Lower Than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity

This is a rich, panoramic view of the changing understanding of sex, gender, celibacy, and marriage through Christian history, crafted by careful attention to the evocative stories, telling events, and nuanced debates that make up that history. To attempt a sweeping book of this sort is an ambitious goal, but MacCulloch (emeritus, history of the Church, Oxford Univ.; Thomas Cromwell: A Life) dazzles in the depth of his knowledge of sources, clarity of his prose, carefully framed descriptions, and the playful wit that keeps the text from becoming dry or self-important. The end product is a work that reads as a fully engrossing and thorough summary of over 2,000 years of history while continuously drawing readers’ attention to women’s involvement in the Church, attitudes toward homosexuality, shifting marriage rituals, family composition, the meaning of celibacy, theology around sex, and so many other features of the evolving relationships between Christianity and sex. MacCulloch is wonderfully even-handed and reliable as a guide, even when the topics explored are controversial.