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Sex and the Church

Sex and the Church
Genre Documentary
Directed by Robin Dashwood (episode 1)
Charles Colville (episode 2 & 3)
Presented by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 3 (list of episodes)
Release
Original network BBC Two
Picture format 16:9 1080i
Audio format 5.1 Dolby surround
Original release 10 April (2015-04-10) – 24 April 2015 (2015-04-24)

Sex and the Church is a British documentary series about how Christianity has shaped western attitudes to sex, gender and sexuality throughout history. It was shown on BBC Two and hosted by historian Diarmaid MacCulloch.

MacCulloch, whose books have won a number of prizes, is not only an Oxford Professor of the History of the Church but also a veteran campaigner for the Gay Christian Movement.

For the Jews, procreation was the vital aspect of sex, but it was celebrated as part of a polygamous male-centred culture. Celibacy, adultery and homosexuality were outlawed. The Greek culture dominant at the time of Christ celebrated sexuality, particularly the male body and wives had no more rights than slaves. But there was another strand, the world of the spirit being more important to Plato and Aristotle with a denial of the flesh.

Jesus decreed monogamy and no divorce but said little else about it and he was not representative of his church in other ways. Paul praised celibacy but was divided: he called one woman an apostle but forbade women from speaking in church.

In the second century, Anthony of Egypt became the most famous of hermits who brought in the idea of monks and nuns from the Syrian understanding of Buddhism and Hinduism. The apocryphal Gospel of James elaborated Mary's story and introduced the idea of her perpetual virginity and miraculous birth. People began to explain away Jesus's brothers and sisters, so that the most important marriage in the Christian story does not involve sex at all. Clement of Alexandria taught that sex except for procreation is wrong and Origen castrated himself to avoid temptation.


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