However you choose to interpret the institution, it seems that two things are now clear: It is now widely accepted that whatever the precise significance, some form of "same-sex union" existed and was recognised by liturgical blessing within the church; and that academics might disagree with Boswell's interpretation, but can no longer ignore it.
This book should be compulsory reading for anyone with a serious interest in same- gender relationships in church history.
"JOHN BOSWELL'S Same-Sex Unions in Pre-modern Europe, .. is both a virtuoso display of learned ingenuity and the same old mixture much as before. Readers familiar with Mr. Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality (1980) will find here, if anything, an even more dazzling tableau of linguistic versatility, apparently exhaustive investigation, flashing insight, and relentless inventiveness. ......
Yet as in the earlier book, Mr. Boswell's extraordinary skills and industry are deployed with such tendentiousness, exaggeration, special pleading, and occasional banality that the work deserves, at very best, the distinctive verdict of the Scottish courts: not proven."
- David Wright in National Review, 1994
Contents:
Editor’s note
Introduction
"In this reexamination of what it means to have a tradition, Catholic and otherwise, Mark D. Jordan offers a powerful and provocative study of the sin of erotic love between men. The Invention of Sodomy reveals the theological fabrication of arguments for categorizing genital acts between members of the same sex." |
The opponents of legal recognition for same-sex marriage frequently appeal to a "Judeo-Christian" tradition. But does it make any sense to speak of that tradition as a single teaching on marriage? Are there elements in Jewish and Christian traditions that actually authorize religious and civil recognition of same-sex couples? And are contemporary heterosexual marriages well supported by those traditions? As evidenced by the ten provocative essays assembled and edited by Mark D. Jordan, the answers are not as simple as many would believe. The scholars of Judaism and Christianity gathered here explore the issue through a wide range of biblical, historical, liturgical, and theological evidence. From David's love for Jonathan through the singleness of Jesus and Paul to the all-male heaven of John's Apocalypse, the collection addresses pertinent passages in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament with scholarly precision. It reconsiders whether there are biblical precedents for blessing same-sex unions in Jewish and Christian liturgies. The book concludes by analyzing typical religious arguments against such unions and provides a comprehensive response to claims that the Judeo-Christian tradition prohibits same-sex unions from receiving religious recognition. The essays, most of which are in print here for the first time, are by Saul M. Olyan, Mary Ann Tolbert, Daniel Boyarin, Laurence Paul Hemming, Steven Greenberg, Kathryn Tanner, Susan Frank Parsons, Eugene F. Rogers, Jr., and Mark D. Jordan.
Contents:
Mark D Jordan: Introduction
Saul M Olyan: “Surpassing the Love of Women “ Another look at 2 Samuel 1:26 and the relationship of David and Johnathan
Dale B Martin: Familiar Idolatry and the Christian Case against Marriage.
Mary Ann Tolbert: Marriage and Friendship in the Christian New Testament: Ancient Resources for Contemporary Same-Sex Unions
Daniel Boyarin: Why is Rabbi Yohanin a Woman? or, A Queer Marriage Gone Bad: “Platonic Love” in the Talmud.
Laurence Paul Hemming Can I Really Count on You?
Steven Greenberg
Contemplating a Jewish Ritual of same-sex Union: An Inquiry into the Meaning of Marriage
Mark D Jordan: Arguing Liturgical Genealogies, or, the Ghosts of Weddings Past.
Kathryn Tanner: Hooker and the new Puritans
Susan Frank Parsons: Ad Imaginem Dei: Is There a Moral Here?
Eugene F Rogers JR: Trinity, Marriage and Homosexuality
From a review by Toby Johnson in White Crane Journal:
"That homosexuality isn't such a new thing is not surprising. But understanding what that means in context often remains elusive. Things were just so different back then.
Geoff Puterbaugh helps make it all make sense. The book is interesting, informative, and readable. And it's a nice addition to the library of books about the historical bases of gay consciousness."
