Paul on Marriage and Celibacy

the long version

This study overturns the traditional interpretation of Paul's thinking on marriage and celibacy. By examining established theories about the main influences on his theology, and by reconstructing the Stoic and Cynic discourse on marriage that formed its context, it offers an illuminating reassessment of both Paul's understanding of marriage and his place in the history of Christian asceticism, and provides new information for discussions of Christian sexuality and feminist evaluations of the Bible.