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Christianity and homosexuality

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Christian leaders have written about homosexual male-male sexual activities since the first decades of Christianity; female-female sexual behaviour was essentially ignored[1]. Throughout the majority of Christian history most theologians and Christian denominations have viewed homosexual behavior as immoral or sinful. However, in the past century some prominent theologians and Christian religious groups have espoused a wide variety of beliefs and practices towards homosexuals, including the establishment of some 'open and accepting' congregations that actively support LGBT members.

Historically, Christian churches have regarded homosexual sex as sinful, based on the Catholic understanding of the natural law and traditional interpretations of certain passages in the Bible. This position is today affirmed by most Christian groups, including the Catholic (1.1 billion members) and Orthodox (250 million members) Churches, most Protestant denominations, especially among Evangelicals such as the Southern Baptist Convention (16.3 million members), and the LDS Church (13 million members). However, there is a minority who interpret biblical passages differently and argue that homosexuality can be seen as morally acceptable. This approach has been taken by a number of denominations, notably the United Church of Canada (2.8 million members), the liberal congregations within United Church of Christ, the Moravian Church (825,000 members), the Anglican Church of Canada (800,000 members), the Methodist Church of Great Britain (330,000 members), and Friends General Conference. A new denomination, the Metropolitan Community Church (40,000 members), has also come into existence specifically to serve the Christian GLBT community. However, individual Christians maintain a variety of beliefs on this subject that may or may not correspond to their official church doctrines. Some mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have also removed language in their bylaws which suggest that homosexuality is a sinful state of being. The Book of Order used by the PCUSA reflects this change. Similar modifications in position can also be seen in the ELCA and Disciples of Christ. Although acceptance of sexually active GLBT laity has increased in terms of actual practice and in terms of church law, it must be noted that many of these denominations continue to limit leadership and clergy roles for GLBT persons.

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The Bible and homosexuality

Main article: The Bible and homosexuality

The Bible is regarded by many Christians as inspired by God. Others view it as recording God's relationship with humanity and includes within it certain moral teachings. Passages from the Bible commonly used in the debate over homosexuality include Genesis 19:4–29, Leviticus 18 and 21, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Timothy 1:10, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Jude 1:7. The arguments over these passages have centered on the extent to which these passages are still relevant; whether they refer only to certain sexual acts or to homosexual orientation; and how they should be interpreted, understood and applied.

History of Christianity and homosexuality

Main article: History of Christianity and homosexuality

Early Christianity

The surviving writings of the Church Fathers about homosexual behavior declare its sinful nature. [1]. In his fourth homily on Romans [2], St. John Chrysostom argued in the fourth century that homosexual intercourse is worse than murder and so degrading that it constitutes a kind of punishment in itself, and that its enjoyment actually makes it worse, "for suppose I were to see a person running naked, with his body all besmeared with mire, and yet not covering himself, but exulting in it, I should not rejoice with him, but should rather bewail that he did not even perceive that he was doing shamefully." He also said:

But nothing can there be more worthless than a man who has pandered himself. For not the soul only, but the body also of one who hath been so treated, is disgraced, and deserves to be driven out everywhere.

The Council of Ancyra (314) prescribed a penance of at least twenty years' duration for those guilty of "bestial lust" [3]. There is dispute whether this reference is to homosexuality or bestiality [4].

Saints Sergius and Bacchus

Not everyone agrees that the wealth of condemnations are fully characteristic of early Christianity. Namely, historian John Boswell has argued that Adelphopoiesis, a Christian rite for uniting two persons of the same sex as brothers or sisters, amounted to an approved outlet for romantic and indeed sexual love between couples of the same sex. He drew attention to Saints Sergius and Bacchus, whose icon depicts the two standing together with Jesus between or behind them, a position he identifies with a pronubus or "best man". Others have argued that the union created was more like blood brotherhood; and that this icon is a typical example of an icon depicting two saints who were martyred together, with the usual image of Christ that appears on many religious icons, and therefore that there is no indication that it depicts a wedding. In Boswell's essay The Church and the Homosexual [5], he attributes Christianity's denunciations of homosexuality to alleged rising intolerance in Europe in the 12th century, which he claims was also reflected in other ways.

