Cozzens, D: The Changing Face of the Catholic Priesthood.
FRAWLEY–O’DEA: Perversion of Power
MITCHELL, T: Betrayal of the Innocents
RIGERT, Joe: An Irish Tragedy
SIPE, A.W.R: Sex, Priests and Power
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Priesthood and Clerical Abuse Booklist.
Boisvert & Goss: Gay Catholic Priests and Clerical Abuse - Breaking the Silence
Scripture Booklist
BOSWELL: Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality
COUNTRYMAN: Dirt, Greed and Sex
COLLINS: Sexual Ethics and the New Testament
GOSS & Webb (eds): Take Back The Word
HORNER: Johnathan Loved David
MOORE: God's Beauty Parlour
STONE: Practicing Safer Texts
SPONG: The Sins of Scripture
SCROGGS: The New Testament and Homosexuality
Thursday, 13 August 2009
ALTHAUS-REID: The Sexual Theologian
Essays on God, Sex and Politics
Continuum International 2005
134 pages
"The Sexual Theologian is the first collection of essays on radical sexual theology written by a group of internationally renowned scholars in this area. For the first time Queer theory and theology is articulated around themes from systematic theology such as Incarnation, death, the concept of God, Mariology, together with discussions on sexuality and mysticism. The essays show a "how to do" a radical sexual theology together with original, bold and transgressive thinking which have taken feminist theologies to a new dimension of action and reflection."
ALTHAUS- REID, M: The Queer God
"There are those who go to gay bars and salsa clubs with rosaries in their pockets, and who make camp chapels of their living rooms. Others enter churches with love letters hidden in their bags, because their need for God and their need for love refuse to fit into different compartments. But what goodness and righteousness can prevail if you are in love with someone whom you are ecclesiastically not supposed to love? Where is God in a salsa bar? The Queer God introduces a new theology from the margins of sexual deviance and economic exclusion. Its chapters on bisexual theology, Sadean holiness, gay worship in Brazil and queer sainthood mark the search for a different face of God--the Queer God who challenges the oppressive powers of heterosexual orthodoxy, whiteness, and global capitalism. Inspired by the transgressive spaces of Latin American spirituality, where the experiences of slum children merge with queer interpretations of grace and holiness, The Queer God seeks to liberate God fromthe closet of traditional Christian thought, and to embrace God's part in the lives of gays, lesbians, and the poor. Only a theology that dares to be radical can show us the presence of God in our times. The Queer God creates a concept of holiness that overcomes sexual and colonial prejudices and shows how queer theology is ultimately the search for God's own deliverance. Using liberation theology and queer theory, it exposes the sexual roots that underlie all theology, and takes the search for God to new depths of social and sexual exclusion."
Contents:
Introduction: Theology in Other contexts: on gay bars and a Queer God.
Part 1.
Queering Theology
1. Kneeling: deviant theologians
2. Queering hermeneutics
3 Queering God in relationships: Trinitarians and God the Orgy
4. Libertine disclosures
5. Permutations
6. The economy of god's exchange rate mechanism
Part 2.
Queer promiscuities
7 Popular anti-theologies of love
8 Demonology: emodying rebellious spirits
9 Queer holiness: post-colonial revelations
Notes
Bibliography
Idex
ALTHAUS-REID: Indecent Theology
Althaus-Reid, M
"By examining the dialectics of decency and indecency and exploring a theology of sexual stories from the margins, this book brings together for the first time Liberation Theology, Queer Theory, post-Marxism and Postcolonial analysis in an explosive mixture. Indecent Theology is an out of the closet style of doing theology and shows how we can reflect on the Virgin Mary and on Christology from sexual stories taken from fetishism, leather lifestyles and transvestism. It is based on the sexual experiences of the poor, using economic and political analysis while unveiling the sexual ideology of systematic theology."
Indecent Theology
Theological Perversions in sex, Gender and Politics
ALISON: Faith Beyond Resentment
Alison, James
Faith Beyond Resentment fragments catholic and gay
Darton, Longman Todd,
The first in the series, this is valuable for the telling of parts of his own story, as well as reflections on dealing with the appropraite relationship of LGBT Catholics with the institutional church, and with God.
Reviews:
ALISON: On Being Liked
Alison, James.
