• Sexuality and Christian Tradition

    Author(s):
    David Newheiser (see profile)
    Date:
    2015
    Subject(s):
    Church history--Primitive and early church, Ethics, Sex, History, Theology
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Early Christianity, History of sexuality
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M60C0X
    Abstract:
    This essay aims to clarify the debate over same-sex unions by comparing it to the fourth-century conflict concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. Although some suppose that the council of Nicaea reiterated what Christians had always believed, the Nicene theology championed by Athanasius was a dramatic innovation that only won out through protracted struggle. Similarly, despite the widespread assumption that Christian tradition univocally condemns homosexuality, the concept of sexuality is a nineteenth-century invention with no exact analogue in the ancient world. Neither hetero- nor homo- sexuality is addressed directly in Christian tradition; for this reason, the significance of older authorities for the modern debate is necessarily indirect. The dichotomy between progressive and conservative positions is therefore misguided: it is necessary neither to abandon tradition for the sake of progress nor to oppose innovation for the sake of fidelity.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.12088
    Publisher:
    Wiley-Blackwell
    Pub. Date:
    2015-1-27
    Journal:
    Journal of Religious Ethics
    Volume:
    43
    Issue:
    1
    Page Range:
    122 - 145
    ISSN:
    0384-9694
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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