The Middle Ages

St. Thomas Aquinas

The most influential theologian of the Medieval period was Saint Thomas Aquinas, regarded by Catholics as a Doctor of the Church. His moral theology contained a strong element of teleological natural law. On his view, not all things to which a person might be inclined are "natural" in the morally relevant sense; rather, only the inclination to the full and proper expression of the human nature, and inclinations which align with that inclination, are natural. Contrary inclinations are perversions of the natural in the sense that they do seek a good, but in a way destructive of good. [6] [7] [8]

This view points from the natural to the Divine, because (following Aristotle) he said all people seek happiness; but according to Aquinas, happiness can only finally be attained through the Beatific Vision [9]. Therefore all sins are also against the natural law. But the natural law of many aspects of life is knowable apart from special revelation by examining the forms and purposes of those aspects. It is in this sense that Aquinas considered homosexuality unnatural, since it involves a kind of partner other than the kind to which the purpose of sexuality points. Indeed, he considered it second only to bestiality as an abuse of sexuality [10] [11].

File:StPeterDamian.jpg
St. Peter Damian

An earlier Doctor of the Church, St. Peter Damian, wrote the Liber Gomorrhianus, an extended attack on both homosexuality and masturbation [12]. He portrayed homosexuality as a counter-rational force undermining morality, religion, and society itself [13], and in need of strong suppression lest it spread even and especially among clergy [14].

Hildegard of Bingen, born seven years after the death of St. Peter Damian, reported seeing visions and recorded them in Scivias (short for Scito vias Domini, "Know the Ways of the Lord" [15]). In Book II Vision Six, she quotes God as condemning same-sex intercourse, including lesbianism; "a woman who takes up devilish ways and plays a male role in coupling with another woman is most vile in My sight, and so is she who subjects herself to such a one in this evil deed".

Her younger contemporary Alain de Lille personified the theme of sexual sin in opposition to nature in The Complaint of Nature by having nature herself denounce sexual immorality and especially homosexuality as rebellion against her direction, terming it confusion between masculine and feminine and between subject and object. The Complaint also includes a striking description of the neglect of womanhood:

Though all the beauty of man humbles itself before the fairness of woman, being always inferior to her glory; though the face of the daughter of Tyndaris is brought into being and the comeliness of Adonis and Narcissus, conquered, adores her; for all this she is scorned, although she speaks as beauty itself, though her godlike grace affirms her to be a goddess, though for her the thunderbolt would fail in the hand of Jove, and every sinew of Apollo would pause and lie inactive, though for her the free man would become a slave, and Hippolytus, to enjoy her love, would sell his very chastity. Why do so many kisses lie untouched on maiden lips, and no one wish to gain a profit from them?[16]

The tone of the denunciations often indicate a more than theoretical concern. Archbishop Ralph of Tours had his lover John installed as bishop of Orleans with agreement of both the King of France and Pope Urban II [17]. In 1395 there was a transvestite homosexual prostitute arrested in London with some records surviving [18], and the Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards included the denunciation of priestly celibacy as a cause of sodomy [19].

Early Modernity

File:Kjv.png
Frontispiece to the first edition of the King James Version

An Italian text published anonymously in 1652 by Antonio Rocco, L'Alcibiade fanciullo a scola, was about a teacher's successful attempt to persuade the much younger Alcibiades to have sex with him. Although set in ancient Greece, it includes much anachronistic material, especially pertaining to Christian arguments, and denounces the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a fiction made up by the Hebrew elders. [20]

In France a similar text, Histoire de Dom Bougre, Portier des Chartreux, written in 1741, mocks biblical injunctions and extols same-sex love, as does Voltaire's The Bible finally explained (1776). It was followed by the Marquis de Sade who in his Dialogue entre un prêtre et un moribond of 1782 denounces religion (and other morality codes) as "man-made." In England the pseudo-Byronian poem "Don Leon" (written in the voice of Byron but of uncertain authorship, published in 1866) vehemently denounced the abusive treatment inflicted on homosexuals as based on a dubious tale.

I grant that casuists the Bible quote,

And tell us how God’s tardy vengeance smote
Lot's native town with brimstone from the sky,
To punish this impure delinquency,
Unmindful that the drunkard's kiss defiled
(Whilst yet the embers smoked), his virgin child.

But reason doubts the Jewish prophet’s tale.