On Being Liked
Darton Longman Todd
(Catholic, Theology, Gay Male)
For an interview with James Alison about this book see the Christian Century
ALISON: Undergoing God
ALISON, JAMES
Undergoing God
From the cover blurb:
“It is not easy to come away from reasding James ALison wtithout a sense of being deeply moved, challenged, and grateful for his glimpse of the truth of things. Undergoing God sets our comfortable worlds on a new axis.”- Martin Laird“An original and challenging book which shows the ongoing relevance and dynamism of the Catholic faith for our most profound questions of desire, worship, sexuality and truthfulness.”-Tina Beattie
Strongly Recommended by QTC;
Listed by Martin Pendergast;
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
BOISVERT & GOSS: Gay Catholic Priests and Clerical Sexual Misconduct: breaking the silence
Breaking the Silence
Explores the issue of homoeroticism in Catholic culture and the controversy surrounding clerical sexual misconduct.
This timely and compelling collection critically analyzes the official Roman Catholic hierarchy's attitude toward homosexual clergy. Inspired by Mark Jordan's controversial The Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism, the essays-edited by Boisvert (dean of students, Concordia Univ.) and Goss (pastor, MCC Church) and written by leading scholars and religious practitioners-attempt to debunk the myth that gay priests are pedophiles and are responsible for the moral decline of modern Catholic values. In fact, this refreshingly positive assessment of gay American Catholic priests attempts to reverse the present atmosphere of suspicion and redirect the blame at hypocrisy while giving voice to victims. Hard-hitting, articulate, and characterized by a prophet's righteousness, these sound essays are essential reading for both clergy and laity trying to come to terms with the recent sex abuse scandals. A wonderfully enlightened read; recommended for academic and public libraries.-John-Leonard Berg, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Platteville
- Celibate Men, Ambivalent Saints, and Games of Desire Donald L. Boisvert
- Naming the Mechanisms of Self-Deception: A cAll to Liberation for Gay Roman Catholic Clergy David M. Mellott
- Speaking Loud or Shutting Up: The Homosexual -Type Problem Edward J.Ingebretsen
- Silencing Sodom Chuck Colbert
- Anglican Bodies: The Gift of Heretical Liminality and the Risk of relaxed Vigilance Jay Emerson Johnson
- Duplicity Writ Large Mary E. Hunt
- Always a Bride, Never a Groom Robert F Goss
- Pandora's Gauntlet: Curiosity Enough to Care and Hope Enough to Question Marie Cartier
- A Welcome Voice Breaks the Silence in an Exclusively Male Clerical Tradition Lorine M Getz
- Where Have all the Young Girls Gone? Mary Ann Tolbert
- Breaking the Silence in Public: A Case Study Michael Kelly
- Those Troubling Gay Priests Bernard Schlager
- Lessons from our Neighbours: An Appreciation and a Query to Mark Jordan Karen Lebacqz
- Neither do I: A Meditation on Scapegoating William Glenn
- Catholicism and a Crisis of Intimate Relations Edward J. Ingebretsen
- After Silence Mark D. Jordan
BOISVERT: Out on Holy Ground
Boisvert, Donald L.
From Google Books:
Out on Holy Ground
Meditations on Gay Men's Spirituality
(Pilgrim Press, 2001)
Catholic, Spirituality, Gay Male.
"Is gay spirituality a genuine type of religious expression, or is it simply another example of identity politics? Since the onset of the AIDS epidemic that has disproportionately struck their community, gay men have published a wide range of materials, from autobiographies to theologies, that ask, What is gay spirituality as a religious expression in North America? The first book to weave together these various strands into an organized response, "Out On Holy Ground" culls information from diverse sources both within and outside religious institutions. Gay scholar Donald Boisvert presents his findings topically as theology, myths and symbols, rituals, and spiritual culture to paint a compelling portrait of gay spirituality as a serious cultural expression. "Out On Holy Ground" takes the conversation about gay spirituality to the next level so we can understand spirituality as a pivotal factor in the development of gay identity." |
BOSWELL: Same-sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe
Boswell, John
Same Sex unions in Pre-Modern Europe
Harper-Collins, 1994
412 Pages
Christianity, History, Same Sex Unions, Lesbian & Gay
Strongly Recommended by QTC
If "Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality" created an academic revolution in the still unfolding story of LGBT history in the church, this was the book that really threw the cat among the pigeons. With scrupulous academic rigour, Boswell collected strong evidence that not only was 'gay marriage' legal and commonplace in classical civilization, but that the Christian church recognised and blessed some kind of same-sex union in a formal liturgical rite. The reaction has been fierce, with counter-arguments that these rites were not about 'marriage', but simply about 'friendship'. To make sense of the debate, one has to recognise that in classical times the very concept olf 'marriage' as we now understand it, simply did not exist. If the rite Boswell describes was not "gay marriage", nor was any other form of marriage comparable to what we now know as "straight marriage".
