The Erotic Word Sexuality, Spirituality, and the Bible [Paperback]

Historically, the Bible has been used to drive a wedge between the spirit and the body. In this provocative book, David Carr argues that the Bible affirms erotic passion. Sexuality and spirituality, he contends, are intricately interwoven; the journey toward God and the life-long engagement with our own sexual embodiment are inseparable.

InThe 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 ofStone Field, True ArrowandPolite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures

The Erotic Wordis 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 ofStanding 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 DivinitySchool

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 spil3G