kane@buast7.bu.edu (Brian Kane) (03/22/91)
Is anyone on this net aware of a book to be published this fall by the eminent medieval historian from Yale, John Boswell, dealing with church sanctioned gay marriage? Apparently he has discovered conclusive evidence that the RCC routinely conducted gay mariages during the Renaissance but that this practice fell out of favor after the Inquisitions. Shockingly, some christian sects, for example the Melchites of the Middle East, still have liturgical scripture detailing such rites. Evidence of gay marriages performed in Europe extend to 1940's backwater Albania. When asked what the RCC's reaction to his book will be, Boswell said "complete denial, followed by his (Boswell's) excommunication. Any comments on this? Also, as a new poster, I am unfamiliar with past discussions. Has anyone ever found any quotation attributable to Jesus where he explicitly condems homosexuality? [This particular issue has been mentioned several times in the past, but apparently the only source was verbal comments from Boswell, and no one was able to come up with details. If he's publishing it, we should finally be able to evaluate the evidence. I'd be happy to have a posting from someone who reads the book and would like the summarize the evidence. I'm not interested in responses from people who haven't seen the book yet... --clh]