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| author | Ashley Boggan Dreff |
| title | Methodists and The New Morality: A Twentieth-Century History of Methodist Sexual Ethics |
| abstract |
This dissertation maps the changes in conceptions of American sexuality since World War II and shows how Methodist denominations responded to those changes.
It argues that the current United Methodist impasse over human sexuality has its root in the existence of two dichotomous ideologies of Methodist history and
theology, one liberal and one evangelical, which come to the foreground in discussions of human sexuality. Throughout their history, Methodists have sought
to reconcile their sexual ethic with sexual change. In the 1930s through 1940s, Methodists sought to define healthy sexuality to allow for the use of artificial
contraception as a responsible part of heterosexual Christian marriage. As this type of healthy sexuality upheld a limited notion of family life and of sexuality,
it changed to accommodate the rise in divorce and the beginnings of the sexual revolution in the 1950s. In response to the sexual revolution, liberal-leaning
Methodists upheld "the new morality," an ethical framework based on personal autonomy which affirms sexuality as directly tied to a God-given identity. "The
new morality" peaked in the 1960s with radical new approaches to sex education, a full endorsement of abortion rights, and support of the homophile movement.
However, "the new morality" coincided with an increased presence of and a new voice for evangelical Methodists, Charles Keysor and the Good News Movement.
Evangelical Methodists critiqued the new morality as value-neutral and anti-Scripture. The evangelical desire for a rules-based morality solely reliant on
Scripture collided with the new morality and led to intense debates over sex education, abortion, and the inclusion of LGBTQ persons within the United Methodist
denomination from the 1970s onward. Since 1972, United Methodists have continually debated "human sexuality" at each General Conference, primarily through the
advocacy efforts of political caucus groups. This dissertation does not offer a way forward for United Methodists, but hopes that a historical examination of
how Methodists have dealt with sexual change might enlighten current conversations about human sexuality.
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| school | The Theological School, Drew University |
| degree | Ph.D. (2017) |
| advisor | Morris L Davis |
| committee | J. Terry Todd
Wendy J. Deichmann |
| full text | ABDreff.pdf - requires Drew uLogin |
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