When Same Sex Marriage was a Christian Rite?

[Loboto-Me]

Ok, I just came across this article which I admit is quite old, but it was brought to my attention through a Pinterest pinner, so I suppose some people are still reading it.

It tells of different instances in the Christian Church where they celebrated same sex union, yet I don't see any REAL sources mentioned... just mentions of certain documents and museum documents etc. Anyone interested in clarifying these claims? It's got to be misinterpreted findings claimed by pro-same-sex-union authors, because afterall, this article was written in 2009 and I don't see many pro same sex marriage people talking about it much. I just hope this can be nipped in the bud before pinterest wakes it up again.


http://anthropologist.livejournal.com/1314574.html

[JSSebastianoP]

Someone linked here (and here)

At least the first could serve as a rebuttal.

-J. S. S. P.

[1ke]

Oh, please do not be fooled so easily.

[_Abyssinia]

Originally Posted by Loboto-Me

Ok, I just came across this article which I admit is quite old, but it was brought to my attention through a Pinterest pinner, so I suppose some people are still reading it.

It tells of different instances in the Christian Church where they celebrated same sex union, yet I don't see any REAL sources mentioned... just mentions of certain documents and museum documents etc. Anyone interested in clarifying these claims? It's got to be misinterpreted findings claimed by pro-same-sex-union authors, because afterall, this article was written in 2009 and I don't see many pro same sex marriage people talking about it much. I just hope this can be nipped in the bud before pinterest wakes it up again.


http://anthropologist.livejournal.com/1314574.html

Jimmy Akin: Was Same-Sex "Marriage" a Christian Rite?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpe_eSw1ZDQ

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See Criticism of Boswell:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelpho...ism_of_Boswell

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The medieval church showed many examples of honouring close male relationships for their spiritual value, from Aelred of Rievaulx’s book, 'On Spiritual Friendship', to the love letters and poetry addressed by many bishops and abbots to their own beloveds.

In the Western Church, the practice of making 'sworn brothers' included liturgical rituals, celebrated in church with the Eucharist, and created legal ties of kinship between the families: an equivalent term for 'sworn brother' was 'wedded brother'. Same -sex weddings, in church, are hardly new, although the earlier meaning was not the same as current usage.

In 4th and 5th century Macedonia, and later in the Western church, there is archaeological and tombstone evidence of another way in which these relationships were honoured by the church: same – sex pairs buried in shared graves, just as many (opposite – sex) married couples were. A much later example of this is the well – known example of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who specifically asked to be buried alongside his beloved Aubrey St John (a request that does not appear to have caused any surprise to his community)."

http://lasalettejourney.blogspot.com...l-need-to.html

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Sergius, Bacchus, and the growing myth of “early Christian gay marriage”

Boswell’s claims have been completely debunked by David Woods, Robin Young, and Brent Shaw (to name the first three authors I found during a simple internet search).

Some samples of the conclusions of their debunking:

'the comparison of the punishment of Sergius and Bacchus to the punishment of those convicted of homosexual offences is misleading at best.” – Woods

“the author’s painfully strained effort to recruit Christian history in support of the homosexual cause that he favors is not only a failure, but an embarrassing one.” – Young

“…same-sex marriages forged with the approval of the Christian church, and with its rituals? No. Such a reading is very misleading.” – Shaw

http://www.catholicvoteaction.org/am...dex.php?p=8289

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'In the Case of John Boswell' by Richard John Neuhaus

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2...john-boswell-4

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Church History and Same-Sex Marriage

http://roadsfromemmaus.org/2012/05/1...e-sex-marriage

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'Failed Attempt to Rewrite History' by Fr. Patrick Viscuso

http://www.newoxfordreview.org/revie...d=1294-viscuso

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'Rewriting History to Serve the Gay Agenda' by Marian Therese Horvat

http://www.traditioninaction.org/bkr...br_SameSex.htm

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'A Groom of One’s Own?' by Brent D. Shaw

http://web.archive.org/web/200605070...aw_boswell.htm

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'Procrustean Marriage Beds' by Robert Louis Wilken

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/bosrev-wilken.asp

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'Do you take this man' by David Wright

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/bosrev-wright1.asp

[Loboto-Me]

Thank you all for the quick answers and links... whew, I'm glad there are rebuttals to this. Now I'm off to read the links