Dirt Greed & Sex (Paperback)

by L Countryman (Author)
Key Phrases: purity offense, purity code, purity ethic, New Testament, Holiness Code, Special Laws (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers (January 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800624769
• ISBN-13: 978-0800624767
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #865,379 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Comprehensive Approach to Understanding Sex in the Bible, June 21, 2000

By	Clyde Zuber (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While no book is going to be the final word on what the Bible means and how to apply it to one's life, this book provides insight into the cultural mindset of the authors of both the Jewish and Christian scriptures and helps one get behind archane regulations and statements to what their intended purpose actually was. Note: although homosexuality is a hot button topic in today's society, the book is not primarily on that subject. It is a good resource on the overall subject of sex and the relationships which revolve around it. Additionally, the primary thesis opens up the understanding of how God's Law regulated purity and ownership issues and thus can open up one's understanding of the Bible in other areas beyond the subject of sex.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read, June 2, 2000

By	Shane Griswold (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

If you are a Christian wanting to develop a whole-orbed sexology, or understand "what the Bible REALLY says about sexuality", Countryman is definitely the author for you. Always challenging, yet never overbearing, Countryman deals with the Biblical text as it is. He does not wander into the quagmires of liberalism and declare that the Bible is archaic and we needn't bother trying to understand what it says. Equally importantly, he does not blindly declare, "THIS is what the Bible says to us today", as if we ourselves lived in Biblical times without the intervening two millennia of Church history. He stakes out a middle path between contextualizing the Scriptures in their own times and emphasizing their relevance and authority for today's Church WHEN RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD IN THEIR ORIGINAL CONTEXT. Anyone seriously interested in a reverent, careful, intelligent study of the sexology of purity and property in the Christian Scriptures will surely come away challenged and refreshed by Countryman's rigorous close readings and contextualizations of the Biblical text. After reading this study, you should also read John Boswell's "Same-Sex Unions in PreModern Europe" as a further testimonial of the Church's legitimation and sanctification of homosexual unions (marriages). This historical study only further bears witness to the fundamental correctness of Countryman's exegesis of the New Testament text.

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and Provocative, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

This book deflates the claims by blowhard fundamentalists by looking at the Greek words used in Christian scriptures to dissociate modern fundamentalist mores from the concepts of the original authors (whomever they may be). A piercing and informed look at the nature of cleanliness (the argument against homosexuality is often because it's unclean, but you don't see Christians following the cleanliness laws of the Torah, do you?), possession/greed (faithfulness to one's partner or partners), and their relationship to sexuality and sexual ethics. I cannot recommend a better book for those who are on the edge of leaving christianity because of its repressive sexuality -- yet can't believe that it is SUPPOSED to be that way.