Review by Booklist Review
Abbott, dean of women at Trinity College, University of Toronto, investigates the concept of celibacy through examining legends as well as social and religious history to provide "a descriptive and analytic narrative," uncovering in the process the need, either spiritual or societal, for its practice. She finds that every religious tradition throughout history and across the globe has a place for the practice of celibacy, whether it serves as a search for God, for fulfillment or peace, or merely for a socially sanctioned way to impose control over sexual practices. The early Christian church fathers, with their decidedly misogynistic point of view, saw celibacy as a way to contain the evil of lust. Women in the Middle Ages could gain education and status from convent life, and Muslim women were and are often mutilated to ensure their celibate state. In today's world, celibacy is practiced by men and women alike for reasons as various as religious purity and insurance against AIDS infection. Abbott writes as a scholar with a decidedly modern and nondevotional point of view. --Danise Hoover
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Celibacy: it's not just a matter of religious conviction, argues the dean of women at Trinity College. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
