Religious studies coursework

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purple_hippo

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hello,

i am currently doing a piece of religious studies coursework on moral issues,a nd mine is based on Christians attitudes to women in marriage and sex relationships. and i was wondering if any one could help me with links or information on what modern views are towards these, and what important figures in the church have said about them, as i need quotes… I am currently panicking, so i hope if anyone knows anything they will be wilings to help.

thanks
xPHx
 
i think that you will be hard pressed to find some particular point of view that truly applies to all christians. that is especially true if you use points of view formed on society and culture, as opposed to the teachings of the Church. the Church has always taught that women have an intrinsic value, but that teaching is not always put into practice very well. it is very popular for political feminists to quote the Church Fathers as anti-woman and misread the points being made. i hope you don’t take that sort of thing as the catholic view, as those are distortions of the facts.

as for contemporary Church teachings, the best source on these issues is John Paul II’s “theology of the body”. human sexuality and marriage are the central focus of what is referred as the “fifth cycle” of the audiences, in which the pope presented the teachings. to use the audiences as a primary source, you will have to get hold of the book, as those audiences are not available online. an authoritative secondary source is christopher west’s “theology of the body explained.” this book is good to consult, if you have not read the entire series of general audiences. you’ll be lost if you just try to start in the middle with the “sacramentality of marriage.”

if those books are unavailable, or need to have online references, christopher west has numerous articles on the internet. search on his name and you will find them at various sights, along with other authors, who also promote this contemporary teaching. west has also authored other, shorter books on the subject.

also “love and responsibility” by John Paul II (karol cardinal wojtyla) is great for this subject. in this book, he applies traditional catholic teachings to modern marital relationships. it is surprisingly explicit on sexual issues and practices. excerpts are online, but not very much is available.

lastly, if you are limited on time, you might want to read “mulieris dignitatem” (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women on the Occasion of the Marian Year). it is available on the vatican website. go to “holy father”, “John Paul II”, “apostolic letters”. this document can be read quickly, and it precisely addresses your subject matter. the teachings of the theology of the body strongly influence the teaching in this letter. you will find that the central theological basis of both of these is the dignity of the human person. while this letter touches on the subject of sexuality, it does not go into much detail.

as for your original posting, i would like to point out one thing. you wrote, “based on Christians attitudes to women in marriage and sex relationships.” if you paper will reflect true christian teachings, you should take note of the fact that “sex relationships” outside the context of the sacrament of marriage are devoid of positive moral character. to moralize about actions that are opposed to christian morality is meaningless without condemnation of those relationships. neither men nor women in “sex relationships” outside marriage would be encouraged by the “attitudes” of valid christians. christians have a beautiful, affirming attitude toward women, but don’t expect us to condone the sinful nature of humanity as any part of it. you may want to consider the degree to which your project is skewed or biased, before you start writing.
 
I’d recommend Chistopher West’s writings. The Good News about Sex & Marriage would be a good place to start.
 
thank you both, i will take a look at as many of them as i can. I am not arguing that the church is sexist before anyone jumps on my back. I am arguing that some people may see earlier teachings as sexist, but my argument is that if read in context of the time it was written most of it makes sense. I am using philosphers views such as philo and aquinas to support this. It was just i needed quotes to prove how some of the ideas are probably the same, and othes have changed etc

thanks
xPHx
 
For attitudes 100 years ago, the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Woman:
The female sex is in some respects inferior to the male sex, both as regards body and soul.
 
ive finished… no thanks to hardly any one on here…

thanks a lot most of you for completely ignoring me…

not very nice really.
 
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