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Historically, the Bible has been used to drive a wedge between the spirit and the body. In this provocative book, David Carr argues that it can--and should--do just the opposite. Sexuality and spirituality, Carr contends, are intricately interwoven: when one is improverished, the other is warped. As a result, the journey toward God and the life-long engagement with our own sexual embodiment are inseparable. Humans, the Bible tells us, both male and female, were created in God's image, and eros--a fundamental longing for connection that finds abstract good in the pleasure we derive from the stimulation of the senses--is a central component of that image. The Bible, particularly the Hebrew Bible, affirms erotic passion, both eros between humans and eros between God and humans. In a sweeping examination of the sexual rules of the Bible, Carr asserts that Biblical "family values" are a far cry from anything promoted as such in contemporary politics. He concludes that passionate love--our preoccupaton therewith and pursuit thereof--is the primary human vocation, that eros is in fact the flavoring of life.
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THE E R O T I C WORD
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The
Erotic Word SEXUALITY, SPIRITUALITY, AND THE BIBLE
David M. Carr
OXPORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
2OO3
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright © 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press 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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carr, David McLain, 1961The erotic Word : sexuality, spirituality, and the Bible / David Carr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-515652-8 I. Sex in the Bible. 2. Gardens in the Bible. 3. Sex—Religious aspects—Christianity. 4. Gardens—-Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title. BS680.S5 C37 2002 220.8'3067—dc21 2002074851
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
To Colleen, my love
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Acknowledgments
I wrote this book with the goal of making my Biblical scholarship available to a broad circle of people. I hope that my scholarly colleagues will find something of interest here too. Note: In the process of revision I followed editorial suggestions to spell out the name of the God of Israel (Yahweh) rather than give only consonants (as is my usual practice in publications). The concern was that a spelling of the divine name with just consonants (YHWH) would have confused many readers. My apologies go to those Jewish readers for whom this presents a significant problem. As I have tried to make this book ever clearer, I received expert guidance from my editor at Oxford, Cynthia Read. I also owe many thanks to more colleagues than I can number, who added to my research through their written works, conference presentations, and conversations. In particular, I want to thank the following for reading drafts of part or all of the book: Clinton McCann, Marcus Borg, Othmar Keel, Michael Fox, Mark Smith, emilie townes, Martti Nissenen, Steven McKenzie, Linda Day, Debra HafFner, and Judith Plaskow. A number of friends and family read portions of the book and provided helpful ideas on how to make it more accessible. I