New Approaches in History and Theology to Same-Sex Love and Desire

New Approaches in History and Theology to Same-Sex Love and Desire
Author: Mark D. Chapman
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2018-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 3319702114

This book offers a range of interdisciplinary evaluations of the history of same-sex relationships in the Church as they have been understood in different periods and contexts. The relationships between diverse forms of religious and sexual identities have been widely contested in the media since the rise of the lesbian and gay liberation movement in the 1970s. One of the key images that often appears in public debate is that of ‘lesbians and gays in the Church’ as a significant ‘problem’. Research over the past forty years or so into queer theology and the history of same-sex desire has shown that such issues have played an important role in the story of Christianity over many centuries. The contributors to this volume have all been inspired by the challenges of such revisionist study to explore religion and same-sex desire as a field of opportunity for investigation and debate. They uncover some of the hidden histories of the Church and its theologies: they tell sometimes unexpected stories, many of which invite serious further study. It is quite clear through history that some in the churches have been at the vanguard of legislative and social change. Similarly, some churches have offered safe queer spaces. Overall, these essays offer new interpretations and original research into the history of sexuality that helps inform the contemporary debate in the churches as well as in the academy.

Gender and Christian Ethics

Gender and Christian Ethics
Author: Adrian Thatcher
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2020-10-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1108839487

Provides strong theological arguments for replacing the binary understanding of gender, and for the embracing of sexual minorities.

LGBTQ Catholic Ministry

LGBTQ Catholic Ministry
Author: Jason Steidl
Publisher: Paulist Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2022-12-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0809155699

"Argues that LGBTQ Catholics and their allies have been struggling for recognition and pastoral care in the U.S. Catholic Church since the 1940s, using a variety of strategies to integrate their faith and sexuality and navigate the institutional church"--

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion, Gender and Sexuality

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion, Gender and Sexuality
Author: Sonya Sharma
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2024-06-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1350257184

Bringing together disciplines across the arts, humanities and social sciences, this Handbook presents novel and lively examinations of the dynamic ways religion, gender and sexuality operate. Applying feminist, intersectional, and reflexive approaches, the volume aims to loosen imperialist and exclusionary figurations that have underwritten and tethered religion, gender, and sexuality together. While holding onto the field of inquiry, the Handbook offers contributions that interrogate and untie it from the terms and conditions that have formed it. The volume is organized into thematic sections: - Forces and Futures - Activisms and Labors - Agencies and Practices - Relationships and Institutions - Texts and Objects Chapters range across religious, geographical, historical, political, and social contexts and feature an array of case-studies, experiences, and topics that exemplify the reflexive intention of the volume, including explorations of race, whiteness, colonialism, and the institutional intolerance of minority groups. Contributors also advance new areas of research in religion including artificial intelligence, farming, migrant mothering, child sexual abuse, mediatization, national security, legal frameworks, addiction and recovery, decolonial hermeneutics, creative arts, sport, sexual practices, and academic friendship. This is an essential contribution to the fields of religious studies and gender and sexuality studies.

The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism, Vol V

The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism, Vol V
Author: Alana Harris
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2023-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 019884431X

The fifth volume of The Oxford History of British & Irish Catholicism--covering the period from the Great War, through the Second World War and the Second Vatican Council--surveys the transformed ecclesial landscape between the papacies of Benedict XV and Pope Francis. It explores the efforts of bishops, priests and people in Ireland and Scotland, Wales and England to respond to modern challenges and reintegrate the experiences and expertise of the laity into the ministry of the Church. Alongside the twentieth century's designation as an era of technological innovation, war, peace, globalization, decolonization and liberation, this period has also been designated 'the People's Century'. Viewed through the lens of the Catholic church in Britain and Ireland, these same dynamics are explored within thematic, synoptic chapters by leading scholars. As a century characterized by the rise, or better renewal of the apostolate of the laity, this edited collection traces the struggles to reconcile tradition, re-evaluate hierarchical authority, adapt to social and educational mobility, as well as to adjudicate serious challenges from outside and within--including inflammatory biopolitics and clerical sexual abuse--to religious belief and the legitimacy of the Church as an institution.

Orthodox Christians and the Rights Revolution in America

Orthodox Christians and the Rights Revolution in America
Author: A. G. Roeber
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2024-01-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1531505058

A distinctive and unrivaled examination of North American Eastern Orthodox Christians and their encounter with the rights revolution in a pluralistic American society. From the civil rights movement of the 1950s to the “culture wars” of North America, commentators have identified the partisans bent on pursuing different “rights” claims. When religious identity surfaces as a key determinant in how the pursuit of rights occurs, both “the religious right” and “liberal” believers remain the focus of how each contributes to making rights demands. How Orthodox Christians in North America have navigated the “rights revolution,” however, remains largely unknown. From the disagreements over the rights of the First Peoples of Alaska to arguments about the rights of transgender persons, Orthodox Christians have engaged an anglo-American legal and constitutional rights tradition. But they see rights claims through the lens of an inherited focus on the dignity of the human person. In a pluralistic society and culture, Orthodox Christians, both converts and those with family roots in Orthodox countries, share with non-Orthodox fellow citizens the challenge of reconciling conflicting rights claims. Those claims do pit “religious liberty” rights claims against perceived dangers from outside the Orthodox Church. But internal disagreements about the rights of clergy and people within the Church accompany the Orthodox Christian engagement with debates over gender, sex, and marriage as well as expanding political, legal, and human rights claims. Despite their small numbers, North American Orthodox remain highly visible and their struggles influential among the more than 280 million Orthodox worldwide. Orthodox Christians and the Rights Revolution in America offers an historical analysis of this unfolding story.

