What do you think?
Rate this book
Creation & Covenant: The Significance of Sexual Difference in the Moral Theology of Marriage
Does sexual difference matter for marriage? Are there good theological reasons why the two main characters in a marriage should be a male and a female, or is marriage a more flexible covenant, which any two people can keep? Creation and Covenant analyzes latent but under-examined beliefs about sexual difference in the theology about marriage which has been dominant for centuries in the Christian west. The book opens by studying patristic theologies of marriage, which rested on mostly implicit and often incompatible beliefs about sexual difference. However, Roberts argues that Augustine developed a coherent theology of sexual difference, according it a shifting significance from creation to eschaton. Roberts traces how Augustine's theology influenced and was developed by subsequent theologians, such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Luther, Barth, and John Paul II. Finally, Roberts engages today's debates about gay marriage. Before becoming an academic, Dr. Roberts was a journalist. On behalf of PBS television, he covered both the Lambeth Conference in England and the World Council of Churches in Zimbabwe. During those years, he was disappointed by both the liberal and conservative arguments on homosexuality. Left-wingers seemed more interested in privacy, autonomy, and experience than in theology, and right-wingers seemed to have lots of prohibitions but little good news. In the final chapters, this book tries to do better, inviting liberals to improve the standard of their arguments, and explaining what is beautiful and persuasive about the traditional case.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
6 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 11, 2020
"Creation and Covenant: The Significance of Sexual Difference in the Moral Theology of Marriage" is a rich exploration of how the Christian tradition has thought about the gift of sexual differentiation, sexuality, and marriage. In it, Christopher C. Roberts looks at how several important and influential Christian thinkers have thought about sexual difference. Some of these thinkers do not directly address the questions and issues that we face today, but Roberts offers a fair and constructive extrapolation of their thought and he still sees these bygone saints as valuable conversation partners for us today.
The Christian Church's first few centuries were a period of theological finessing as redeemed Jews and Gentiles sought to be faithful to the teachings of Jesus while living in the midst of a Greco-Roman culture that tended to disparage the body (e.g. Manicheans, Gnostics, etc...). In the first chapter, Roberts explores the thought of these early theologians such as Jerome and Tatian, but admittedly there is not much solid theological reflection about sexual difference at this point. It is really with St. Augustine of Hippo that the Christian tradition begins to solidify its understanding of sexual difference and its consequences for Christian morality. Augustine himself evolves his understanding of sexual differentiation. The book then explores how Bernard of Clairvaux spoke about sexuality and marital imagery and symbolism in his sermons on the Song of Songs and proceeds with the thoughts of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Karl Barth (who uses "creation and covenant" regarding marriage, and John Paul II. Particular attention is played to these theologian's biblical exegesis, especially the early chapters of Genesis. Roberts seeks to avoid relying too heavily upon non-theological speculation for grounding our understanding of sexual difference, as when he critiques John Paul II, asserting that some of his teaching represents "Some departure from theology, and recourse to experience and Mariology, seems to occur" (p. 181).
This book is not just a rendition of influential orthodox theologians and their understanding of sexual difference. In the final chapter before the conclusion, Roberts draws leading liberal theologians Graham Ward, Eugene Rogers, and David Matzko McCarthy into conversation. This is an extremely helpful chapter as Roberts presents their arguments, thus exposing the reader to some of the leading revisionist arguments for minimizing or completely negating the significance of sexual difference, and then effectively demonstrates just how wildly and erroneously these theologians depart from the deep foundations of the Christian tradition. For instance, Rogers ASSUMES one's sexual desire is in accordance with God's will, but the disciplining and right ordering of our desires is integral to our spiritual lives, with God always being "the first in my heart."
This book comes highly recommended by Wesley Hill, one of the leading proponents of traditional Christian sexual morality and who himself identifies as gay. The book focuses on men and women and doesn't directly address transgender or intersex individuals. Additionally, the book doesn't engage much with Eastern Orthodox thinkers and Roberts states that that stream of Christianity is more "ambiguous with regard to the place of sexual difference in creation and anthropology" (p. 238). He alludes to the re-conceptualizing among some revisionists to downplay the necessity of sexual differentiation and instead to think of marriage as a partnership where both members continually propel one another towards Christ and holiness. One of the great themes that rings across the pages of this book is the sheer gifting of sexual difference and this is a wonderful reminder of that as many debates surrounding Christian sexual ethics sometimes ignore this fundamental gift.
