Love, Reason, and God's Story

An Introduction to Catholic Sexual Ethics

Course instructors considering a book for adoption will be provided a complimentary copy.
$27.25
Digital Books

“Cloutier knows how to engage undergraduates, introduce them to the tradition broadly conceived, and show them (by example) how to reason.”

Julie Hanlon Rubio, PhD
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
Saint Louis University, MO

“I have decided to use the Cloutier book in the fall. It is a marvelous combination of official teaching and diverse views. It sparkles.”

Ed Vacek
Boston College

““I found Cloutier’’s book Love, Reason, and God’s Story: An Introduction to Catholic Sexual Ethics to be faithful to the Church tradition while also having some of the ‘cool’ factor that college students enjoy.””

Fr. Leo Perez, OMI
Associate Professor of Moral Theology
Oblate School of Theology

“”Cloutier understands today’s college students and presents Christian sexual morality in a way that can reach them.””

Dr. Matthew A. Shadle
Loras College

About This Book

Overview

Designed for College Students Taking a Course on Sexual Ethics

In Love, Reason, and God’s Story: An Introduction to Catholic Sexual Ethics, Dr. David Cloutier provides readers with a basic understanding of the history of Catholic teaching on sexual ethics, particularly as it has evolved in the last half century. By engaging students in serious intellectual discussion, this author allows them to integrate that discussion with the practical questions that affect their lives.

This text explores the historical, spiritual, practical, and normative elements of Catholic sexual ethics in a way no other book does. Love, Reason, and God’s Story is faithful to the Catholic tradition, engaging, accessible to students, and pedagogically structured to encourage critical thinking about dating, marriage, and sexuality.

Details

Weight 1.05 lbs
Dimensions 7.25 × 1.5 × 9.125 in
Format

Softcover

Print ISBN

978-0-88489-945-7

Pages

292

Item # 7006

Customer Reviews

“Cloutier knows how to engage undergraduates, introduce them to the tradition broadly conceived, and show them (by example) how to reason.”

Julie Hanlon Rubio, PhD
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
Saint Louis University, MO

“I have decided to use the Cloutier book in the fall. It is a marvelous combination of official teaching and diverse views. It sparkles.”

Ed Vacek
Boston College

““I found Cloutier’’s book Love, Reason, and God’s Story: An Introduction to Catholic Sexual Ethics to be faithful to the Church tradition while also having some of the ‘cool’ factor that college students enjoy.””

Fr. Leo Perez, OMI
Associate Professor of Moral Theology
Oblate School of Theology

“”Cloutier understands today’s college students and presents Christian sexual morality in a way that can reach them.””

Dr. Matthew A. Shadle
Loras College

About the Author

David Cloutier

David Cloutier is assistant professor of theology at Mount Saint Mary’s University. He has presented at numerous academic conferences, spoken in parishes around the United States, and has published numerous scholarly articles. Dr. Cloutier received his PhD from Duke University.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Sexuality and Catholicism: Telling the Stories

  1. Love and Reason
    Your Heart or Your Head?
    Two Descriptions of Romantic Love: Completion and Sickness
    Romantic Love among the LovesAvoiding Ranking:
    Practicing the Loves in Everyday Life
    Friendship and Romance: How Do You Decide?
    ReasonOrdering Multiple Desires: Narratives and the Ultimate End One Last Piece: Virtues and Vices Conclusion
  2. Love Stories
    Ingredients of a Love Story
    Scholarly Love Stories: Biology, Psychology, Society
    Fisher, Freud, Foucault, and Our Everyday Lives
    Conclusion
  3. God’s Story
    What Is a God Story?
    The Bible as God’s Story
    God’s Story and Love Stories: Some Preliminary Observations
    Conclusion
  4. God’s Story and Sexuality
    Some Initial Controversies
    Men and Women
    Gender and Sexual Attraction
    What Is Sexual Orientation?
    Conclusion and Transition

Part 2 Sexuality and Catholicism: Exploring the Practices

  1. Practices of Sexuality: The Purposes of Dating
    Dating in Historical Context
    Dating and Ethics: Reason and God’s Story
    Purposes for Dating: Only Marriage or Also Intimacy?
    Practicing Dating: Latitude, Anarchy, or Chastity?
    Conclusion
  2. Rules of the Practice: Sexual Activity in Dating
    Absolute Norms: A Primer
    Evaluating Sexual Actions: Relationship Sex
    Evaluating Sexual Actions: Sex and Procreation
    Not-Quite-Sex Sexual Actions
    Masturbation
    Conclusion
  3. Practices of Sexuality: The Purposes of Marriage
    Marriage and Contemporary American Society
    The Two Purposes of Marriage
    Contemporary Reflection and Discussion on the Purposes of Marriage
    Debating the Purposes of Marriage
    Why Have and Raise Children?
    Conclusion
  4. Rules of the Practice: Sexual Activity in Marriage
    Marriage, Quasi-Marriage, and Cohabitation
    The Purposes of Marriage and Moral Norms
    A Brief Reflection on Temperance
    Conclusion
  5. Practices of Sexuality: The Purposes of Sacramental or Vocational Marriage Marriage and Family in the City: The Problem of Locating Love
    Marriage and Family within the Horizontal God Story Celibacy
    Recovering Marriage as a Vocation for the Kingdom
    The Kingdom and the Sacraments
    Sacramental Marriage in the Kingdom-Household: New Families in the New Family Conclusion
  6. Rules of the Practice: Society and Sacramental Marriage
    The External Transformations of Vocational Marriage
    The Interior Transformation of Vocational Marriage: Natural Marriage Transfigured
    Love Transformed: Indestructible and Sanctifying
    Parenting Transformed: Children as Sacrifice
    Special Issues: Vocation and Mixed Marriages
    Conclusion
  7. Epilogue Forgiveness and Reconciliation: The Final Word of Ethics
    Forgiveness, Guilt, and Righteousness
    The Process of Reconciliation Sex, Confession, and Forgiveness
    ConclusionEndnotes and Further Reading

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