The New Testament on Sexuality

by William R. G. Loader

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2012

Overview

In The New Testament on Sexuality, William Loader explores the relevant cultural contexts and looks at New Testament texts related to sexuality, highlighting both the warnings about sexual wrongdoing and the affirmations of sexual union. He deals with specific themes such as divorce, same-sex relations, women and men in leadership, and celibacy; individual behavior, gender roles and rules, preferences, and hopes also fall under the scope of his investigation. Broad-ranging and thorough, this book engages both the biblical texts and the diverse ways in which they have been interpreted.

Key Features

• Explores relevant cultural contexts and New Testament texts
• Highlights both the warnings about sexual wrongdoing and the affirmations of sexual union
• Focuses on specific themes such as divorce, same-sex relations, and celibacy

Contents

• Sexuality in the Jewish World of the New Testament
• Sexuality in the Greco-Roman World of the New Testament
• Sexuality in the Gospel Tradition
• Sexuality in Paul and Beyond Paul
• Divorce
• Same-Sex Intercourse
• Men and Women in Community and Leadership
• Beyond Paul
• Celibacy

Top Highlights

“Where contraception was primitive and largely ineffective,¹⁵ sexual relations could be expected to result regularly in pregnancy, and so any engagement in sexual relations before and outside the marriage relationship threatened to create what would be seen as a chaotic situation. Children of such liaisons were not deemed worthy to inherit and had a lower status in society, being called mamzers.” (Page 11)

“It is certainly inappropriate to translate either word by the modern term, ‘homosexual’,¹⁷⁸ because the common understanding was that men engaging in such activity were just as likely also to be engaging in sex with women, both licit and illicit.” (Page 332)

“He is not focused solely on acts, as Gagnon argues, but also holds attitudes of mind to be blameworthy.” (Page 307)

“There are also provisions for dealing with claims by a husband that the woman he has married was not a virgin, where if his charge proves false he must pay her father a fine and remain married to her and never divorce her, but if his charge proves true she is to be stoned to death (Deut 22:13–21).” (Page 10)

“He is writing not to the world at large but to believers in Rome, who probably included people from both categories” (Page 295)

Praise for the Print Edition

The New Testament on Sexuality is essential reading for scholars and students alike. Throughout the book Loader reveals his mastery not only of the New Testament but also of Jewish and Greco-Roman sources. One finds detailed examination of some of the most difficult and highly contentious issues related to New Testament evidence, such as attitudes to virginity and same-sex intercourse, celibacy, slavery and sexuality, the relationship between sexuality and leadership, and sex in an alternate society. Loader displays an impressive command of the vast array of scholarly literature. . .This is a study that I will no doubt turn to time and time again, not only for its comprehensive analysis of texts but also for its many challenging and original insights.

—Margaret Y. MacDonald, professor of New Testament, St. Francis Xavier University

Product Details

• Title: The New Testament on Sexuality
• Author: William R. G. Loader
• Series: Attitudes towards Sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic Greco-Roman Era
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2012
• Logos Release Date: 2014
• Pages: 575
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Sex › Biblical teaching; Marriage › Biblical teaching; Bible. N.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9780802867247, 0802867243
• Resource ID: LLS:NWTSTMNTSXLTY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-01-16T19:22:11Z

About William R. G. Loader

William Loader is professor emeritus of New Testament at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. He is the author of numerous books including Philo, Josephus, and the Testaments on Sexuality, The Pseudepigrapha on Sexuality, The Dead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality, and Enoch, Levi, and Jubilees on Sexuality.