Modern theological interpretations

Rev. Troy Perry preaching in 2006 at a Metropolitan Community Church Church. The MCC was founded in the gay and lesbian community.

Some arguments about the meaning and morality of “homosexuality” hinge on the fact that the term homosexual and the conceptualization of homosexuality as an enduring relationship similar to a heterosexual relationship, rather than only sexual activity with someone of the same sex, is development within the 19th century[2]. Apart from this, many of the debates among Christians have roots in questions about the sources of authority different Christians believe represent God's purest or most definitive message. More generally: which kinds of arguments should be persuasive to Christians, and which do not possess the weight necessary to determine opinions and policies. Such is also the case with the issues related to the morality and inclusion of LGBT persons in Christian life.

Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianities regard Sacred Tradition and Ecumenical councils as co-authoritative with scripture, and the ordinary Magisterium is authoritative in Catholic theology [21].

Methodism derives doctrine from the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, which consists of an evaluation of the synthesis of Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. [22] There are also differing positions about how great a role is played by continuing revelation (see Cessationism and Secular theology).

In conservative strains of Protestant Christianity, Scripture is understood to be the only truly definitive authority (a position called Sola Scriptura). Exegesis, or the reasoned study of the text to discover its own meaning, is the central concern for believers in Sola Scriptura. The classic formulation of Sola Scriptura regards "good and necessary deduction" from Scripture as authoritative; what these deductions might be is a frequent subject of controversy. [23] [24] [25]

Liberal Christians tend to regard the Bible as the record of human doings, composed of humans encountering the Divine within their specific historical context. They often interpret passages of the Bible as being less a record of actual events, but rather stories illustrating how to live ethically and authentically in relation to God. Some such Christians might, for instance, see Christ's death and resurrection in terms not of actual physical reanimation, but in terms of the good news of Jesus' teaching: that God's children are no longer slaves to the power of death. A liberal Christian might regard the Gospel of Matthew's insistence of Jesus' virgin birth not as an actual fact, but as a jibe by the author at the Roman Emperor, who claimed to be a god and who also claimed to have been born of a virgin.[3] Alternately, they might note stories of the Virgin Birth of Jesus as a much-needed position to be taken with the Gospel's Jewish audience, lest that audience infer that Jesus' birth was illegitimate, therefore making Jesus ineligible for the title Messiah, a primary claim which Christians had to protect in order to be taken seriously by Jews.

Modern gay theologian and apologist Justin R. Cannon teaches what he calls "Inclusive Orthodoxy." He explains on his ministry website: "Inclusive Orthodoxy is the belief that the Church can and must be inclusive of lgbt individuals without sacrificing the Gospel and the Apostolic teachings of the Christian faith."[26] Cannon's ministry takes a unique approach quite distinct from modern liberal Christians. His ministry affirms the divine inspiration of the Bible, the authority of Tradition, and affirms "...that there is a place within the full life and ministry of the Christian Church for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians, both those who are called to lifelong celibacy and those who are partnered."[27]

Most professional exegetes consider the Bible, to a greater or lesser degree, to be a document of its time (see form criticism). While they may hold the document as sacred, and most certainly as central to Christianity, they are also aware of the historical and cultural context in which it was originally written through archaeological and form critical study. Some scholars feel that in addition to its spiritual components, portions of the text merely reflect the human authors' beliefs and feelings about God at the time of its writing, and their cultural sensibilities. The influence of such persons may reflect a heightened spiritual consciousness, or may simply represent people attempting to explain the world as best they could given the tools of the time. Such scholars purport that passages in scripture related to slavery, war, genocide, female marginalization, and homosexuality may not necessarily be about God's wishes, but rather about the predominant culture's opinions at the time of the passage's writing.

Choice and free will

The existence and nature of free will is a topic in philosophy of mind and theology. Incompatibilism is the view that determinism is at odds with free will, while compatibilism holds the two are not contradictory. Compatibilists such as Hobbes generally claim that a person acts freely only in the case where the person willed the act and the person could (hypothetically) have done otherwise if the person had decided to; what matters, Hobbes believed, is that choices are the results of desires and preferences, and are not overridden by force. (See Compatibilism and incompatibilism.) [28] [29]

In the history of theology, debates about the issue have happened between Augustine and Pelagius [30], Martin Luther and Erasmus, and the Calvinists and Arminians [31] [32]. At the Councils of Orange, Western Christianity officially adopted a form of compatibilist determinism known as original sin, according to which the sin of Adam and Eve has corrupted the whole human race such that humans are unable to refrain from sin, yet remain accountable, and cannot even desire holiness apart from Divine intervention [33]. However, belief in free will remains popular and many even regard free will as a basic doctrine of Christianity.

