Spanning thousands of years, this new collection brings together writings and teachings about sex, marriage, and family from the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Confucian traditions. The volume includes traditional texts as well as contemporary materials showing how the religions have responded to the changing conditions and mores of modern life. It reveals the similarities and differences among the various religions and the development of ideas and teachings within each tradition. Selections shed light on each religion's views on a range of subjects, including sexuality and sexual pleasure, the meaning and purpose of marriage, the role of betrothal, the status of women, the place of romance, grounds for divorce, celibacy, and sexual deviance. Separate chapters devoted to each religion include introductions by leading scholars that contextualize the readings. The selections are drawn from a variety of genres including ritual, legal, theological, poetic, and mythic texts. The volume contains such diverse examples as the Zohar on conjugal manners, a contemporary Episcopalian liturgy for same-sex unions, Qur'anic passages on the equality of the sexes, the Ka–masu–tra on husbands, wives, and lovers, Buddhist writings on celibacy, and Confucian teachings on filial piety. Contributors include: Michael S. Berger, Emory University; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Richmond School of Law; Alan Cole, Lewis and Clark College; Paul B. Courtright, Emory University; Patricia Buckley Ebrey, University of Washington; Raja M. El-Habti, Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights; Luke Timothy Johnson, Emory University; Mark D. Jordan, Emory University An excellent resource for scholars and teachers. -- Dana Fritz Cates ― Religious Studies Review Impressive... [and] well-edited. ― Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative & Emergent Religions A valuable resource for furthering critical debate. -- Karen-Marie Yust ― Theology Today [an] essential book on marriage ― Christian Century Don S. Browning is the Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Religious Ethics and the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, including Marriage and Modernization: How Globalization Threatens Marriage and What to Do About It .M. Christian Green is senior fellow and senior lecturer in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University and author of a forthcoming title on fatherhood in the Western tradition.John Witte Jr. is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor, and director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He has published twenty-four books, including The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, and Human Nature .