Customer Reviews

Sex Worship

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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Sex Worship is a very rare type of book. I had read some books on sex worship before I came to this one and was very impressed in the way the subjects are presented with a non bias approach. Even though this book is just over 200 pages it covers quite a lot of subjects, the chapters in this book are:-

Introduction
1 - The Basis of Religion
2 - The Creator
3 - The Phallus
4 - Phallic Emblems
5 - Sexual Sacrifices
6 - The Female Principle
7 - Feminine Emblems
8 - The Serpent and the Cross
9 - The Divine Act
10 - Regeneration
Appendix

With that said while this book is not an in depth look at all the subjects presented it easily covers a lot of ground while still leaving space for you to do your own research. Another thing which I found useful is the way in which the subjects are discussed, technical terms are kept to a minimum so even if your a beginner and have read no other book on phallic/sex worship you will not feel out of your depth.
The only problem I could mention, and it is minor compared to the positives, is that there is no sourcing of information. While the appendix at the back does list the books used by the author to get his information I personally would of liked to see endnotes/footnote. I have however read a lot of the books mentioned by the author and the information is one hundred percent accurate.
All in all this is a great book and is full in information, both for the novice and the scholar. So if your interested in the subjects of theology, astrotheology, archaeoastronomy and of course sex worship then this book is defiantly for you.

Sex Worship: An Exposition of the Origin of Religion by Clifford Howard (1898, 1909)

This is an exceptional piece of literature. I've read many books on the history of fertility cults, and this one stands out as simply exceptional. It should be a literary classic. Written in an age when misogyny, racism, classism and academic snearing was the norm, this book is near void of this type of self concurrence. Just the facts!

While this book was admittedly not written as an in depth academic essay, it certainly is that. Howard, however, does not provide references in either endnote or footnote form. The reason for this, he says, is that he didn't feel it necessary to only source so people wouldn't think he made his material up. Indeed he didn't. I've read most (or at least many) of the books listed in his bibliography and Mr. Howard certainly knows his stuff and didn't make the material up, and no footnotes aside, this book very scholarly.

Sex Worship is one of the few books to cover in any significant detail the fertility worshipping history of early Christianity. Not only does he cover Christianity, but he also understands archaeoastronomy, astrotheology, and, to some extent, the role of intoxicants in religion. As well, the HUGE 14 point font is very soft on the eyes. This book would normally be about 100 pages, but the font has been (seemingly) sized for the blind, which makes it very nice and easy reading, to which I read it cover to cover in just a few hours.

If you have an interest in theology, you MUST read this book! 5 STARS!