Among those who assert that homosexuality and Christianity are incompatible, the question of how voluntary homosexuality is, and what voluntariness might mean in this context, is a central concern in considering its morality. The Catholic Church regards homosexual intercourse itself as sinful, not homosexual attraction, although the attraction is still considered as a temptation to sin [34]. The ex-gay movement believes that homosexual orientation is also a choice, or changeable, and claims cases of people who have ceased to be homosexual [35]. Long-term studies conducted by the American Psychiatric Association have observed that sexual orientation is not chosen (although there are psychologists in the employ of Exodus Ministries and Focus on the Family who take an opposite view; see Robert Skinner), and many homosexuals state that they do not choose to be homosexual [36]. PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays, claim changes in sexual orientation are possible; claiming that the existence of Ex-Gays proves homosexuality can be overcome. The existence of ex-gays notwithstanding, the American Psychiatric Association evaluates all "ex-gay" operations such as those enacted by Exodus International to be emotionally destructive to its recipients and has noted quite high failure rates among such cases.[citation needed]

Positions of specific denominations

Template:CAH

Main article: List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality

The many Christian denominations vary in their position on homosexuality, from seeing it as sinful, through being divided on the issue, to seeing it as morally acceptable. Among those that see it as sinful, there is further variance regarding whether it is the homosexual orientation that is immoral, or only homosexual acts. Even within a denomination, individuals and groups can hold different views, as in the conflict over the gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in the Episcopal Church of the USA.

These disagreements concern, in some cases, the translations of certain terms, or the meaning and context of some passages.

Within the remainder of this article, those who claim early Christianity denounced homosexuality are called conservative Christians, and likewise those who claim the opposite are called liberal Christians.

Liberal Christian views

Liberal Christians claim that Biblical passages have been mistranslated or that these passages do not refer to homosexuality. Some also believe early Christians accepted homosexuality.

Liberal Christian scholars, like conservative Christian scholars, accept earlier versions of the Bible in Hebrew or Greek. However within these early Bibles there are many terms that liberals have interpreted differently than previous generations of scholars, claiming that earlier Christians may have interpreted the matter differently. They are concerned with copying errors, forgery, and of biases among the translators of later Bibles. They consider some verses such as those supporting slavery [37] or the inferior treatment of women[38] not being valid today, and against the will of God present in the context of the Bible, and they cite these issues when arguing for a change in theological views on sodomy to what they claim is an earlier view. They differentiate among various sexual practices, treating rape, prostitution, or temple sex rituals as immoral and those within committed relationships as positive regardless of sexual orientation. They view certain verses, which they believe refer only to homosexual rape, as not relevant to consensual homosexual relationships.

Some believe that same-sex relationships were practiced by a number of early Christians[citation needed] as well as Biblical figures such as Ruth and Naomi [39], Jonathan and David [40], and Daniel and Ashpenaz. [41] One disputed example is located in Ruth 1:14: "Ruth clave unto her", where the Hebrew word translated as clave is identical to the description of a heterosexual marriage in Genesis 2:24.

"Jonathan Lovingly Taketh His Leave of David" by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld

Another example is of David and Jonathan at 1 Samuel 18:21, which the King James Version translates as "Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain", where "twain" means "two", in a reference to a proposed marriage between David and one of Saul’s two daughters. However the fact that the words "the one of" are shown in italics indicates that they are an interpolation by the translators. Thus a more literal translation would be "Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law, in the twain", which some claim to be a reference to what they believe to have been David’s prior marriage with Saul’s son Jonathan. Many of those who claim the early church did not condemn homosexuality mention the fact that Jonathan was the son of King Saul in Israel and that after the relationship with David, King Saul then made David the next King instead of his own son. However, the Biblical text states that this was done by the prophet, Samuel (I Sam 16:13).

