The New Testament on Sexuality

by William Loader

Overview

This is the fifth and final installment of William Loader's authoritative, acclaimed series on attitudes toward sexuality in the ancient world.

Sexual themes are never far beneath the surface where there are human beings. This was certainly the case for Christians in the first-century world. Some began in a strongly Jewish context and worked out their faith in dialogue with their scriptural heritage. Others had to work out their sexual ethics in a world strongly influenced by Greco-Roman ideals and practices.
In The New Testament on Sexuality William Loader explores the relevant cultural contexts and looks at New Testament texts related to sexuality, highlighting both the warnings about sexual wrongdoing and the affirmations of sexual union. He deals with specific themes such as divorce, same-sex relations, women and men in leadership, and celibacy; individual behavior, gender roles and rules, preferences, and hopes also fall under the scope of his investigation. Broad-ranging and thorough, this book engages both the biblical texts and the diverse ways in which they have been interpreted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802867247
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/08/2012
Series:	Attitudes Towards Sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic Greco-Roman Era
Pages:	575
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

William Loader is professor emeritus of New Testament atMurdoch University, Perth, Australia. His other books onsexuality in early Judaism and Christianity are Philo,Josephus, and the Testaments on Sexuality;The Pseudepigrapha on Sexuality; TheDead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality; and Enoch,Levi, and Jubilees on Sexuality.,

