Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century

Rating:
Summary: GAY PEOPLE OF THE WORLD
Review: This is a very recommendable book, not only for English-speaking people but also for us Japanese Christians. At first I had read it in Japanese translation and now again in English,Greek, Latine et Hebraic. I know that some Fundamentalists want to try polemic defiances with a superstitious bias. However in JAPAN nobody thinks that same-sex relationship is unusual or sinful traditionaly --- at least we have some reasoning power never do think so ---. Of course there are a few exceptions e.g. the cultists of dangerous pseudo-religion. As everybody knows very well, that certain dogma of a religion is or was not often in accord with the social realities e.g. Islamic doctrine in pre-modern muslim society where male-boy love was very popular. Also in Japan , although Buddhist teachings did not always encourage homoeroticism enthusiastically , after ancient Greek only Japanese could have enhanced male-male sex highly ethical valued SHUDO i.e. the way of male love.

Rating:
Summary: A Seminal Work
Review: This is perhaps the most famous work on Christianity and homosexuality, and that reputation is well-deserved. Boswell's study challenged some of the most basic assumptions about the topic, and lit a firestorm of controversy that still burns nearly two decades later. Conservatives respond with venom, liberals with open arms, and I (a moderate?) shake my head and wonder. Ranked by the NYT Book Review as one of the top ten books of the year, 'CSTH' cannot be recommended too highly for its brave exegesis, fascinating examination of personal correspondence, and brilliant scholarship.

Rating:
Summary: Historic
Review: To call this book historic is not an overstatement. The breadth and depth of the scholarship is staggering and the sheer wealth of the material overwhelming. Never have I read such a detailed argument based on such familiarity and mastery of the material. To remain unconvinced of the argument, when faced with such an extraordinary amount of evidence, reveals a deep seated abhorrence to the idea that the Catholic Church and the basic documents for the Christian faith contain little if any prohibitions against homosexuality greater than that of many rules that have long been discarded. It is only comparatively recently (i.e. after the Twelfth Century) that prejudice against homosexuals have become linked with Christian doctrine. Such abhorrence cannot be dealt with by reason, argument and review of the historical evidence and remains quite literally irrational. Those personally invested in maintaining this prejudice will find reasons to be unconvinced (see some of the comments below). But if approached with an open mind, a mind unwilling to be sidetracked with caveats that miss the grand vista opened by this work, the reader will be persuaded as well.