Passionate and Pious

In Passionate and Pious Monique Moultrie explores the impact of faith-based sexual ministries on black women's sexual agency to trace how these women navigate sexuality, religious authority, and their spiritual walk with God. Providing churchwomen a space to candidly discuss these issues, these popular ministries exist largely beyond the traditional church, with dialogues about sex taking place in chat rooms and through text messages, social media, email, and other media. Moultrie foregrounds televangelist Juanita Bynum's construction of the black Christian sexual identity these ministries promote while emphasizing how churchwomen reconcile these prescriptive identities with their individual experiences. What does it mean for senior women to exercise sexual agency when their church standing could be questioned? What does celibacy mean for women who experience same-sex desire while believing that such desire goes against God's will? Advancing a womanist sexual ethics, Moultrie reframes biblical interpretations and conceptions of what constitutes a healthy relationship to provide a basis for sexual decision making that does not privilege monogamy or deny female pleasure, thereby calling on black churchwomen to experience responsible and life-enhancing sex.

(Starred Review) "A stunning and dynamic sociological read on womanist sexual ethics.", "This engaging multidisciplinary thought-provoking text will be of interest to academics, educators and researchers. . . . It brings new critical insights/analyses to a topic often considered taboo in these fields.", "[Moultrie's] approach is bold, delving into the experiences of real women in an attempt to bring sexuality out of the shadows of church teachings, yet indicating that the parachurch ministries themselves have not gone far enough.", "Moultrie's Passionate and Pious … goes beyond filling a gap in the literature as her work provides an intimate portrayal of the messages transmitted in black Christian media and the way these messages are received.", "Reaching beyond typical questions, like the morality of homosexuality, Passionate and Pious is a more robust exploration of Christian sexual ethics.… An excellent resource for theological graduate students looking for more insight into the sexual ethics of the Black church and Black women. It is also an excellent read for Black women and those of other backgrounds who grapple with the high price of purity culture and pleasing God through their sexual choices."

Monique Moultrie is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia State University and coeditor of the revised edition of A Guide for Women in Religion: Making Your Way from A to Z.