Chastity

The word ''chastity'', at first sight, may seem intimidating, something to be dismissed out of hand. It is, however, something very different to celibacy.At a time when religion is in decline in the Western world and when it often seems that the senses have run riot, Erik Varden shows that chastity, the single minded direction of the senses, is a loveable quality and one that affects and beautifies humankind.The terms sexuality and wholeness indicate that to be sexual is to exist in a state of incompleteness longing to be restored. Wholeness points to a healing embrace that we desire so greatly. In Biblical language, chastity is a function of simplicity of sight. We are no longer torn apart by our passions and our desires, indeed they may reach their fulfilment. Body and spirit, male and female, order and disorder, passion and death can move from creative tension to a new kind of wholeness.Varden''s text is enriched by a wide range of references to scripture, literature, music, painting and sculpture.>

Préface
At a time when religion is in decline in the Western world and when it often seems that the senses have run riot, Erik Varden shows that chastity, the single minded direction of the senses, is a loveable quality and one that affects and beautifies humankind.

Auteur

Erik Varden is a monk and bishop. Norwegian by birth, he was, before entering Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He has published several translations and scholarly monographs and is much in demand as a preacher, spiritual director and lecturer. In 2019 Pope Francis appointed him to the see of Trondheim. He is the author of The Shattering of Loneliness (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2018).

Texte du rabat

The word 'chastity', at first sight, may seem intimidating, something to be dismissed out of hand. It is, however, something very different to celibacy.

At a time when religion is in decline in the Western world and when it often seems that the senses have run riot, Erik Varden shows that chastity, the single minded direction of the senses, is a loveable quality and one that affects and beautifies humankind.

The terms sexuality and wholeness indicate that to be sexual is to exist in a state of incompleteness longing to be restored. Wholeness points to a healing embrace that we desire so greatly. In Biblical language, chastity is a function of simplicity of sight. We are no longer torn apart by our passions and our desires, indeed they may reach their fulfilment. Body and spirit, male and female, order and disorder, passion and death can move from creative tension to a new kind of wholeness.

Varden's text is enriched by a wide range of references to scripture, literature, music, painting and sculpture.

Contenu

1. List of Illustrations

2. Norma's Question

3. What a Human Being Is
   Created 'in the Image'
   You Are What You Wear
   Life Outside Eden
   

4. Tensions
   Body and Soul
   Male and Female
   Order and Disorder
   Eros and Death
   Marriage and Virginity
   Freedom and Ascesis

5. Negotiating Passion
   The Call to Perfection
   Rest in Unrest
   To See Clearly

6. Contemplative Life

7. Notes