Raymond L Lawrence, Jr, Sexual (The Scandal of Christendom) Liberation,  Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, 2007, Hardback, 196 pp, $49.75

A Review by G. Richard Wheatcroft

When you have this book you will see on the front cover, above the title, two photographs. One is the bright picture of a woman who looks as if she might have been cast in plastic. She is wearing a white gown, trimmed in gold. She holds her hands together as if in prayer. And wrapped around her hands is a necklace of white stones, with a cross in the center. The other picture is of a man and a woman, discreetly nude, embracing.

The photographs picture the title of the book which the author tells us is "an account of the strange ways sexual pleasure has been profoundly devalued and even perversely demonized in the so-called western world, meaning Europe and its sphere of influence. It is also an exploration of the likely motivations driving this proves of demonization."

Raymond J. Lawrence, Jr. is Director of Pastoral Care at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Medical Center, General Secretary of the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy, and Director of Pastoral Care at the New York Council of Churches.

The book offers, in chronological order, the story of the individuals who made significant contributions to "public process of sexual value-making" in the history of the western world from Jewish tradition to the present. The author maintains that the attitude toward sex found in the Palestinian Jewish tradition, in the law, the prophets, the wisdom literature, and the Talmud, was "exuberantly positive about sexual pleasure which it considers to be a divine gift and even mitzvah -- a meritorious act - in certain circumstances." He believes that the historical evidence reveals a Jesus "who affirmed the joy of sexual pleasure as a gift from God while at the same time being critical of the institutional forms - marriage, for example - by which culture seeks to control sexual behavior." Then he offers the startling conjecture that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, "As an observant Jew, Jesus was likely married as a young man and fathered children." Paul, the Apostle, did not have a clear sexual ethic because the subject was not on his agenda. He was married, and it is reasonable to assume that, as a Jew, he had a positive attitude toward sexuality. To highlight sexual liberation in the Bible are two fascinating chapters. One, titled Sexual Pleasure in Judaism, focuses on the nature and expression of sexuality. The other, titled Sexual Conduct in the Early Christian Church, focuses on the moral dimensions of sexual conduct.

The author then turns to the historical forces which radically changed the Biblical meaning and expression of sexuality, beginning with the Roman Emperor Constantine and continuing to the present day. When the Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity in the early fourth century, the biblical theology and values underlying sexual liberation were eclipsed by Stoic and Neoplatonic philosophy and values which promoted virginity and abstinence from sexual pleasure.

Thus began the Scandal of Christendom. Three prominent leaders of the Church, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine reinforced the change. The monastic movement, which began in the late third century, with Anthony of Egypt as its leader, promoted clerical celibacy. The author states that this movement is the basis of "the rejection of sexual gratification" as the "central ethical principle of Christianity in the West."

There are eight chapters, each focused on individuals who, by their relationships, made significant contributions to the meaning and expression of sexuality. They include individuals from the twelfth century to the twentieth century, from Bernard, Abelard and Heloise to Martin Luther, Karl Barth and Paul Tillich.

The conflict between sexual liberation of the 1960's and the counter anti-sexual forces which followed, continued during the latter days of the twentieth century and is not over. The author describes the many differences and ramifications of the war over sexual values. He writes, "The search for sexual pleasure is basic to our experience of being human. We reject it at our peril. It is tragic that Christianity has most recently been on the side of those who hold sexual pleasure in disdain, to their great loss." He devotes a chapter to describing the sexual disarray in the churches today.

In a postscript he provides a summary of the conflict between the first century Jewish sexual liberation values and the "sex-phobic ethic of Stoicism and Neoplatonisn, the central philosophy and quasi-religion of imperial Rome." He emphasizes that "Subsequent generations of Church leaders gradually turned away from Jewish sexual values and looked increasingly to the Stoic and Neoplatonism of the empire for their sexual teachings." Concluding his study, he writes, "Christianity in all of its manifestations - Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox - has only one good option, to return to its Jewish origins, and to the Pharisaic-Talmudic rabbi (Jesus) who started it all, and away from whomever seems to have drifted." He qualifies that statement by writing, "No final or absolute answers to specific and concrete human behavioral dilemmas are envisioned.

The basic biblical teaching, especially represented by Jesus is that all behavior - including sexual - is judged by the demands of love and justice, a teaching that is both rigorous and liberating." Anyone with an open and inquiring mind will find this scholarly but easy to read book fascinating and liberating.

[The Covenant Journal, Number 28, May 2008]

G. Richard Wheatcroft