Elda Mengisto’s Reviews > Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity > Status Update

One thing which really surprised me in this section was the emphasis on chastity and monasteries over marriage; it took them centuries to determine a church marriage, whereas ceremonies for celibacy was more established. I'm glad MacCulloch does touch on differences between east and west, particularly with how the east embraced iconography earlier on. A bit off topic, but still curious.

It's curious to see how Paul of Tarsus was very sex negative, which provided Christianity an alternative way through celibacy, which translated through the monastic tradition later on. There were a lot of debates as Christianity started taking form, from debates over widowhood to what things represented. Could there be a sex-positive form of the religion of the future; if so, how would it reflect themselves?

At the beginning, the writing is quite dry, considering that it's an academic text. Once we get out of "Setting Out", it gets much better, particularly with the new information we have. It was interesting to read about the differences between the Greeks and Jews, particularly in terms of families. MacCulloch also delves into Jesus' life in this context.