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments x

Introduction 1

1 Sexuality in the Jewish World of the New Testament 3

1.1 Adultery 4

1.1.1 Adultery and Another Man's Rights 4

1.1.2 Adultery and Divorce 6

1.2 Further Infringements of Another Man's Rights 9

1.2.1 Rape and Seduction 9

1.2.2 Virgins 10

1.3 Households 11

1.3.1 Households and Inheritance 11

1.3.2 Households, Slaves and Captive Women 13

1.4 Other Sexual Wrongdoing 15

1.4.1 Prostitutes 15

1.4.2 Intermarriage 18

1.4.3 Incest 20

1.4.4 Same-Sex Intercourse 22

1.4.4.1 The Prohibitions in Leviticus 22

1.4.4.2 The Genesis Creation Stories and Same-Sex Relations 27

1.4.4.3 Sodom and Gomorrah 28

1.4.4.4 Other Old Testament Passages 30

1.4.4.5 Early Jewish Writings 32

1.4.5 Infanticide 33

1.5 Sex in Everyday Life 35

1.5.1 Purity Laws and Sex 35

1.5.2 Sacred Space and Time 36

1.5.3 Love and Marriage 37

1.5.4 Making a Marriage according to Tobit 42

1.5.5 Betrothal 43

1.5.6 Premarital Chastity 45

1.5.7 Wedding Celebrations 45

1.5.8 Contracts, "Bride Price", Ketubba, and Dowries 48

1.5.9 Polygyny 51

1.6 Divorce 54

1.6.1 Divorce In Reality 54

1.6.2 Who Divorces Whom? 56

1.6.3 Grounds for Divorce 58

1.7 Fertility, Conception, Pregnancy and Childbirth 62

1.8 Celibacy 66

2 Sexuality in the Greco-Roman World of the New Testament 74

2.1 Marriage, Divorce, and Monogyny 75

2.2 Same-Sex Intercourse 83

2.3 Sex and the Philosophers 91

2.3.1 The Pythagoreans and Plato 91

2.3.2 The Stoics 95

2.3.3 Challenging Fatalism 97

2.4 Sex and Society 99

2.4.1 Changing Social Realities 99

2.4.2 Roman Social Realities 100

2.4.3 Augustan Reforms 103

2.4.4 Non-Elites 104

2.5 Love and Marriage 106

3 Sexuality in the Gospel Tradition 109

3.1 Adultery 109

3.1.1 Matthew 5:27-28: Looking at Men Looking at Women 109

3.1.2 The Excision Sayings 119

3.1.2.1 Mark 9:43-48 119

3.1.2.2 Matthew 18:6-9 Interpreting Mark 9:42-38 124

3.1.2.3 Matthew 5:29-30 and Adultery 127

3.1.2.4 An Older Tradition? 129

3.1.2.5 Stark Imagery: Excision 131

3.1.3 Woman Caught in Adultery 135

3.1.4 Other Brief References to Adultery 138

3.2 Adultery and Beyond 139

3.2.1 Mary and Joseph 139

3.2.2 Mark 7:21-23 and Matthew 15:18-20 139

3.2.3 Adultery and Sexual Wrongdoing 141

3.2.4 Jesus, John the Baptist, and Incest 143

3.2.5 Marital Imagery in the Jesus Tradition 146

3.2.6 Further Considerations 147

3.3 Conclusions 147

4 Sexuality in Paul and Beyond Paul 152

4.1 The Writings of Paul 152

4.1.1 Paul and the Thessalonians 152

4.1.2 Paul and the Corinthians 160

4.1.2.1 1 Corinthians 5 and Incest 161

4.1.2.2 1 Corinthians 6 and Prostitution 166

4.1.2.3 1 Corinthians 7 - Avoiding Porneia and Defending Marriage 182

4.1.2.3.1 Paul's Opening Statement (1 Corinthians 7:1) 182

4.1.2.3.2 Paul's Qualifications of the Opening Statement (1 Corinthians 7:2-7) 187

4.1.2.3.3 The Unmarried and the Widows (1 Corinthians 7:8-9) 198

4.1.2.3.4 The Married and Divorce (1 Corinthians 7:10-16) 200

4.1.2.3.5 It is Good to Stay as You Are (1 Corinthians 7:17-35) 204

4.1.2.3.6 Fathers, Daughters, and Widows (1 Corinthians 7:36-40) 214

4.1.2.4 Conclusion: Paul on Sex in 1 Corinthians 5-7 220

4.1.2.5 2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1 - Mixed Marriages? 222

