Civilizing Sex

Exploring the Judaeo-Christian tradition on marriage and sexuality from its origins, with the struggle of pagan Rome to restore stable families, this book shows how marriage came to contain the force of sexuality and to harness its energies to create and to serve the family and wider communities.

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Patrick Riley explores the Judaeo-Christian tradition on marriage and sexuality from its origins, as well as the struggle of pagan Rome to restore stable families. He shows how marriage came to contain the force of sexuality and to harness its energies both to create and to serve the family, along with the well-being of wider communities. The idea that sex is entirely a private issue is an error, Dr Riley argues, with potentially disastrous consequences, both for the individual and for society.