Transcending desire : the shaping of Christian thought by classical ideals of restraint and transcendence

Abstract

Transcending sexual desire in favour of spiritual goals, while valuing the latter above the former in terms of importance and virtue, is a defining feature of early Christian theology. Some biblical scholars interpret the body and divinity in early Christianity as integrative—sublimation of sexuality was seen as liberation from the prevailing ethos of the body, or a form of promotion of the spiritual within the human dimension. By contrast, the current research will attempt to demonstrate that the symbiosis of Platonism and dualistic thought shapes the concept of sublimation in early Christian writers in a powerful and consistent way; further, the residual legacy of this continues to guide Christian perceptions and concerns on human sexuality. The purpose of this study then is to examine the philosophical and (to a lesser extent) the religious genealogy of this feature of early Western thought and theology