The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible [Hardcover]

David M. Carr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 19, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In The Erotic Word, David Carr shows us how we can read the Bible as literature meant to challenge and empower us. He combines close reading, cultural and historical contexts, and apt personal observations to illuminate the text. Carr's meditations on the human condition, with a special focus on sexuality, spirituality, love, desire, marriage, divorce, and gender relationships, are truly engaging. His writing brings together a community of scholars, writers, artists, teachers and readers-as well as what he has learned from his own family, friends, and students. This book has much to teach us about how to read, love, and live fully in the world."--Kyoko Mori, author of Stone Field, True Arrow and Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures

"The Erotic Word is honest, accessible, and always thought-provoking. Carr is clear that there is no one biblical view of sexuality, but he makes a compelling case that the Bible can be read to embrace sexual eros as well as to give us insights into love gone awry."--Judith Plaskow, author of Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective

"A wonderfully fresh, intelligent, and delightful resource for those who seek to make connections in Hebrew Scripture between erotic power and divine life, patriarchal structures and the struggles for liberation. The Sacred whispers through these pages!"--Carter Heyward, Episcopal Divinity School

"This is a lucid, fresh, and learned study of the Bible's complex views of sexuality and their impact on later readers. The description of eroticism and spirituality in the Bible and beyond is rich and subtle. While writing from a Christian perspective, Carr reads Scripture with an honesty and intensity that will engage readers outside his faith community as well."--Michael V. Fox, Halls-Bascom Professor of Hebrew,University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author of The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs

"An excellent book on an important topic-a remarkable combination of readability and scholarship, sexuality and spirituality."--Marcus J. Borg, author of Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time and Reading the Bible Again for the First Time

About the Author

David Carr is Professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195156528
• ISBN-13: 978-0195156522
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like poetry!, May 6, 2008

By 

#$%@ "Dragonfly" (San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible (Paperback)

This book is an invitation to live life to its fullest, full of love toward Gods' creation! This book is a an exploration of love without dogma, of love full of eros thought. This book invites you to appreciate God's creation in you and humanity. Come and enjoy it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, August 1, 2011

By 

J. C. Cobos (Leuven, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible (Paperback)

While showing an impressive array of scholarly materials, I have received Carr's book with mixed feelings.

Carr takes on the important but difficult task of bringing spirituality and sexuality together, but, his attempt does not seem to me to be entirely successful or convincing.

On the one hand, although Carr constantly reminds us that eros is more than mere sexuality, he continuously focuses on eros through the lenses of carnal desires. On the other hand, while Carr seeks to make important claims about spirituality, he undermines his endeavor in two ways: first, by never making clear the distinction and inter-relation between eros and agape and passing over in silence the transition from erotic longing to mystical marriage; and on the other hand, by treating the Bible as a narrative and as a document, but not as the Word of God. Consequently, he does not earnestly put into question the extent to which he eroticizes God, the self, and the community of faith: by speaking of God as an erotic lover, have we not ended up making God in our image and likeness?

Ostensibly Carr sidelines large sections of the Bible and of the Christian tradition that make difficult demands on erotic love because they run contrary to his own open agenda, namely, to justify progressive sexual mores (from homosexuality to extra-marital and non-reproductive sexuality) on the basis of the Bible. It is not surprising, then, that his reading of well-know texts like Genesis 2 or Isaiah 5 strike one as rather contrived.

Where the book succeeds, however, is in the chapters devoted to the Song of Songs (i.e., Part III of the book), where the author brings a number of archeological findings in support of a reading that is rather well-balanced and transparent. One has the impression than in this part, the "Song" speaks rather than its author, or, that whereas for the bulk of "The Erotic Word" Carr wants to "make a point," in Part III he actually only cares about the Songs as such -- and that's actually refreshing.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Surprised, April 21, 2010

By 

Johan du Toit (Paarl South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Erotic Word: Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible (Paperback)

I am very pleased that I purchased and read this book. I am in agreement with Dr Carr that Biblical interpretations have tended to split body and spirit and therefore also sexuality and spirituality. His view on gender equality as opposed to a patriarchal male dominated system also sits well with me.

There are two points of view expressed in the book that trouble me. The first is that erotic love is presented as the only expression of biblical love. Eros that is not tempered by phileo and agapè love will lead to rampant sexual expression.

My second problem with the book is a more serious one. I am surprised by the mental gymnastics and twisting of scripture that he embarks on to justify same-sex erotic behavior. I am very aware of the fact that the church has historically not dealt with this sensitive topic very wisely and much can and should be said about it. To me the low point in the book is where he reads Jesus' sanction of it into His discussion with the Pharisees in Mark 10. Great pity and maybe even great shame!