Product Description

In his monumental book Peter Brown addresses the practice of permanent sexual renunciation - continence, celibacy, and life-long virginity - that developed in Christian circles from the first to the fifth centuries A.D. Brown vividly describes the early Christians and their strange, disturbing preoccupations. He follows in detail the reflection and controversy these notions generated among Christian writers. Among the topics covered are marriage and sexuality in the Roman world, Judaism and the early church, Origen and the tradition of spiritual guidance, sexuality in the desert fathers and Augustine and sexuality. "The Body and Society" is a significant study on sexuality and the family in the ancient world by a renowned scholar. Besides being of great interest to readers in ancient history and early church history, and to classicists and medievalists, it will engage readers concerned with women's studies and the history of sexuality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #503970 in Books
• Published on: 1990-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 504 pages

Review
"The reader of Peter Brown's work is always uncertain which to admire most, the grace and clarity, the scope and erudition, or the ability to bring diverse and complex units into a meaningful whole. These merits are all fully on display in The Body and Society." -- New York Times Book Review "A profound exploration of the meaning of embodiment, celibacy, and chastity for early Christians" -- Lauren F. Winner, Christianity Today

New York Times Book Review
The title states very clearly what the book is about: the relationship of human bodies, especially in their function as producers of children, to Western society in the early centuries after Christ; the relations between men and women and their separate roles in the social fabric; and the significance of sexual renunciation for all these relationships.

About the Author
Peter Brown, formerly professor of Classics and History at the University of California, Berkeley, is now Rollins Professor in the Department of History at Princeton University. His previous books includeAugustine of Hippo, The World of Late Antiquity, The Making of Late Antiquity,The Cult of The Saints,Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine, andSociety and the Holy in Late Antiquity.