Sex and salvation
ISBN: 978-0-88141-719-7, 9780881417197
210 Pages
Sex and Salvation, by the Rev. Dr. P. LeMasters, was enormously helpful when it was first released in 2004 (under the title Towards a Eucharistic Vision of Church, Family, Marriage, and Sex): this update is, if possible, even more useful, since it responds to a culture where a “shared vision of basic morality” has almost entirely disappeared. Eschewing mere “culture wars,” Fr. LeMasters reminds us that “in order to be faithful, we must not only describe our high calling, but become living icons of it,” and he shows where godly marriage and celibacy can do just this. The book is deep, compassionate, clear, and pastoral, distinguishing (like one of the books it praises) “between criticism of an ideology and concern for the wellbeing and healing of people.” In it we hear (without any sentimentality) about the “centrality of marital imagery in the Bible’s narrative,” the importance of the body, and how the ethics of sex and marriage “strike at the very heart of how people . . . become participants in eternal life.” The author is transparent in showing where there is room for continued discussion and debate among Orthodox and where we must remain faithful to the univocal teaching of Scriptures and Tradition. A splendid book!
—Edith M. Humphrey, William F. Orr Professor Emerita Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
This book is thought provoking, scholarly, and accessible for theologians and non-theologians. Fr. Philip offers a Eucharistic vision of marriage to present and resolve many of the issues, distortions, and confusions involving ethics and sex in our modern time. He fairly presents the arguments of many extremes that we are being bombarded with and debunks them using our Tradition, Scriptures, Praxis, and the Fathers. Definitely the book to read if you are confused about the arguments.
—Bp. John, Auxiliary Bishop of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America
The Very Rev. Dr. Philip LeMasters is Professor of Religion and Director of the Honors Program at McMurry University. He has published many books and articles on Orthodox Christian ethics and is an archpriest of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Vladimir’s Seminary and has also taught at the Seminary and the Antiochian House of Studies.