Roberts concludes the book with the assertion:
“Thus there is an ancient Christian tradition, from Augustine to John Paul II, which has believed and argued that sexual difference is significant. With varying degrees of explicitness, the greatest theologians in the Christian West have been relatively cohesive on the point that sexual difference, which enables biological procreation and which humans share with animals, has more than physical and animal significance.
To synthesize, based on the material we have examined in this book, I propose the following theological significance for sexual difference: The same God whom we know in Christ has, in his goodness, created us as male and female. To be male or female, then, is to be blessed, for it is to be something that is good. To be this sexually differentiated creature is to be something that will be redeemed, and redeemed as it was made and not as some other creature; in other words, sexual difference is not something human beings should attempt to ignore or deplore. Sexual difference is something humans should embrace and welcome, for to do that is to honor creation and anticipate redemption. Such a way of life, to which Christ calls all human beings, means to love the neighbor and enable the neighbor to be what he or she is meant to be in the sexual sphere.”
The Christian Church's first few centuries were a period of theological finessing as redeemed Jews and Gentiles sought to be faithful to the teachings of Jesus while living in the midst of a Greco-Roman culture that tended to disparage the body (e.g. Manicheans, Gnostics, etc...). In the first chapter, Roberts explores the thought of these early theologians such as Jerome and Tatian, but admittedly there is not much solid theological reflection about sexual difference at this point. It is really with St. Augustine of Hippo that the Christian tradition begins to solidify its understanding of sexual difference and its consequences for Christian morality. Augustine himself evolves his understanding of sexual differentiation. The book then explores how Bernard of Clairvaux spoke about sexuality and marital imagery and symbolism in his sermons on the Song of Songs and proceeds with the thoughts of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Karl Barth (who uses "creation and covenant" regarding marriage, and John Paul II. Particular attention is played to these theologian's biblical exegesis, especially the early chapters of Genesis. Roberts seeks to avoid relying too heavily upon non-theological speculation for grounding our understanding of sexual difference, as when he critiques John Paul II, asserting that some of his teaching represents "Some departure from theology, and recourse to experience and Mariology, seems to occur" (p. 181).
This book is not just a rendition of influential orthodox theologians and their understanding of sexual difference. In the final chapter before the conclusion, Roberts draws leading liberal theologians Graham Ward, Eugene Rogers, and David Matzko McCarthy into conversation. This is an extremely helpful chapter as Roberts presents their arguments, thus exposing the reader to some of the leading revisionist arguments for minimizing or completely negating the significance of sexual difference, and then effectively demonstrates just how wildly and erroneously these theologians depart from the deep foundations of the Christian tradition. For instance, Rogers ASSUMES one's sexual desire is in accordance with God's will, but the disciplining and right ordering of our desires is integral to our spiritual lives, with God always being "the first in my heart."
This book comes highly recommended by Wesley Hill, one of the leading proponents of traditional Christian sexual morality and who himself identifies as gay. The book focuses on men and women and doesn't directly address transgender or intersex individuals. Additionally, the book doesn't engage much with Eastern Orthodox thinkers and Roberts states that that stream of Christianity is more "ambiguous with regard to the place of sexual difference in creation and anthropology" (p. 238). He alludes to the re-conceptualizing among some revisionists to downplay the necessity of sexual differentiation and instead to think of marriage as a partnership where both members continually propel one another towards Christ and holiness. One of the great themes that rings across the pages of this book is the sheer gifting of sexual difference and this is a wonderful reminder of that as many debates surrounding Christian sexual ethics sometimes ignore this fundamental gift.
Roberts concludes the book with the assertion:
“Thus there is an ancient Christian tradition, from Augustine to John Paul II, which has believed and argued that sexual difference is significant. With varying degrees of explicitness, the greatest theologians in the Christian West have been relatively cohesive on the point that sexual difference, which enables biological procreation and which humans share with animals, has more than physical and animal significance.
To synthesize, based on the material we have examined in this book, I propose the following theological significance for sexual difference: The same God whom we know in Christ has, in his goodness, created us as male and female. To be male or female, then, is to be blessed, for it is to be something that is good. To be this sexually differentiated creature is to be something that will be redeemed, and redeemed as it was made and not as some other creature; in other words, sexual difference is not something human beings should attempt to ignore or deplore. Sexual difference is something humans should embrace and welcome, for to do that is to honor creation and anticipate redemption. Such a way of life, to which Christ calls all human beings, means to love the neighbor and enable the neighbor to be what he or she is meant to be in the sexual sphere.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review