Newsweek's graphic for article on Bible and sex. Not nearly as exciting as you think.
A friend asked me to look at the provocatively titled article, “What the Bible Really Says About Sex,” in the latest issue of Newsweek. The article included an illustration of a Bible with the the letters “XXX” emblazoned below the words “Holy Bible.” Since I’ve read the Bible, I shouldn’t be surprised that nothing in the article was news to me. But I am surprised at how badly written and reported the article is.
It begins: “The poem describes two young lovers aching with desire. The obsessions is mutual, carnal, complete.” The reporter imagines, I suppose, that the average Newsweek reader will be shocked to discover that this erotic love poem, Song of Solomon, is found in the Bible—the Bible! Given the tone of the article, however, the average Newsweek reader may be surprised to learn that modern Bible scholars didn’t recently discover that Song of Solomon was about sex. Read the rest of this entry »