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.
From Google Books:
"Boswell convincingly establishes that, from ancient times to the 18th century, throughout Christian Europe, same-sex union rituals honored a form of ""gay marriage."" Working from church manuscripts, mainly in ancient Greek, that describe the ceremonies, Boswell carefully traces the historical context in which these practices occurred, exploring premodern beliefs about love and marriage, both gay and heterosexual."
-Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews
"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
BOSWELL: Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality
Boswell, John
Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality
Gay People in Western Europe from the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
(University of Chicago Press, 1980)
(University of Chicago Press, 1980)
Christian, History, Theology, Scripture, Lesbian and Gay
Strongly recommended
Absolutely the most important book in any LGBT faith library, this can be thought of as the text that started it all: gay church history, queer theology, scriptural analysis of LGBT sexuality: all trace either their beginning or fundamental early shaping to this book. Highly academic and bristling with footnotes, Greek & Latin quotations, and copious appendices, it is intimidating to a non-academic, but well worth the effort. Even if you do not think of yourself as a scholarly type, read it (then re-read it later.)
BROOTEN: Love Between Women
Brooten, Bernadette
Love Between Women
Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism
Univ of Chicago Press, 1998
412 pages
Christian, Church History, Lesbian
"An extraordinary accomplishment. . . . A definitive source for all future discussion of homoeroticism and the Bible".--Mary Rose D'Angelo, "Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review"
"[Brooten's] convincing analysis . . . not only profoundly reshapes our understanding of the past, but it should also shape the way in which that past, particularly the early Christian texts with their immense normative weight, will be used for the future".--Anne L. Clark, "Journal of Lesbian Studies"
" "Love Between Women" gives contemporary debates on sexuality a carefully delineated past. It boldly insists upon a different future, one informed by history but not tyrannized by it".--Susan Ackerman, "Lambda Book Report"
"Fascinating, provocative and lucid. . . . Brooten has made a fundamental contribution to women's and gender studies, gay and lesbian studies, and classics".--Elizabeth A. Castelli, "Women's Review of Books"
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Studies Book, 1997
BRAY: The Friend
Bray, Alan
The Friend
1994
380 pages
Catholic, History, Same-sex Unions, Lesbian & Gay.
Recommended, but academic in tone: not always easy reading.
From Google Books:
"In the chapel of Christ's College, Cambridge, some twenty years ago, historian Alan Bray made an astonishing discovery: a tomb shared by two men, John Finch and Thomas Baines. The monument featured eloquent imagery dedicated to their friendship: portraits of the two friends linked by a knotted cloth. And Bray would soon learn that Finch commonly described his friendship with Baines as a connubium or marriage.
There was a time, as made clear by this monument, when the English church not only revered such relations between men, but also blessed them. Taking this remarkable idea as its cue, The Friend explores the long and storied relationship between friendship and the traditional family of the church in England. This magisterial work extends from the year 1000, when Europe acquired a shape that became its enduring form, and pursues its account up to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. ......
Finely nuanced and elegantly conceived, The Friend is a book rich in suggestive propositions as well as eye-opening details. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of England and the importance of friendship in everyday life. "
— History Today’s "Book of the Year, 2004"
James Davidson, London Review of Books
Contents:
Editor’s note
Introduction
- Wedded Brother
- Friend to Sir Philip Sidney
- Families and Friends
- The Body of the Friend
- Friends and Enemies
- Friendship and Modernity
- Coda: the Lickey Hills, August 1890
BOISVERT: Sanctity and Male Desire
Boisvert, Donald
Sanctity and Male Desire
A Gay Reading of Saints
Reviewing this book, Toby Johnson notes that atlhough it might appar to of interest only to Catholics, in fact it should be recommended also to others.
