Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies
|
Buy Now
The Serpent and the Dove - Celibacy in Literature and Life (Hardcover, New)
Loot Price: R2,878
Discovery Miles 28 780
|
|
The Serpent and the Dove - Celibacy in Literature and Life (Hardcover, New)
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
|
Richard Sipe, himself a former monk and priest, has made a lifelong
venture of determining the reality and meaning of religious
celibacy. Even an adequate operational definition of religious
celibacy, he says, has been avoided and denied by Catholic
hierarchy and scholars to preserve "the celibate myth." Having
spent 25 years conducting a study of celibacy and sexual behavior
among Roman Catholic priests, Sipe concluded that at any one time
no more than 50 percent of priests were practicing celibacy. To
more fully understand what celibacy is, how it is practiced, the
effect it has on the humanness--the psychology and spirituality--of
men and women, and the social effects it presents, Sipe says we can
use the approach presented in this book. Specifically, we can
analyze historic men who presented themselves or were perceived as
living examples of celibacy--Gandhi, Coughlin, Sheen, and
Greely--and also focus on the "most profound" truths of celibacy
found in literary accounts, from Joyce and Hawthorne to Farrell and
Powers. Psychology, religion, and literary criticism interface and
are woven together in this book with minimal jargon. The Serpent
and the Dove was written in the hope of exciting honest analysis of
the essence of religious celibacy and to foster a recrudescence of
authentic sexual vigor with all of its evolutionary potential.
"Human sexuality is not going away; nor is it irrelevant to the
wellbeing, progress and happiness of the human community," says
Sipe. "And the practice of genuine celibacy is not going to
disappear either. No question, the Catholic Church needs profound
reformation. But in all my work I have chosen not to throw any
babies out with the horrendously dirty'holy water' the church
continues to treasure and disseminate. Here, as in all my work, I
try to foster dialogue between religion and science, such as
literary criticism. The Catholic Church (and religion) is at a
Copernican Moment when it has to cede to science the nature of
sexuality." The Serpent and the Dove is one more work among Sipe's
many books and articles making the need for that clear.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.