Regulations and restrictions on sexual relations have been shaped by the needs of
society often using religious teaching as validation for them. Much of what is
presented as divine ordinance about human relations is actually from the objectives
of the leaders and rulers of particular regions of the world. Using Diarmaid
MacCulloch’s recent book, “Lower than the Angels”, Paul Burrows will explore in this
talk how the needs of society have influenced religious teaching and how that
teaching has then turned toxic.