THE MEANING OF SEX

CHRISTIAN ETHICS

and the

MORAL LIFE

DENNIS P. HOLLINGER

BakerAcademic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

© 2009 by Dennis P. Hollinger

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516–6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hollinger, Dennis P., 1948–

The meaning of sex: Christian ethics and the moral life / Dennis P. Hollinger.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8010-3571-5 (pbk.)

1. Sex—Religious aspects—Christianity. 2. Sexual ethics. I. Title.

BT708.H625 2008

241′.66—dc22

2008052872

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version®. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible

The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.

To Mary Ann,

whose covenant love these many years

embodies the meaning and beauty

of God’s good gift of oneness

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: What’s at Stake in Sexual Morality?

Part 1: Frameworks

1. Ethical Theories and Sex

2. Worldviews and Sex

3. The Christian Worldview and Sex

4. The Purposes of Sex

Part 2: Issues

5. Sex before Marriage

6. Sex in Marriage

7. The Challenge of Homosexuality

8. Reproductive Technologies and Sexual Ethics

9. Living in a Sex-Crazed World

Subject Index

Acknowledgments

I am deeply appreciative of the many people who have contributed to the ideas, shape, and writing of this book. First, special thanks to three individuals who read the entire manuscript and offered exceptional suggestions: Esther Bruland (ethicist), Dennis Sullivan (physician/biologist), and Eric Brown (pastor). I am also grateful for the feedback from two theologians who responded to my theological chapters: David Wells and Ken Miller. Old Testament scholar David Dorsey was most helpful on bibliography ...