Lower Than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity
A superb history of Christianity’s 2,000-year relationship with our animal instincts ... Masterly ... MacCulloch deals candidly with the clumsy and often cruel way in which churches in the post-second world war period dragged their feet on contraception, gay and lesbian rights and the ordination of women.
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Offers a compelling and encyclopedic survey of how Christianity makes sense of sexual desire ... MacCulloch is an ideal guide in tracing this story. He writes, as always, with such liveliness and energy that the reader hardly notices the length of the book or the comprehensiveness of its field of reference ... His narrative is dispassionate, sometimes quietly and wittily deflationary, careful and generous, its own moral compass neither intrusive nor indecipherable.
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It’s a thrilling read ... The most powerful argument of the book is about marriage ... This book is an important and timely contribution to the current debates not just within the Church but in societies that should understand the influence of Christian teaching on these subjects for good or ill ... Provides guidance to the Church, that debates don’t have to be couched in terms of following a “secular agenda” or betraying some sort of clearly defined “traditional” past.
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