Differences between Martin Luther's preaching and theology on sexual morality [abstract]

Abstract

I am investigating how Martin Luther attempted to change sexual attitudes, specifically about pleasure in sex, through his sermons, in the age of the Reformation. Whereas the Church generally stigmatized sex, even within the context of marriage, Luther felt that the temptation and lust for sex was the greater sin and consequently encouraged laxer attitudes toward sex within marriage in his preaching. My research shows that there were subtle but important differences in his academic writing and his public rhetoric on sexual morality.