William Loader here investigates the Dead Sea Scrolls, mining every document of potential relevance for understanding ancient attitudes towards sexuality, aside from the biblical writings and there are many such documents. They include the Temple Scroll, 4QMMT, the Damascus Document, and a number of legal, liturgical, wisdom, and exegetical documents. These texts treat a wide range of matters pertaining to sexuality, from ritual and cultic concerns to visions of human community and family in future expectation. Far from the common view that the writers of the Scrolls held a low view of sexuality and marriage, Loader concludes that most of these sources reflect an affirmative stance towards sex and marriage within a framework of clear boundaries marking out where sex did and did not belong. / The Dead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality offers the first comprehensive treatment of this subject and comprises both detailed exegetical discussion of each work and a synthetic analysis of themes. The attention to detail displayed and the helpful summaries included make this book an indispensable resource for both scholar and general reader.

A major new work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest sacred documents of Judaism, which reveals their surprising connections to early Christianity. “A luminous treatment of a fascinating subject! Highly recommended!”—Scott Hahn, author of The Fourth Cup From award-winning scholar John Bergsma comes an intriguing book that reveals new insights on the Essenes, a radical Jewish community predating Christianity, whose existence, beliefs, and practices are often overlooked in the annuls of history. Bergsma reveals how this Jewish sect directly influenced the beliefs, sacraments, and practices of early Christianity and offers new information on how Christians lived their lives, worshipped, and eventually went on to influence the Roman Empire and Western civilization. Looking to Hebrew scripture and Jewish tradition, Bergsma helps to further explain how a simple Jewish peasant could go on to inspire a religion and a philosophy that still resonates 2,000 years later. In this enriching and exciting exploration, Bergsma demonstrates how the Dead Sea Scrolls—the world's greatest modern archaeological discovery—can shed light on the Church as a sacred society that offered hope, redemption, and salvation to its member. Ultimately, these mysterious writings are a time machine that can transport us back to the ancient world, deepen our appreciation of Scripture, and strengthen our understanding of the Christian faith. “An accessible introduction . . . This is a handy entry point for readers unfamiliar with Essenes or those interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls.”—Publishers Weekly

This book is about listening to what writers were saying about sex in early Judaism and Christianity -- ancient words surprisingly relevant for today. It functions as both a summary and a conclusion to William Loader's five previous books on sexuality in a form accessible to those who may not have a background knowledge of early Judaism and Christianity. It also contains a useful subject index to those five previous volumes. In examining thoroughly all the relevant writings and related evidence of the Greco-Roman period, Loader dialogues with scholarship related to each writing in order to make his conclusions as objective as possible. By enabling the reader to listen respectfully to these ancient texts, Making Sense of Sex provides a basis for informed discussion of sexual issues today.

This volume brings together essays on the theme of sexuality and gender by William R. G. Loader, one of the leading specialists in the field, arising from his extensive investigation of early Jewish and Christian literature about such issues as marriage, adultery, divorce, celibacy, gender roles, and incest

"The community that created the Dead Sea Scrolls remains an enigma. These sectarians - or Sons of Truth as they called themselves. Inhabited an imaginative and secret laden landscape replete with hidden allusions, insider, metaphors, esoteric wisdom and mysteries reserved for the elect." "In The Truth about the Virgin, Ita Sheres and Anne Kohn Blau have come closest to unlocking the scrolls' innermost secrets by brilliantly analyzing two unique rituals performed at Qumran that were meant to overcome "sexual pollution": one, the anointing of a select group of males into a life of "angelic" perfection; the second involving a select group of virgin females who were pledged in an immaculate conception ceremony evocative of the great marriage of the ancient Goddess religion. These rituals are described against a background of revolutionary, apocalyptic ideology that abhorred sexuality, prized virginity, was obsessed with purity and defilement, championed male exclusivity and female subordination, and ultimately created its own solution to the problem of the "first sin" - that is, how to procreate without "pollution." And yet these sectarians who preached strict monotheism echoed some of the more mysterious aspects of the repressed Goddess religion."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This is the fifth and final installment of William Loader's authoritative, acclaimed series on attitudes toward sexuality in the ancient world. Sexual themes are never far beneath the surface where there are human beings. This was certainly the case for Christians in the first-century world. Some began in a strongly Jewish context and worked out their faith in dialogue with their scriptural heritage. Others had to work out their sexual ethics in a world strongly influenced by Greco-Roman ideals and practices. In The New Testament on Sexuality William Loader explores the relevant cultural contexts and looks at New Testament texts related to sexuality, highlighting both the warnings about sexual wrongdoing and the affirmations of sexual union. He deals with specific themes such as divorce, same-sex relations, women and men in leadership, and celibacy; individual behavior, gender roles and rules, preferences, and hopes also fall under the scope of his investigation. Broad-ranging and thorough, this book engages both the biblical texts and the diverse ways in which they have been interpreted.

Universally acknowledged as the dean of New Testament scholarship, Brown brings a lifetime of teaching and research to bear in his landmark overview of the New Testament.