Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation [Paperback]

Dale B. Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2006

“I firmly believe that Christians should read Scripture and make it relevant to our lives. But I also believe that we need new ways of thinking about how we read Scripture. We need to move beyond the false claims of modernism that looked to the text of the Bible as a reliable and objective ‘source’ for knowledge or as a ‘foundation’ for ethics. We need to think about Scripture more theologically and with fresh imaginations. Far from urging the irrelevance of the Bible, I am advocating a more robust use of the Bible and a more sophisticated and adequate theology of Scripture.” —from the conclusion Probing into numerous questions about gender and sexuality, Dale Martin delves into the biblical texts anew and unearths surprising findings. Avoiding preconceptions about ancient sexuality, he explores the ethics of desire and marriage and pays careful attention to the original meanings of words, especially those used as evidence of Paul’s opposition to homosexuality. For example, after a remarkably faithful reading of the scriptural texts, Martin concludes that our contemporary obsession with marriage—and the whole search for the “right” sexual relationships—is antithetical to the message of the gospel. In all of these essays, however, Martin argues for engaging Scripture in a way that goes beyond the standard historical-critical questions and the assumptions of textual agency in order to find a faith that has no foundations other than Jesus Christ.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dale B. Martin is Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies at Yale University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664230466
• ISBN-13: 978-0664230463
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable, profound, humourous, December 18, 2006

By 

E. Jones (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)

Martin has an acerbic wit and the tenacity of a yapping yorkie. This book is great fun to read, and he pulls no punches in pointing out the flaws in his foes' arguments. He's also a careful New Testament scholar who can beat literalists at their own game. Several of these essays have been published elsewhere. Most compelling are "Heterosexism and the Interpretation of Romans 1:18-32" and "Familiar Idolatry and the Christian Case against Marriage." A must-read if you're interested in issues of gender, sexuality and Christianity.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This will disturb your biases, January 13, 2007

By 

Nanabird "nanabird4" (WICHITA, KS USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)

Excellent book--I recommend it highly because it makes a reader think. This book will upset all our biases. If it doesn't, then a reader's mind begins arguing with the author in the prologue and never stops long enough to take in what Martin says. One particular idea that is disrupting relates to the fact that Jesus and Paul both seemed to oppose typical family life.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exegetical sex and faith in an art museum, December 24, 2011

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Richard Stampfle "Richard S." (Nong Khai, Thailand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation (Paperback)

Dale B. Martin is a fascinating teacher. If you don't know the difference between exegesis and eisegesis and can't tell a foundationalist from a fundamentalist, or hermeneutics from Hermetics, Dale is just the guy to set you `straight'. (Well, kind of...) I first met up with Dale when I took his on-line introductory course on the New Testament from the Yale Open University [...] . He is the first lecturer I have encountered to make the study of the Scriptures fun, interesting, and educational. The title of his book "Sex and the Single Savior" titillated my interest further.
In this excellent book of essays on the biblical interpretation of gender and sexuality, he out-does his classroom lectures with some surprising revelations. Did you ever wonder how Jesus of Nazareth interpreted Scripture? Dale gives us Jesus' take on divorce. In the Introduction he talks about the "anxiety of uncertainty" and cautions that "unethical readings of Scripture will abound." If you have ever wondered what the word `faith' really means, you will be mesmerized by his final chapter and conclusion on "the Risk of Faith."
Everyone will get something different from his book, but I found his analogy of "Scripture as a space: Museum" especially remarkable. He starts off by saying: "....we need to move beyond thinking of Scripture as a foundation for knowledge, as a rule book, a constitution, or an owner's manual. It is the work of our imagination." He compares Scripture to a museum or the objects in a museum. By the end of the chapter I had already begun to reexamine my views on the Bible.