Revisiting the Meissen Declaration after 30 Years

Revisiting the Meissen Declaration after 30 Years
Author: Mark Chapman
Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2020-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3374063039

The Theological Conference between the Church of England and the Evangelical Church in Germany is a key component of the Meissen Declaration, which was adopted 30 years ago and to which the churches have committed themselves in order "to resolve the outstanding differences between the participating churches". To highlight the importance of the relations in a time of political uncertainty, the 2019's conference was dedicated to "Revisiting the Meissen Declaration after 30 years". Discussion focused on the interchangeability of ministries, with reference to the understanding of this by the church and episcopate. The papers focus on significant ecclesial and historical/theological developments. They attend to questions about the church and the episcopate with regard to ecclesial identity and in light of contemporary European ecumenical developments as well as sociological changes over the last three decades. With papers by Mark Chapman, Jonathan Gibbs, Matthias Grebe, Stephen Hampton, Ralf Meister, Friederike Nüssel, Bernd Oberdorfer, Rowena Pailing, Hilke Rebenstorf, Andrea Russell, Christof Theilemann, Martin Wallraff and Michael Weinrich. [Relecture des Meissen-Abkommens nach 30 Jahren] Die Theologische Konferenz der Church of England und der EKD ist ein zentraler Bestandteil der Meissener Erklärung, die vor dreißig Jahren verabschiedet wurde und in der sich beide Kirchen verpflichteten, "an der Überwindung der bestehenden Unterschiede zu arbeiten". Im Bewusstsein der Bedeutung der gewachsenen Beziehungen in einer Zeit politischer Unsicherheit wurde die Konferenz von 2019 der "Relecture des Meissen-Abkommens nach 30 Jahren" gewidmet. Im Zentrum stand die Frage nach der Austauschbarkeit von Ämtern im Lichte des Verständnisses von Kirche und Bischofsamt. Die Beiträge behandeln kirchen- und theologiehistorische Entwicklungen und erörtern Fragen des Kirchen- und Episkopatsverständnisses in Rücksicht auf kirchliche Identität und unter Beachtung aktueller ökumenischer Entwicklungen in Europa und den soziologischen Veränderungen beider Kirchen in den letzten dreißig Jahren.

Richard Hooker

Richard Hooker
Author: Philip Hobday
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2023-09-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567708071

For some, Hooker and Anglicanism are basically reformed; for others, fundamentally Catholic; for some embodying a 'middle way' between Roman Catholic and Protestant extremes; and for others simply confused and incoherent. This book challenges those perceptions by showing that 'reformed' and 'catholic' are not intrinsically opposed. Reading Hooker alongside a representative theologian of each tradition (the 'catholic' Aquinas and the 'reformed' Calvin) on theological method, Hobday shows there is much greater congruity between theologies and theologians often considered in tension. On the role of scripture in theology, the theological capacity of human reason, and the place of tradition, these 3 theologians have far more in common than many subsequent commentators have understood. This book shows how both Hooker and the Anglicanism he defended in such elegant prose, can be coherently both 'catholic' and 'reformed' (rather than one, or the other, or some middle way). Relocating Hooker, and Anglicanism, in this way reveals them to be rich, fruitful conversation partners in ecumenical dialogue and theological debates across Christian traditions.

Public Discourses About Homosexuality and Religion in Europe and Beyond

Public Discourses About Homosexuality and Religion in Europe and Beyond
Author: Marco Derks
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2020-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 303056326X

This volume addresses three things many people do not discuss candidly with strangers or mere acquaintances: God, sex, and politics. These can easily become topics of fierce debate, particularly when taken together, as has been the case with same-sex marriage legislation, the Vatican’s criticism of “gender ideology,” or the repeatedly asserted claim that Islam, homosexuality, and gender equality are essentially incompatible. This volume investigates what is at stake in these constructions of religion and homosexuality in public discourses. Starting with the Netherlands as a special case study, it proceeds with contributions on other predominantly postsecular countries in central, northern, and southern Europe as well as several postcommunist and postcolonial countries “beyond Europe.” Combining contemporary and historical perspectives and approaches from both the humanities and the social sciences, the contributors explore how national and European identities are constructed and contested in debates on religion and homosexuality. Chapter 2 and Chapter 8 of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.