Sex and Virtue: An Introduction to Sexual Ethics

Description

Contemporary western culture is awash in ideologies that reduce sexuality to an outlet for pleasure, an ecstatic form of release needed for personal fulfillment, or a commodity to be bought and sold. Many Christians living in such a culture find themselves uncertain as to how to respond from within churches torn by controversy, embarrassed by scandal, and thus driven into uneasy silence on sexual matters. Catholic moral theology, itself at the epicenter of this controversy over sexual issues since Humanae vitae, has struggled to respond to the call for renewal issued by the Second Vatican Council. This book provides a theological foundation for consideration of the moral dimensions of human sexuality from a Roman Catholic perspective. Drawing upon key biblical themes such as covenant, discipleship, and beatitude, it proposes an understanding of covenant fidelity wedded to the virtue of chastity that provides a suitable framework for a Catholic and Christian approach to issues of sexuality in a contemporary context. What is needed to counter dominant cultural ideologies is a vision of sexuality as integral to the human vocation to communion as well as attention to the specific practices that enable persons to grow in moral goodness. This work represents an original synthesis of biblical categories, the tradition and language of virtue, and a theological understanding of the human person. It is also among the first systematic applications of the renewal of virtue theory in recent decades to issues of sexuality. Scholars, students of moral theology, and religious educators will benefit from this groundbreaking work. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John S. Grabowski is Associate Professor of Moral Theology and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. In addition to numerous articles and reviews, Grabowski is the author of the foreword to the English edition of Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Acknowledgments, vii Introduction, ix . Clashing Symbols: Sex, Conscience, and Authority  . The Experience of Alienation,  . Sex:The American Ethos,  . Humanae vitae: Flashpoint of Controversy,  . The Legal Powder Keg,  . ATwofold Alienation,  . Covenant and Sacrament  . Biblical Interpretation,  . The Nature of Covenant,  . Sex as Covenantal: Genesis ,  . Covenantal Sexuality Fallen and Redeemed,  . Intercourse as Anamnesis:Theological Developments,  . Kingdom, Discipleship, Character  . Conversion and Discipleship,  . Kingdom, Covenant, Beatitude,  . The Character of a Disciple,  . Sex and Character,  . Toward a Spirituality of Christian Sexuality,  . Sex and Chastity  . Chastity and Early Christianity,  . Chastity in Aquinas,  . The Eclipse of Chastity in MoralTeaching,  . Chastity and Personalism,  . Psychological Perspectives,  . Chastity and Culture,  . Male and Female: Equality, Difference, Dignity  . Genesis Revisited,  . Other BiblicalTeaching,  . Contemporary Reflections,  . Ethical Import,  . Conclusion,  . Covenant Fidelity, Fertility, and the Gift of Self  . Fertility and the Gift of Self,  . Some Implications,  . Further Questions,  . ATest Case for Growth in Marital Chastity: The Practice of Periodic Continence,  . Teaching Sex: Education, Sexuality, Character  . Vision andValues,  . Practices Make Perfect,  . Moral Norms: Only the Beginning,  . An Authentic Gradualism,  . The Role of Community,  . Friendship,  . Toward a Culture of Life,  . Conclusion,  Works Cited,  Index, 