Biblical historian John Boswell believes the rite of adelphopoiesis ISBN 0-679-75164-5 may have been such a documented religiously-sanctioned same-sex union. That rite was entered into by two Christian martyrs, the Roman soldiers Saints Sergius and Bacchus; Boswell believes this, and the saints' icon at St. Catherine's on Mount Sinai which includes some imagery suggestive of a wedding, supports his theory.

Lending some credence to the view that the earlier church was more tolerant of homosexuality is the fact that widespread persecutions of homosexuals and other minorities did not begin before the 12th century. Boswell cites various translations and laws of the time period enacted to persecute minorities; in his essay “The Church and the Homosexual”[42] he attributes Christianity’s denunciations of homosexuality after the twelfth century to rising intolerance in Europe reflected in the laws enacted during the period to restrict women's’ rights, and expelling Jews and Muslims from Christian lands.

Archbishop Ralph of Tours had his lover John installed as bishop of Orléans with agreement of both the King of France and Pope Urban II.[43]

Writings of later time periods deploring homosexuality are discounted by many liberal Christians. They ascertain that such opinions were formed upon flawed Biblical translations caused by human error or personal bias of translators. Many claim that wording in verses denouncing homosexuality was created after the twelfth century A.D. and reflect the society at the time, not the word of God.

Modern gay theologian and apologist Justin R. Cannon teaches what he calls "Inclusive Orthodoxy." He explains on his ministry website: "Inclusive Orthodoxy is the belief that the Church can and must be inclusive of lgbt individuals without sacrificing the Gospel and the Apostolic teachings of the Christian faith."[44] Cannon's ministry takes a unique approach quite distinct from modern liberal Christians. His ministry affirms the divine inspiration of the Bible, the authority of Tradition, and affirms "...that there is a place within the full life and ministry of the Christian Church for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians, both those who are called to lifelong celibacy and those who are partnered."[45]

Conservative Christian view

A depiction of the destruction of Sodom.

Conservative Christians argue that there were denunciations of sodomy in the writings of the era, such as in the Didache and in the writings of St. Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, Eusebius, St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and in doctrinal sources such as the Apostolic Constitutions. In response to the claim that such passages have been mistranslated due to certain obscure words whose meanings are unclear, conservatives point out that many passages use commonplace words whose meanings are well-known, such as the passage from the writings of Eusebius of Caesarea which condemns "the union of women with women and men with men", or St. Cyprian's denunciation of "men with frenzied lusts rushing upon men".

They are critical of the views that early Christians and Biblical figures had same-sex relationships. Conservatives claim that neither the Bible nor ancient Jewish law records such unions and that the term "son-in-law" at the heart of the Jonathan and David dispute could be used symbolically rather than literally.

Many who share the view that early Christians deplored homosexuality cite a translation of St. Aristides blaming the Greco-Roman heritage for what he believed to be corrupting early Christianity as illustrated in one of his quotes:

  • "Some polluted themselves by lying with males. The Greeks, O King, follow debased practices in intercourse with males. Yet they in turn impute their monstrous impurity to the Christians." St. Aristides ("Apology" c. 125 A.D.)

In response to claims that even the medieval Church tolerated homosexuality, conservatives Christians cite documents such as the "Summa Theologiae", the chief summary of doctrine in that era, which states the official position on sodomy in passages denouncing "copulation with an undue sex, male with male, or female with female" (ST: II:II: Q154: Art.11). Likewise, Christians of the time period, such as Thomas Aquinas, denounced sodomy as second only to bestiality as the worst of all sexual sins writing, "After this bestiality comes the sin of sodomy, because use of the right sex is not observed." St. Hildegard's book "Scivias", which was officially approved by Pope Eugene III, related visions from God which contain quotes stating: "a woman who takes up devilish ways and plays a male role in coupling with another woman is most vile in My sight", and "a man who sins with another man as with a woman, sins bitterly against God and against the union with which God united male and female", and similar quotes in which same-sex relations are condemned as "perverted forms". Conservatives point out that such passages use commonplace terms which are neither obscure nor in dispute.