"The stories of the saints are teaching mechanisms by which particular virtues, talents, life-situations, and manifestations of zeal are personalized. The various traits and powers of God as healer, miracle-worker, and wish-granter are personified in the stories of flesh and blood human beings. Especially for children learning Christian doctrine, the saints are symbols and demonstrations of theological propositions and religious concepts much easier to understand and identify with than the abstractions they represent. They are role models of the good Christian life."
Full review bu Toby Johnson at White Crane
From Google Books:
"Human desire is a path to spiritual wholeness," says author Donald Boisvert, in this unusual look at how saints--and one's devotion to them--can be sites for the confirmation and celebration of homoerotic desire. The author comes to the topic as a gay scholar of religion and draws upon his own experience of saints including his years in seminary beginning at age 13. Saints can inspire desire and, through eclectic readings of their lives and imagery, the author suggests meanings and strategies attached to the emergence of same-sex attraction. The book contains 12 chapters that focus on saints, including: Michael the Archangel; Sebastian and Tarcisius; John the Baptist; Joseph; Paul and Augustine; the Ugandan and North American martyrs; Francis of Assisi; Dominic Savio and other boy saints; Damien and the missionary saints; Peter Julian Eymard and the Eucharist; and gay saints.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
COZZENS, D: The Changing Face of the Catholic Priesthood.
A Reflection on the Priest's Crisis of Soul
Liturgical Press, 2000
148 pages
Catholic, Priesthood
In The Changing Face of the Priesthood, Cozzens takes a long, honest look at the present state of the priesthood. He provides this examination not merely from an empirical, scientific perspective but also from a personal, pastoral perspective. Drawing on clinical data, church documents, and his nearly forty years of pastoral experience, Cozzens gives shape and form to the changing face of the priesthood. Through his reflections he leads readers to both concern and hope for the priesthood of the twenty-first century.
COMSTOCK: Unrepenting, Self-Affirming, Practicing,
Lesbian/Bisexual/Gay People Within Organized Religion
COLEMAN: Homosexuality
Coleman, Gerald
Homosexuality - Catholic Teaching and Pastoral Practice
From the back cover:
"Father Coleman consistently displays a reverence for the complexity of this issue, but a respect that is "wise", grounded in the Church's authentic wisdom about the meaning of morality, and here specifically about the meaning of sexual morality. On a subject as difficult and at times as controverted as homosexuality, one does not always find the calm and the balance seen in"Homosexuality: Catholic Teaching and Pastoral Practice" ...When readers complete this book, they will fnd an attitude to wards homosexual women and men that is honest, respectful and grounded in fine scholarship and research."
(Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop of Los Angeles)
From Google Books:
"An in-depth, thorough and respectful presentation of the Catholic position on homosexuality, from a theological and pastoral perspective."
COMSTOCK: Gay Theology Without Apology
Comstock, Gary
Gay Theology Without Apology
Pilgrim Press 1993
183 pages
Theology, Lesbian & Gay Theology, Scripture
On-line review
COUNTRYMAN: Dirt, Greed and Sex
Countryman, L William
Dirt, Greed and Sex
Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today
290 pages
Christian, Scripture, Theology, Sexual Ethics, Lesbian & Gay
COULTON: The Bible, The Church and Homosexuality
Coulton,
The Bible, the Church and Homosexuality
(Darton, Longman, Todd, 2005)
104 Pages
Anglican, Scripture, Theology, lesbian & gay
Strongly Recommended as brief introductory text.
CHITTISTER: Heart of Flesh
A Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men
Heart of Flesh presents a very real look at what it means to live out a feminist spirituality in a world that glamorizes violence and legitimates domination. Best-selling author Joan Chittister unmasks the effects of sexism on both men and women and describes a spirituality that makes healthier, happier human beings of us all.
According to Chittister, the patriarchal culture that has shaped our world has also now brought us to the edge of destruction with its dualisms, hierarchies, and inequality. Chittister outlines the historical realities that produced this situation and describes how patriarchal culture and spirituality maintain their hold on us. She then argues that there is another way, abetter way, and introduces us to a feminist worldview that, in recognizing the full humanity of women, leads us to fresh, healthy ways of being and relating.
COLLINS: Sexual Ethics and the New Testament
Crossroad, 2000
200 pages
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
