Originally Posted by William Loader

I’ve been listening to ancient Jewish and Christian texts and what they say about sexuality for a number of years and have published major volumes of research to report my findings. Throughout my intensive study of these texts, I’ve tried to be careful to listen to what they were saying on their terms, in their language, culture, and world, whether I warmed to it or not. That has included listening to those texts which have come to be revered as scripture. With these there is a special danger. People have a personal spiritual investment in sacred texts. They want to hear certain things from them, positive or negative, which can tend to skew their listening.

. . .

My latest book is an attempt to summarise my key findings in a way that makes them accessible to the everyday reader. It sketches the main things we can say about approaches to a whole range of sexual issues in early Jewish and Christian writings, from whether sex is good or bad, to where sex belongs and does not belong, to managing sexual desire, and, of course, to sexual orientation, a hot topic for many today. People from both sides of that debate value my work because it provides an informed starting point for discussion, even though they may ultimately differ greatly about how to approach such matters today.

Originally Posted by Toto

A new book:

Description by the author

Eerdmans reviews

Originally Posted by Roger Pearse

... but no intelligent or critical person would do it.

Originally Posted by Ehrman p.54

"Epiphanius wrote an eighty-chapter book attacking Christian heretics and the Gospels they used.
In the course of his discussion he mentions a Gospel about Mary Magdalene that sounds very bizarre indeed.

In this account, Epiphanius alleges, Jesus took Mary to the top of a mountain
and then in her presence pulled a woman out from his side (much as Eve came forth from Adam)
and began having sexual inercouse with her. When he reached climax, he pulled out of her
and consumed his own semen, telling Mary: "Thus must we do, that we may live."

Mary, as one might understand, was shocked into unconsciousness.
Epiphanius called this alleged book "The Greater Questions of Mary".