jewish Marriage Contracts	66	(7)
Reform Opinion on Patrilineal and Matrilineal Descent	73	(4)
Christianity	77	(73)
Luke Timothy Johnson
Mark D. Jordan
Introduction	77	(12)
Creation and the Fall in the Book of Genesis	89	(1)
The Greco-Roman Context	89	(2)
Hellenistic Jewish Moral Instruction	91	(1)
Gospels of Matthew and Luke	92	(2)
Paul's Letters to the Cormthians and Ephesians	94	(4)
Apocryphal Christian Texts	98	(2)
Augustine of Hippo	100	(5)
John Chrysostom	105	(5)
Peter Lombard	110	(4)
The Fourth Lateran Council	114	(1)
Thomas Aquinas	115	(4)
Mechthild of Magdeburg	119	(1)
Martin Luther	120	(5)
Anglican Book of Common Prayer (1549)	125	(3)
John Calvin	128	(5)
The Council of Trent	133	(4)
George Fox	137	(1)
A Contemporary Critique of Sexual Ethics	138	(4)
A Womanist Critique of Family Theology	142	(4)
A Contemporary Liturgy for Same-Sex Unions	146	(4)
Islam	150	(76)
Azizah al-Hibri
Raja' M. El Habti
Introduction	150	(6)
Creation and the Identity of Origin of Women and Men	156	(6)
The Fall from the Garden and Gender Equality	162	(4)
The Marriage Contract	166	(2)
Consent to Marriage	168	(3)
Mahr: The Obligatory Marital Gift	171	(3)
Other Stipulations in the Marriage Contract	174	(3)
Marital Relations	177	(8)
Polygamy	185	(5)
Marital Conflict	190	(10)
Divorce	200	(6)
Sexual Ethics	206	(5)
Rights Within the Family	211	(15)
Hinduism	226	(73)
Paul B. Courtright
Introduction	226	(6)
Rig Veda 10.85: The Marriage Hymn	232	(4)
The Grhya-Sutras: The Wedding Ceremony	236	(4)
Laws of Manu	240	(10)
The Kamasutra	250	(5)
Divine Marriage: Siva and Parvati	255	(6)
The Karma of Marriage: The King's Wife, the Brahmin's Wife, and the Ogre	261	(9)
A Contemporary Hindu Marriage Ceremony	270	(21)
``Counting the Flowers,'' a Short Story by Chudamani Raghavan, Translated from the Tamil by the Author	291	(8)
Buddhism	299	(68)
Alan Cole
Introduction	299	(10)
The Beginning of the World	309	(4)
The Joys of Ascetism	313	(3)
Married Life Versus the Life of the Ascetic	316	(2)
Songs by Buddhist Women	318	(4)
The Conversion of the Nun, Patacara	322	(3)
The Buddha Accepts His Aunt, Gotami, as a Nun	325	(4)
The Buddha's Renunciation of His Family	329	(9)
Confusion Over the Buddha as a Fertility God	338	(3)
Buddhism as a Threat to the Indian Family	341	(2)
The Buddha's Advice for Laity	343	(3)
An Early Buddha Lineage	346	(5)
East Asian Buddhism: An Overview	351	(2)
The Sutra on the Filial Son	353	(3)
The Ghost Festival Sutra	356	(3)
The Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents	359	(4)
The Blood Bowl Sutra	363	(4)
Confucianism	367	(84)
Patricia Buckley Ebrey
Introduction	367	(5)
The Book of Poetry (Shi Jing)	372	(3)
The Analects (Lunyu) of Confucius	375	(2)
Mencius on Filial Piety	377	(1)
Historical Incidents from the Zuo Zhuan	378	(3)
Record of Ritual	381	(12)
The Record of Ritual of the Elder Dai	393	(1)
The Classic of Filial Piety	394	(6)
Lives of Model Women	400	(2)
Admonitions for Women	402	(2)
Filial Sons	404	(1)
Mr. Yan's Family Instructions	405	(3)
The Classic of Filial Piety for Women	408	(6)
Yuan Cai on Concubines	414	(2)
Zhu Xi on Family and Marriage	416	(7)
Sexual Offenses in the Code of the Qing Dynasty	423	(4)
Advice to Local Officials on Handling Sexual Offenses	427	(9)
Qing Legal Cases Concerning Sexual Offenses	436	(2)
Chen Duxiu on the Way of Confucius and Modern Life	438	(3)
Feng Youlan on the Philosophy at the Basis of Traditional Chinese Society	441	(10)
Index	451

Excerpts

•Read an excerpt from the Introduction to Sex, Marriage, and Family in World Religions (pdf)

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