In response to those such as John Boswell, who claim that the medieval Church did not condemn or prosecute people for sodomy until the 12th century, conservatives would point out that there are many doctrinal sources prior to that which do condemn sodomy, and Boswell's citation of harsher penalties from the 12th century onward reflects a general trend with regard to all ecclesiastic punishments, which gradually increased in severity over time for all offenses (though this does not explain how homosexuality was less harshly punished than e.g. hunting in the same time period).

In response to those who say that the Bible and early/medieval saints condemned sodomy only due to a misconception that homosexual relationships could not be stable and committed, conservatives point out that revealed sources such as St. Hildegard's visions quote God as condemning sodomy both in same-sex relationships and also when sodomy is practiced by a husband and wife, explaining that this is not the form of sex which He had ordained - meaning that the issue here is not "commitment", but rather God's purpose for sex. ISBN 0-8091-3130-7 They would also point out that the Bible and other revealed sources are based on direct revelations from God Himself rather than human opinion, and are therefore not subject to misconceptions.

In response to liberals who allege that an anti-sodomy viewpoint was based on flawed translations made in the 12th century, conservatives point out that the standard Biblical translation which was used throughout that period - both before, during, and after the 12th century - was the ancient Vulgate version by St. Jerome, written in the 5th century, meaning that the translation in question was of very ancient origin. They also point out that views denouncing sodomy go back to the early Church, as noted farther above. Early Teachings on Homosexuality

Conservative Christian scholars believe that the original texts must be translated by abiding by the standard definitions of ancient words as defined both by previous generations of scholars and by the people who lived close to the time periods in which the original languages were in active use, such as the early Church Fathers and ancient Christian writers (see examples of their interpretations above). Conservative scholars reject attempts by liberals to redefine terms or to question passages which are expressed in plain language.

Many conservatives accept the sources from the mystic-saints which both confirm the plain, literal meaning of Biblical verses but also provide clarification on any vague points, arguing that one must examine the entire body of revealed doctrine to resolve any ambiguities that may exist.

Activism against Christian policies

Some Christian groups have been the target of protests by gay rights groups such as ACT UP, OutRage! and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence because of practices they consider oppressive towards LGBT people.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ [Spong, J.S. 2005. The Sins of Scripture. Harper Collins ISBN # 02-06-076205-5]
  2. ^ Foucault, Michel (1986). The History of Sexuality. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0394417755
  3. ^ Warren Carter. Matthew and the Margins: a Sociopolitical and Religious Reading. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2000.

References

  • Bates, Stephen (2004). A Church at War: Anglicans and Homosexuality. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-480-8.
  • Boswell, John (1980). Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-06710-6
  • Crompton, Louis, et al.; Homosexuality and Civilization Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-674-01197-X
  • Gagnon, Robert A.J. (2002). The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. Abingdon Press. ISBN 0-687-02279-7
  • Harvey, John F., O.S.F.S. (1996). The Truth about Homosexuality: The Cry of the Faithful, introduction by Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.. Ignatius Press. ISBN 0-89870-583-5.
  • Helminiak, Daniel A. (2000). "Frequently Asked Questions About Being Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender and Catholic" Dignity USA. <<http://www.dignityusa.org/faq.html>>
  • Hildegard of Bingen, "Scivias," Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, translators; New York: Paulist Press, 1990
  • Johansson, Warren "Whosoever Shall Say To His Brother, Racha." Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp. 212-214
  • Saletan, William (29 November 2005). "Gland Inquisitor". Slate.
  • Early Teachings on Homosexuality
  • Summa Theologiae - online version
  • Hildegard of Bingen, "Scivias," Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, translators; New York: Paulist Press, 1990
  • Homosexuality in the Bible
  • The Church & the Homosexual
  • John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980
  • Christian Passage On St. Serge & St. Bacchus
  • Debate: St. Augustine's Sexuality
  • Gagnon, Robert A.J. (2002). The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. Abingdon Press. ISBN 0-687-02279-7
  • RobGagnon.net Author & seminary professor's site with many resources
  • Johansson, Warren 'Whosoever Shall Say To His Brother, Racha.' Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp. 212-214
  • Smith, Morton "Clement of Alexandria and Secret Mark: The Score at the End of the First Decade." Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp.295-307
  • Mader, Donald "The Entimos Pais of Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10" Studies in Homosexuality, Vol XII: Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. Ed. Wayne Dynes & Stephen Donaldson. New York & London: Garland, 1992. pp. 223-235.
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