1. Judaism / Michael S. Berger Introduction The Hebrew Bible The Elephantine marriage contract Hellenistic Jewish philosophy in the wisdom of Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) The Damascus document of the Dead Sea Scrolls Josephus on marriage law Mishnah on procreation, marriage, and divorce The Babylonian Talmud Aggadic Midrash on marriage and family The Babylonian Talmud on marital sex The Babylonian ordinance from the academy on divorce The ordinances of Rabbi Gershom (The Light of the Exile) Medieval marriage contracts from the Cairo Geniza Love poetry from the Golden Age of Spain The order of the Get Maimonides on sex Jewish mysticism on marriage and sex The Book of the pious of medieval Germany "The epistle on holiness" ('Iggeret Ha-qodesh') Exchange between Napoleon and the Jewish "Sanhedrin" on issues of marriage Contemporary developments in Jewish marriage contracts Reform opinion on patrilineal and matrilineal descent
2. Christianity / Luke Timothy Johnson, Mark D. Jordan Introduction Creation and fall in the book of Genesis The Greco-Roman context Hellenistic Jewish moral instruction Gospels of Matthew and Luke Paul's letters to the Corinthians and Ephesians Apocryphal Christian texts Augustine of Hippo John Chrysostom Peter Lombard The Fourth Lateran Council Thomas Aquinas Mechthild of Magdeburg Martin Luther Anglican Book of common prayer (1549) John Calvin The Council of Trent George Fox A contemporary critique of sexual ethics A womanist critique of family theology A contemporary liturgy for same-sex unions
3. Islam / Azizah al-Hibri, Raja̕ M. El Habti Introduction Creation and the identity of origin of women and men The fall from the garden and gender equality The marriage contract Consent to marriage Mahr : the obligatory marital gift Other stipulations in the marriage contract Marital relations Polygamy Marital conflict Divorce Sexual ethics Rights within the family
4. Hinduism / Paul B. Courtright Introduction Rig Veda 10.85 : the marriage hymn The Gṛhya-sutras : the wedding ceremony Laws of Manu The Kāmasūtra Divine marriage : Śiva and Pārvatī The karma of marriage : the king's wife, the Brahmin's wife, and the ogre A contemporary Hindu marriage ceremony "Counting the flowers," a short story / Chudamani Raghavan, translated from the Tamil by the author
5. Buddhism / Alan Cole Introduction The beginning of the world The joys of ascetism Married life versus life of the ascetic Songs by Buddhist women The conversion of the nun, Paṭācārā The Buddha accepts his aunt, Gotamī, as a nun The Buddha's renunciation of his family Confusion over the Buddha as a fertility god Buddhism as a threat to the Indian family The Buddha's advice for laity An early Buddha lineage East Asian Buddhism : an overview The sutra on the filial son The ghost festival sutra The sutra on the profound kindness of parents The Blood Bowl sutra
6. Confucianism / Patricia Buckley Ebrey
The Book of poetry (Shi jing)
The Analects (Lunyu) of Confucius
Historical incidents from the Zuo zhuan
The Record of ritual of the elder Dai
The Classic of filial piety
Mr. Yan's family instructions
The classic of filial piety for women
Zhu Xi on family and marriage
Sexual offenses in the code of the Qing Dynasty
Advice to local officials on handling sexual offenses
Qing legal cases concerning sexual offenses
Chen Duxiu on the way of Confucius and modern life
Feng Youlan on the philosophy at the basis of traditional Chinese society.
