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This book offers theological, historical, and sociological treatments of sexuality in the Orthodox Christian world. It presents both academic and pastoral reflections on sex, seeking to open up the conversation about homosexuality and sexual diversity within Orthodox Christianity, aiming to create an agora for discussing the sexualities that are often thought of as untraditional.
List of contents
Foreword | ix
Metropolitan Ambrosius, HelsinkiAcknowledgments | xiii
Sexuality and Orthodoxy: An Introduction | 1
Thomas Arentzen and Ashley M. PurpuraPART I: THINKING THROUGH TRADITION1 Relationality, Sexuality, and the Desire for God: Historical Resources | 23
Susan Ashbrook Harvey2 Something New under the Sun: Sexualities, Same-Sex Relationships, and Orthodoxy | 46
Bryce E. Rich
3 Science, Homosexuality, and the Church | 66
Gayle Woloschak4 Biblical Tradition and Same-Sex Relations: A Difficult Hermeneutical Path | 79
Ekaterini TsalampouniPART II: CULTURAL AND PASTORAL CONTEXTS5 Civil Marriage and Civil Union from an Ecclesial Perspective: The Case of the Orthodox Church of Greece | 105
Pantelis Kalaitzidis6 Eastern Orthodoxy Identity and "Aggressive Liberalism": Nontheological Aspects of the Confrontation | 144
Dmitry Uzlaner7 Salvation and Same-Sex Relations:
An Orthodox Response on the Decision by the Lutheran Church of Sweden | 154
Michael Hjälm8 Homophobia in Orthodox Contexts: Sociopolitical Variables and Theological Strategies for Change | 172
Andrii Krawchuk9 Meeting Michelle: Practical Theological Reflections on the Personhood of a Transgender Inmate | 192
Richard RenéPART III: THINKING WITH TRADITION10 A Desire for All Is the Desire for God:
"Sexual Orientation" in Light of Gregory of Nyssa's Account of Gender, Desire, and the Soul's Ascent to God | 215
Spyridoula Athanasopoulou-Kypriou11 Intersex People: Not Physical Mistakes but God's Image | 235
Kate¿ina Köandrle Bauer12 A Theology of Sex | 247
Aristotle Papanikolaou13 The Antinomic Eschatological Transfiguration of Christian Eros and Sexuality | 265
Haralambos Ventis14 Sex, Love, and Politics: An (Un)Orthodox Theological Approach | 281
Davor Džalto15 From Adam to Christ: From Male and Female to Being Human | 303
John BehrList of Contributors | 321
Index | 325
About the author
Thomas Arentzen (Edited By) Thomas Arentzen is a reader in church history and works as a researcher in Greek philology at Uppsala University and as a senior lecturer in Eastern Christian studies at Sankt Ignatios College, Stockholm School of Theology. He specializes in Byzantine literature and ecocriticism. Publications include
The Virgin in Song: Mary and the Poetry of Romanos the Melodist (2017) and
Byzantine Tree Life: Christianity and the Arboreal Imagination (2021), coauthored with Virginia Burrus and Glenn Peers.
Ashley M. Purpura (Edited By) Ashley M. Purpura is an associate professor of religious studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University. She publishes on gender and Orthodoxy, and is the author of
God, Hierarchy, and Power: Orthodox Theologies of Authority from Byzantium (2018).
Aristotle Papanikolaou (Edited By) Aristotle Papanikolaou is Professor of Theology, the Archbishop Demetrios Chair of Orthodox Theology and Culture, and the Co-Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University. He is also Senior Fellow at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion. He is the author of
Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism, and Divine-Human Communion, and
The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy.
Summary
This book offers theological, historical, and sociological treatments of sexuality in the Orthodox Christian world. It presents both academic and pastoral reflections on sex, seeking to open up the conversation about homosexuality and sexual diversity within Orthodox Christianity, aiming to create an agora for discussing the sexualities that are often thought of as untraditional.
