Panel Discussion of Margaret Kamitsuka’s Desirable Belief: A Theology of Eros

Desirable Belief: A Theology of Eros is a critical and constructive work informed by the phenomenon of erotic love. The Christian tradition has long associated passion with sin, shame, and narcissism; whereas contemporary theologies of eros extol sexual desire as a sacred endowment. This book eschews these two extremes.  Margaret Kamitsuka examines how the complexities of love, desire, freedom, constraint, and deferral are narrated in biblical texts, allegorized by church fathers, manifested in the lives of mystics, analyzed in psychodynamic theory, and depicted in poetry, literature, and Christian art.  The book demonstrates how taking eros seriously impacts foundational Christian doctrines.