Lower than the Angels

“[A] magisterial new history… well balanced by MacCulloch’s dry wit and flair for narrative sweep. Recapping the millenniums-long debate over the unholiness of wedlock, MacCulloch…whose talent for breadth is matched by his impressive command of the details…addresses a global Christianity increasingly rived by fierce disagreements over sex and gender.”—The New York Times

“Both sincere and playful… [MacCulloch] aims to unsettle those who think there has always been a “consistent view on sex in a seamless and infallible text known as the Bible”… He provides moving stories of how believers can let their guard down and move through the world with humility… Such grace, when given, can illuminate the question of how to traverse difference instead of merely quashing it.”—The Atlantic

“Endlessly fascinating… [MacCulloch] has a command of historical detail that would be intimidating if his writing weren’t so genial and witty.”—Slate

“A superb history of Christianity’s 2,000-year relationship with our animal instincts … Masterly … MacCulloch deals candidly with the clumsy and often cruel way in which churches in the post-second world war period dragged their feet on contraception, gay and lesbian rights and the ordination of women.”—The Guardian

“Across three thousand years we have the pleasure of MacCulloch’s erudite company as he explains how Christian thinkers have met the problem of desire…. It is an epic tale, and MacCulloch is an undaunted guide. Who else could explain so knowledgeably (and so affably), say, eleventh-century Gregorian reform as well as the contemporary gay subculture of “gin, lace and backbiting” in Anglo-Catholicism?” —New York Review of Books

“Masterly… MacCulloch sets out to show that the source for Christianity’s confused teachings on sex, sexuality and gender is in its own untidy DNA.”—The Guardian

“A rich, panoramic view of the changing understanding of sex, gender, celibacy, and marriage through Christian history… MacCulloch is wonderfully even-handed and reliable as a guide, even when the topics explored are controversial… Timely, enjoyable, and thoroughly worthwhile.”—Library Journal, starred review

“Clear… sprightly… [an] extraordinary, definitive text, a study of attitudes towards sexuality and religion that encompasses three millennia.” —Booklist, starred review

“Both scholarly rigorous and amiably open to the variations of human experience, this enthralls.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Well written and thoroughly researched, this comprehensive volume unveils a fascinating history.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A comprehensive and richly entertaining history of the ways in which, for 3,000 years, the church has tied itself in knots over sex… MacCulloch is the best kind of scholar.”—The Observer (UK)

“Compelling and encyclopedic… MacCulloch is an ideal guide in tracing this story. He writes, as always, with such liveliness and energy.”—The Telegraph (UK)

“Magisterial … In Lower than the Angels, Diarmaid MacCulloch offers a history of sex and Christianity that is both confronting and reassuring in its detail and complexity, taking biblical scholarship and theological development seriously at the same time as insisting on the historian’s independence. A thrilling read.”—Financial Times