Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality
by Boswell, John
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality is a study by Medieval Studies Professor John Boswell. It examines the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the early Christian West, and makes the case that homosexual behavior was relatively accepted until quite recently.
Stonewall Book Award (1981), National Book Critics' Circle Award Nominee (1980)
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On Apr 23, 2014, Anonymous said
In 1980, the AIDS virus was being diagnosed and a holocaust in small was getting under way; gay visibility was increasing and with it homophobia was getting a fresh lease on life. Into the left field of this situation John Boswell, a little-known Yale scholar of European history, dropped, if not a bomb, than certainly something of a hand grenade: his study CHRISTIANITY, SOCIAL TOLERANCE AND HOMOSEXUALITY: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. It was a work of obvious erudition, drawing on a dozen languages and literatures; it was published with full scholarly dressing by a university press (Yale); it cited and discussed such household names as Aelred of Rievaulx, Valerius Maximus, Baudri of Bourgeuil and Abu’l-Qasim az-Zahrawi; its bibliography barely escaped being “uselessly massive”; and it announced its specific payload right in the title. In it, Boswell took the popular perceptions of Christianity’s attitude towards homosexuality (in a word: BAD) and opened up long historic avenues of complexity: the inheritance of classical stances on the subject; the difficulties and ambiguities of moving from the classical languages to expressing Biblical assumptions and attitudes (an entire appendix is devoted to “Lexicography and Saint Paul”); the effects of the rise and ebb of urbanization; the handing-on and snowballing of various chance and influenced translations. The final result was the upending of a lot of the old simplicities: word-meanings shifted, pockets of acceptance surfaced, old certainties were shown to be resting on swampy ground. Boswell’s grasp of the historical context and the languages was such that probably only other scholars would be able to dispute his arguments, but the book left the scholarly sales circles and got tackled by a lot of non-specialist readers, and its tone of calm helped to make the old hysterias and hostilities look vulgar and unsustainable. “What will strike some readers as a partisan point of view is chiefly the absence of the negative attitudes on the subjects ubiquitous in the Modern West; after a long loud noise, a sudden silence may seem deafening.” The real silences, of course, were in the old majority-rule histories, what Matthew Arnold called “the huge Mississippi of falsehood,” in which gay people figured stereotypically or not at all, as with all minorities—just those silences that the postwar revisionist histories have begun to break open. Boswell, by his own claim, was doing just a first scratching of the surface of the topic; but after thirty years no book has bettered his discussion. With insight, intelligence and, every so often, a nose- tweaking sense of impudence, he has brought these people out of their forgotten and unhonored graves and given them voice. A phrase from the AIDS years: “Silence is death.”
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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University of Chicago Press, 1981. First Edition, Second Printing. Hardcover. FINE/NEAR FINE. xviii, 424 pp. Yellow cloth, green endpapers. A pristine copy. Some rubbing to DJ, otherwise sound. Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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University of Chicago Press. hardcover. Very Good. 9x6x1. This Book is in Very Good condition.All items ship within 24 hours. Packaging is 100% Recyclable. Most items purchased from Charitable organizations. A portion of each sale is also donated to a monthly charity, check your package for this months charity. Reuse-Recycle-Rebook! Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the 14th Century
by John Boswell
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Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century
by Boswell, John
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Phoenix Books., 1981. xviii, 424 pages, [6] leaves of plates, illustrations; 24 cm. Tight, clean copy. "John Boswell's National Book Award-winning study of the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the early Christian West was a groundbreaking work that challenged preconceptions about the Church's past relationship to its gay members - among them priests, bishops,… Read more about this item Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality : Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by John Boswell
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by John Boswell
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Paperback / softback. New. John Boswell's National Book Award-winning study of the history of attitudes toward homosexuality in the early Christian West was a groundbreaking work that challenged preconceptions about the Church's past relationship to its gay members-among them priests, bishops, and even saints-when it was first published thirty-five years ago. The historical breadth of Boswell's research (from… Read more about this item Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.: The University of Chicago Press, 1981 Corners worn. Cover is a little worn. Page edges lightly tanned and foxed. 424 pages. Books listed here are not stored at the shop. Please contact us if you want to pick up a book from Newtown.. Paperback. Good. Size F: 9"-10" Tall (228-254mm). Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.: Univ of Chicago Pr, 1981. Soft cover. Fine/No Jacket. Brown and green softcover with cover art of a brown rabbit with really big ears, eating a flower. Minor bumping along edges of cover. Minor general shelf wear to cover. Pages tight; clean/unmarked. 424 pages. Copyright page states First paperback edition, 1981 and underneath: 12 11… Read more about this item Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality; gay people in western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century
by Boswell, John
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Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981. Paperback. xviii, 424p., preface, introduction, extensive footnotes, appendixes, cited works, indexes, illustrations, very good reprint trade paperback in pictorial wraps. Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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CHRISTIANITY, SOCIAL TOLERANCE, AND HOMOSEXUALITY; Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteen Century
by Boswell, John
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Chicago: University of Chicago, 1980. Phoenix. Trade paperback. Very Good/No dust jacket. 8vo. 424pp.Trade paperback. Winner of 1981 American Book Award for History. Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality : Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century / John Boswell
by Boswell, John (1947-1994)
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Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 1980. First Edition. Softcover. Very good paperback copy; edges somewhat dust-dulled and nicked. Remains quite well-preserved overall. Physical description: xviii, 424 pages, 6 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm. Subjects: To 1500; Homosexuality Europe History To 1500; Homosexuality Religious aspects Christianity History; Homosexuality Europe History; Christianity history; Homosexuality… Read more about this item Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality; Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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- 1981
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Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1981. xviii, 424p., b/w illus., stiff wrappers. Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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- 1981
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Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Book. New. Soft cover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Softcover, still in original shrink wrap. Brand new.. Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century
by Boswell, John
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- 1981
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Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1981. 424 clean, unmarked pages. Paperback. Very Good. Illus. by B/W Illus. 8 vo. Item Price
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Christianity, Social Tolerance, And Homosexuality
by John Boswell
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- 1981
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Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1981. Soft Cover. Good. Not Ex-Library Copy. Trade Paperback Edition.Binding Is Solid.Text Unmarked.Not Ex-Library Copy.Corners Slightly Bumped. Reading Copy Only.Back Cover Has Chip. Item Price
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