There Is No Sex in the Church!: On the Problematics of Sexuality and Gender in Orthodoxy

by Sergei Sveshnikov

This work is a collection of essays written over the years on topics related to human sexuality and gender issues within Russian Orthodox Christianity: marital sex, homosexuality, ritual impurity, and others. In an introduction to one of the sections, the author writes:

"...Having written a couple of opinion papers touching on the difficulties of discussing matters of human sexuality in the context of the Russian Orthodox Church, and having pointed out the existence of a wide spectrum of opinions on what Christians should do in bed-ranging from the strictest and almost total prohibition of any form of sexual behavior with possible exceptions for the most penitentiary of position and then only a few times in a lifetime specifically for the purpose of procreation, to an attitude of total permissiveness brushing off any questions with assertions that the marriage bed is undefiled and whatever married people do in their bedroom is all blessed-I have, quite naturally, been asked to clarify my own position on what should and should not be allowed... I should like to discuss three topics: 1) the idea that a husband and wife should attempt to live "like brother and sister," that is to say, abstaining from sex altogether or limiting it only to specific times and forms necessary for procreation; 2) the idea that a husband and wife can do whatever they want as much as they want in the privacy of their bedroom and none of it is the Church's business; and 3) a possible middle ground which does not reject the joy of the married state moderated by a certain measure of ascetic discipline of the body and the soul..."

WARNING

This book deals with adult subject matter and is intended for adult readers. If you are offended by the discussion of human sexuality, this book is not for you. Some sections of this book contain very graphic language and reader discretion is strongly advised.

Genres: Theology

118 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2013

About the author

Born and raised in the collapsing Soviet Union, Father Sergei's formative years fell during the perestroika period of the 1980s and tumultuous '90s. He studied psychology and sociology at the Ulyanovsk Branch of the Moscow State University.

After coming to the United States, Father Sergei served in the U.S. Navy, and continued his studies at Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville and Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Father Sergei received both a Master's of Applied Theology and a Master's of Divinity degree from Marylhurst University. In 2001, he was ordained to the holy priesthood and appointed the rector of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Church in Mulino, Oregon, where he continues to serve.