Items related to Blessing Same-Sex Unions
At most church weddings, the person presiding over the ritual is not a priest or a pastor, but the wedding planner, followed by the photographer, the florist, and the caterer. And in this day and age, more wedding theology is supplied by Modern Bride magazine or reality television than by any of the Christian treatises on holy matrimony. Indeed, church weddings have strayed long and far from distinctly Christian aspirations. The costumes and gestures might still be right, but the intentions are hardly religious. Why then, asks noted gay commentator Mark D. Jordan, are so many churches vehemently opposed to blessing same-sex unions? In this incisive work, Jordan shows how carefully selected ideals of Christian marriage have come to dominate recent debates over same-sex unions. Opponents of gay marriage, he reveals, too often confuse simplified ideals of matrimony with historical facts. They suppose, for instance, that there has been a stable Christian tradition of marriage across millennia, when in reality Christians have quarreled among themselves for centuries about even the most basic elements of marital theology, authorizing experiments like polygamy and divorce. Jordan also argues that no matter what the courts do, Christian churches will have to decide for themselves whether to bless same-sex unions. No civil compromise can settle the religious questions surrounding gay marriage. And queer Christians, he contends, will have to discover for themselves what they really want out of marriage. If they are not just after legal recognition as a couple or a place at the social table, do they really seek the blessing of God? Or just the garish melodrama of a white wedding? Posing trenchant questions such as these, Blessing Same-Sex Unions will be a must-read for both sides of the debate over gay marriage in America today.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
"A powerful, at times brilliant, brief for Christian churches blessing same-sex unions. . . . Jordan traces the history of Christian thought about marriage . . . and insists that there is no fixed, transhistorical Christian ideal. . . . Since the early church only grudgingly allowed Christians to marry, same-sex unions may be no more a departure from previous Christian understandings of marriage than today's enthusiastic endorsement of heterosexual marriage. . . . This is not merely a contribution to gay studies; any Christian who wants to think more clearly about marriage should read Jordan."-Publishers Weekly
"Blessing Same Sex Union is an impressive disply of learning and a clear warning against the dangers of mass marketing and the false certainty so characteristic of the Christian right." -- Daniel A. Burr "Gay & Lesbian Review"
""Blessing Same Sex Union" is an impressive disply of learning and a clear warning against the dangers of mass marketing and the false certainty so characteristic of the Christian right."--Daniel A. Burr "Gay & Lesbian Review "
"Jordan''s brilliant reading of logic within current debates of history, Christian theology, and contemporary wedding culture effectively challenges what many hold to be true about ''blessing same-sex unions''. . . . One of the great strengths of this examination is Jordan''s . . . ability to point to the odd and somethimes surprising confluence of commercialism, homophobia, Christian theology, state power, and sexism (to name just a few) embedded in so many of the contemporary discourses of gay marriage."--Thomas A. Foster "H-Net Book Review "
"A thoughtful and provocatively sustained analysis of gay marriage, Jordan's book will undoubtedly cost him a few friends."--Wade Edwards "Virginia Quarterly Review "
"For this straight Christian, the honest insights into gays' own understanding of their unions, and the mingling of these with insights of deep faith and love, made for a compelling read. This comedy of manners deserves to be taken seriously."--Adrian Thatcher "INTAMS "
"Documenting his case colorfully from both popular media and scholarly sources, [Jordan] askes: If all that marriage entails is following the etiquette advice from a professional wedding planer, what is the point? Jordan digs deep as he examines the historical and theological origins of Christian marriage."--Craig L. Nessen "Christian Century "
""Blessing Same Sex Union" is an impressive display of learning and a clear warning against the dangers of mass marketing and the false certainty so characteristic of the Christian right."--Daniel A. Burr "Gay & Lesbian Review "
"Jordan's brilliant reading of logic within current debates of history, Christian theology, and contemporary wedding culture effectively challenges what many hold to be true about 'blessing same-sex unions'. . . . One of the great strengths of this examination is Jordan's . . . ability to point to the odd and sometimes surprising confluence of commercialism, homophobia, Christian theology, state power, and sexism (to name just a few) embedded in so many of the contemporary discourses of gay marriage."--Thomas A. Foster "H-Net Book Review "
Documenting his case colorfully from both popular media and scholarly sources, [Jordan] askes: If all that marriage entails is following the etiquette advice from a professional wedding planer, what is the point? Jordan digs deep as he examines the historical and theological origins of Christian marriage. --Craig L. Nessen "Christian Century ""
About the Author:
"Blessing Same Sex Union is an impressive disply of learning and a clear warning against the dangers of mass marketing and the false certainty so characteristic of the Christian right." -- Daniel A. Burr "Gay & Lesbian Review"
""Blessing Same Sex Union" is an impressive disply of learning and a clear warning against the dangers of mass marketing and the false certainty so characteristic of the Christian right."--Daniel A. Burr "Gay & Lesbian Review "
"Jordan''s brilliant reading of logic within current debates of history, Christian theology, and contemporary wedding culture effectively challenges what many hold to be true about ''blessing same-sex unions''. . . . One of the great strengths of this examination is Jordan''s . . . ability to point to the odd and somethimes surprising confluence of commercialism, homophobia, Christian theology, state power, and sexism (to name just a few) embedded in so many of the contemporary discourses of gay marriage."--Thomas A. Foster "H-Net Book Review "
"A thoughtful and provocatively sustained analysis of gay marriage, Jordan's book will undoubtedly cost him a few friends."--Wade Edwards "Virginia Quarterly Review "
"For this straight Christian, the honest insights into gays' own understanding of their unions, and the mingling of these with insights of deep faith and love, made for a compelling read. This comedy of manners deserves to be taken seriously."--Adrian Thatcher "INTAMS "
"Documenting his case colorfully from both popular media and scholarly sources, [Jordan] askes: If all that marriage entails is following the etiquette advice from a professional wedding planer, what is the point? Jordan digs deep as he examines the historical and theological origins of Christian marriage."--Craig L. Nessen "Christian Century "
""Blessing Same Sex Union" is an impressive display of learning and a clear warning against the dangers of mass marketing and the false certainty so characteristic of the Christian right."--Daniel A. Burr "Gay & Lesbian Review "
"Jordan's brilliant reading of logic within current debates of history, Christian theology, and contemporary wedding culture effectively challenges what many hold to be true about 'blessing same-sex unions'. . . . One of the great strengths of this examination is Jordan's . . . ability to point to the odd and sometimes surprising confluence of commercialism, homophobia, Christian theology, state power, and sexism (to name just a few) embedded in so many of the contemporary discourses of gay marriage."--Thomas A. Foster "H-Net Book Review "
Documenting his case colorfully from both popular media and scholarly sources, [Jordan] askes: If all that marriage entails is following the etiquette advice from a professional wedding planer, what is the point? Jordan digs deep as he examines the historical and theological origins of Christian marriage. --Craig L. Nessen "Christian Century ""
Mark D. Jordan is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion at Emory University. He is the author of The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology and The Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 0226410358
- ISBN 13 9780226410357
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages269
- Rating
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