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.>

Vorwort
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.

Autorentext
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).

Inhalt

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