4.1.3 Paul and the Romans 226

4.1.3.1 Romans 1 and Passion 227

4.1.3.2 Romans 6-8 and the "Flesh" 227

4.1.4 Conclusion 233

4.2 Beyond Jesus and Paul 234

5 Divorce 240

5.1 The Sayings 240

5.1.1 Matthew 5:31-32 240

5.1.2 Mark 10:11-12 253

5.1.3 Matthew 19:9 256

5.1.4 Luke 16:18 257

5.1.5 QLuke 16:18; Matthew 5:32 259

5.1.6 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 Paul 264

5.1.7 Behind the sayings 269

5.2 The Controversy 270

5.2.1 Mark 10:2-12 271

5.2.2 Matthew 19:3-12 279

5.3 Conclusions 285

6 Same-Sex Intercourse 293

6.1 Romans 1:24, 26-28 293

6.1.1 Romans 1:24, 26-28 within Romans 1:16-3-26 293

6.1.1.1 Paul's Argument 293

6.1.1.2 Rhetoric and Reality 295

6.1.1.3 Behind Paul's Argument 297

6.1.2 Exegetical Comment on Romans 1:24 26-28 302

6.1.2.1 Roman 1:24 302

6.1.2.2 Romans 1:26 308

6.1.2.3 Romans 1:27 315

6.1.2.4 Romans 1:28 319

6.1.3 Romans 1 among the Interpreters 320

6.2 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10 326

6.2.1 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 326

6.2.2 1.Timothy 1:9-10 332

6.3 Other New Testament Texts 334

7 Men and Women in Community and Leadership 339

7.1 The Jesus Tradition 339

7.1.1 The Challenge of the Kingdom 339

7.1.2 Sex in the Alternative Society 341

7.1.3 Women 344

7.1.3.1 The Woman Anointing Jesus 344

7.1.3.2 Jesus mid "Outsider" Women

7.1.3.3 Women in Jesus' Ministry 352

7.1.4 Men 361

7.1.5 Family Power 362

7.2 Paul 368

7.2.1 Men and Women in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 368

7.2.2 Men and Women in 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36 383

7.2.3 Men and Women in Galatians 3:26-28 389

7.2.4 Men and Women in this Age and the Age to Come 395

7.2.5 Men 396

7.3 Beyond Paul 401

7.3.1 The Unity Saying in Col 3:9-11 401

7.3.2 Household Codes 404

7.3.2.1 The Household Code in Colossians 405

7.3.2.2 The Household Code in Ephesians 407

7.3.2.3 The Household Code in Titus and 1 Peter 411

7.3.2.4 Slaves and Households 416

7.3.3 Men and Women in Church Order 418

7.3.3.1 Restraining Women in 1 Timothy 418

7.3.3.2 Men, Women, and Ministry in 1 Timothy 424

8 Celibacy 430

8.1 Mark, Matthew and Luke on Marriage in the Age to Come 430

8.2 Eunuchs for the Kingdom 436

8.3 Radical Discipleship, Family and Celibacy 444

8.4 Jesus, John the Baptist, and Paul - the Celibacy Option 447

8.5 Paul and Celibacy 453

8.5.1 1 Corinthians 7 453

8.5.2 Celibacy in Paul-Why? 459

8.5.2.1 Paul's reasons for Preferring Celibacy 459

8.5.2.2 The Corinthians and Celibacy 462

8.6 No "male and female" and Later Oneness Traditions 467

8.7 Virgins, Widows, and the Sacred 476

8.7.1 Virginity in Matthew and Luke 476

8.7.2 "Who have not defiled themselves with women" (Rev 14:4)? 478

8.7.3 Like Little Children? 481

8.8 Conclusion 483

8.8.1 Summary Review 483

8.8.2 Where does this Notion of Celibacy Come From? 485

Conclusion 491

Bibliography 501

Index of Modem Authors 541

Index of Ancient Sources 549

Editorial Reviews

Paul Foster
— University of Edinburgh
"Bill Loader's superlative multivolume study on sexuality in ancient Judaism and Christianity comes to completion with this consideration of the New Testament's perspective on sexuality. Here Loader combines judicious handling of individual texts with high-level reflection on the conceptual and ethical outlook that underpinned New Testament views on sexuality. This is New Testament scholarship at its very best, written by a scholar who has wrestled with the meaning of individual texts, delved into the societal setting of such writings, and grappled with the religious forces that shaped views on sexuality. A magisterial study which will enrich the understanding of all who read it."

Margaret Y. MacDonald
— St. Francis Xavier University
"The New Testament on Sexuality is essential reading for scholars and students alike. Throughout the book Loader reveals his mastery not only of the New Testament but also of Jewish and Greco-Roman sources. One finds detailed examination of some of the most difficult and highly contentious issues related to New Testament evidence, such as attitudes to virginity and same-sex intercourse, celibacy, slavery and sexuality, the relationship between sexuality and leadership, and sex in an alternate society. Loader displays an impressive command of the vast array of scholarly literature. . . . This is a study that I will no doubt turn to time and time again, not only for its comprehensive analysis of texts but also for its many challenging and original insights."

Michael Lattke
— University of Queensland
"Together with its sister volumes, this magisterial book will be a standard work for many years to come."

Journal of the American Oriental Society
“This detailed, erudite, and highly readable analysis of every NT text related to human sexuality will be the watershed volume with which every NT scholar will need to deal for the next century.”
Journal of Theological Studies —
“In its erudition and scope, William Loader’s The New Testament on Sexuality represents a monumental achievement. . . . A comprehensive guidebook to a fraught and much-contested hermeneutical landscape, one in which Loader exposes readers to a wide range of scholarly debates, presents his own arguments for particular interpretation, and remains sensitive to the limits of what we can know, given the extant evidence. For its encyclopedic coverage alone, The New Testament on Sexuality is sure to become a standard reference work in the field.”
 
Theology
“Impressively comprehensive book. . . . Both an incisive and an irenic contribution to the literature.”
 
Review of Biblical Literature (first review)
“Will become a sourcebook for anyone endeavoring to teach or research the very hazardous waters of biblical sexuality. . . . A very reader-friendly work that is extremely well-organized and offers in-depth discussions throughout. . . . A tremendous resource for all who would endeavor to teach on this decidedly complicated topic and a work that approaches biblical sexuality in a very even-handed way.”
 
Journal for the Study of the New Testament 
“One of the more balanced, detailed, and frankly, sensible discussions. . . . Though direct phenomenological study of the place of sexuality in ancient cultures is not possible, Loader is to be applauded for the rich and ‘thick description’ he gives of the literary matrix that illuminates the NT social world.”
 
Reviews in Religion and Theology 
“A text one will likely keep coming back to; whilst not a reference work in the absolute sense, it is one that scholars and researchers will consistently keep referring to.”
 
Review of Biblical Literature (second review) 
“One can find here many detailed, judicious and comprehensive discussions on a wide range of issues related to sexuality. . . . This book is well worth a careful reading and should be a reference point for anyone working in the area of sexuality in the New Testament and the Greco-Roman period in general.”
 
The Bible Today 
“A substantial work, a thorough, detailed study of sexuality and sexual attitudes as reflected in the various writings of the New Testament. . . . Loader provides measured and balanced analysis of the evidence, showing that the New Testament perspectives were strongly influenced by Jewish tradition, by practical pastoral consideration, and by an eschatology that assumed that sexuality activity was not part of the world to come. This is a valuable resource.

From the Publisher