Lower than the Angels

A History of Sex and Christianity

By: Diarmaid MacCulloch

Narrated by: Diarmaid MacCulloch

"A magisterial new history"—The New York Times

"An epic tale, and MacCulloch is an undaunted guide.”—New York Review of Books

A groundbreaking history of sexual emotion, sexual activity, gender relations, marriage and the family—and how Christianity has interacted with this panorama of human concerns

Few matters produce more public interest and public anxiety than sex and religion. Much of the political contention and division in societies across the world centres on sexual topics, and one-third of the global population is Christian in background or outlook. The issue goes to the heart of present-day religion.

This book seeks to calm fears and encourage understanding through telling a three-thousand-year-long tale of Christians encountering sex, gender, and the family. The message of Lower than the Angels is simple, necessary and timely: to pay attention to the complexity and contradictions in the history of Christianity. The listener can decide from the story told here whether there is a single Christian theology of sex, or many contending voices in a symphony that is not at all complete. Oxford’s Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church introduces an epic of ordinary and extraordinary Christians trying to make sense of themselves and of humanity’s deepest desires, fears and hopes.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Diarmaid MacCulloch (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“[A] magisterial new history… well balanced by MacCulloch’s dry wit and flair for narrative sweep. Recapping the millenniums-long debate over the unholiness of wedlock, MacCulloch…whose talent for breadth is matched by his impressive command of the details…addresses a global Christianity increasingly rived by fierce disagreements over sex and gender.”—The New York Times

“Endlessly fascinating… [MacCulloch] has a command of historical detail that would be intimidating if his writing weren’t so genial and witty.”—Slate

“Across three thousand years we have the pleasure of MacCulloch’s erudite company as he explains how Christian thinkers have met the problem of desire…. It is an epic tale, and MacCulloch is an undaunted guide. Who else could explain so knowledgeably (and so affably), say, eleventh-century Gregorian reform as well as the contemporary gay subculture of “gin, lace and backbiting” in Anglo-Catholicism?”—New York Review of Books