The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology

Andrew W Mellon Professor of Christian Thought Mark D Jordan
 9780226410401
0-226-41040-4

In this startling original work of historical detection, Mark D. Jordan explores the invention of Sodomy by medieval Christendom, examining its conceptual foundations in theology and gauging its impact.

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on Christian sexual ethics both then and now. This book is for everyone involved in the ongoing debate within organized religions and society in general over moral judgments of same-sex eroticism. A crucial contribution to our understanding of the tortured and tortuous relationship between men who love men, and the Christian religion--indeed, between our kind and Western society as a whole. . . . The true power of Jordan's study is that it gives back to gay and lesbian people our place in history and that it places before modern theologians and church leaders a detailed history of fear, inconsistency, hatred and oppression that must be faced both intellectually and pastorally.--Michael B. Kelly, Screaming Hyena [A] detailed and disturbing tour through the back roads of medieval Christian thought.--Dennis O'Brien, Commonweal Being gay and being Catholic are not necessarily incompatible modes of life, Jordan argues. . . . Compelling and deeply learned.--Virginia Quarterly Review