Richard W. McCarty – författare

Explores how concepts of sex in heaven can inform Christian sexual ethics in ways that challenge traditional norms and open new possibilities.Finalist for the 2022 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Constructive-Reflective Studies presented by the American Academy of Religion Under the Bed of Heaven is a work of Christian ethics that examines how eschatology might reshape concepts of sexual morality. With the rise of institutional Christianity in the Roman Empire, Christian attitudes about sexual desire and activity were soon controlled by doctrines of virginity and celibacy, or, monogamous marriage for the sake of procreation. These moral theologies aligned with a certain track of Christian eschatology, which imagined the future resurrection of the body, but without any corresponding sexual desires. As a result, traditional Christianity developed a preference for celibacy on earth to match the loss of sexual desire and activity in heaven, making marriage and monogamy temporal goods only.In recent years, a few scholars of religion have challenged whether this vision of a sexless heaven is valid. However, they have not fully developed a vision of sex in heaven that might function to critique and reform Christian sexual ethics on earth. Richard W. McCarty explores scripture, church teachings, and different models of eschatology to offer a bold new conception of Christian sexual ethics that is inclusive of LGBTQ and heterosexual people, both in and outside of monogamous configurations.

Explores how concepts of sex in heaven can inform Christian sexual ethics in ways that challenge traditional norms and open new possibilities.Finalist for the 2022 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Constructive-Reflective Studies presented by the American Academy of Religion Under the Bed of Heaven is a work of Christian ethics that examines how eschatology might reshape concepts of sexual morality. With the rise of institutional Christianity in the Roman Empire, Christian attitudes about sexual desire and activity were soon controlled by doctrines of virginity and celibacy, or, monogamous marriage for the sake of procreation. These moral theologies aligned with a certain track of Christian eschatology, which imagined the future resurrection of the body, but without any corresponding sexual desires. As a result, traditional Christianity developed a preference for celibacy on earth to match the loss of sexual desire and activity in heaven, making marriage and monogamy temporal goods only.In recent years, a few scholars of religion have challenged whether this vision of a sexless heaven is valid. However, they have not fully developed a vision of sex in heaven that might function to critique and reform Christian sexual ethics on earth. Richard W. McCarty explores scripture, church teachings, and different models of eschatology to offer a bold new conception of Christian sexual ethics that is inclusive of LGBTQ and heterosexual people, both in and outside of monogamous configurations.

This book argues that paranormal subjects like extraterrestrials, monsters, and spirits should be understood as serious forms of religious expression.Unfortunately, due to various forms of religious and cultural privilege, the paranormal is belittled, if not outright denied, in studies of faith and spirituality. Richard W. McCarty resists this turn, arguing that the paranormal is a form of religious belief. Moving beyond familiar, scholarly approaches, McCarty considers the paranormal through the lens of popular culture and folklore, delving into the representations of the monstrous across media. This book argues that encounters with UFOS, Mothman, or Bigfoot are proximate to, and should be taken as seriously as, run-ins with angels and demons within religious contexts. Across nine chapters, McCarty traces the history of the paranormal and cryptozoology within American popular culture. McCarty's extended discussions on UFOS, monsters, and spirits offers a unique insight into why some forms of supernatural belief are prioritized over others. In essence, this book wields popular culture and folklore to prioritize the experiences of those with paranormal experiences, no matter how monstrous.

Uses virtue ethics to offer a sexual ethics inclusive of LGBT and straight people, one that challenges the longstanding procreative patriarchal norm.Richard W. McCarty offers a compassionate and inclusive conception of sexual virtue, one that liberates Christians from traditional patriarchal requirements for heterosexuality, marriage, and procreation. Daring to depart from ongoing debates about what Aristotle or Aquinas had to say, this book sets a new course centered on virtue ethics. It employs new insights from the sciences, biblical scholarship, analyses of church traditions, and revisionist natural law thinking. Eschewing simple deconstruction of traditional Christian norms for sexual morality, McCarty offers constructive ideas about what might count as real human goods for people in a wide variety of sexual relationships. Recreation, relational intimacy, and selective acts of procreation are three ends of sexual virtue that promote human happiness and can be appreciated in a broad Christian framework. While primarily referencing the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition, McCarty's work is also vital and accessible to those from Protestant backgrounds. Addressed to LGBT and straight readers, Sexual Virtue provides a compassionate sexual ethics for our time.