CLGS

Discerning how to "have sex" ethically requires first of all discerning what "sex" means for us today. The very meaning of sex itself has changed radically over the centuries and with it, the touchstones for articulating a sexual ethic. Those touchstones shift depending on whether one considers the pattern of multiple wives in the ancient Near East (one of the key configurations of "family" in the Hebrew Bible), or the asceticism of most early Christianity, or the patriarchal household in puritan New England, or the heterosexual nuclear family in the U.S. since the 1950s. Not only the meaning of sex but also who is engaged in sexual intimacy will necessarily shape sexual ethics. "Sex" can mean something quite different for gay men than it does for lesbian women, not to mention straight couples or those who choose to abstain from sexual activity entirely.

How then do sexually active people committed to Christian faith make ethically sound decisions about their behavior and their relationships? While no single answer to that question will suffice for all, Professor Dale Martin, Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies at Yale University, will offer both his personal and academic perspectives on this question as a gay man and biblical scholar.

Click here to read a transcript of Professor Martin's lecture.