ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book raises the pertinent question as to whether the Bible really is good news for human sexuality and addresses the broader matter of methods in biblical interpretation. It explores Christian debates around sexuality probably initially surfaced, as mentioned earlier, in the Apostle Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, where he defends the right to marriage but treats his critics with due regard. The book discusses the spirit of asceticism and how it led to the tendency towards asexual dispositions and thus anti-familial preferences in the early Church, an inclination which extended into the fifth century. It examines both the meaning and the effects of legitimate and illegitimate birth in the works of medieval scholars, canonists and theologians, which were undertaken within a nexus of complex but not always easily reconcilable beliefs.
