The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography

Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion

by Virginia Burrus

Has a repressive morality been the primary contribution of Christianity to the history of sexuality? The ascetic concerns that pervade ancient Christian texts would seem to support such a common assumption. Focusing on hagiographical literature, Virginia Burrus pursues a fresh path of interpretation, arguing that the early accounts of the lives of saints are not antierotic but rather convey a sublimely transgressive "countereroticism" that resists the marital, procreative ethic of sexuality found in other strands of Christian tradition. Without reducing the erotics of ancient hagiography to a single formula, The Sex Lives of Saints frames the broad historical, theological, and theoretical issues at stake in such a revisionist interpretation of ascetic eroticism, with particular reference to the work of Michel Foucault and Georges Bataille, David Halperin and Geoffrey Harpham, Leo Bersani and Jean Baudrillard. Burrus subsequently proceeds through close, performative readings of the earliest Lives of Saints, mostly dating to the late fourth and early fifth centuries—Jerome's Lives of Paul, Malchus, Hilarion, and Paula; Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina; Augustine's portrait of Monica; Sulpicius Severus's Life of Martin; and the slightly later Lives of so-called harlot saints. Queer, s/m, and postcolonial theories are among the contemporary discourses that prove intriguingly resonant with an ancient art of "saintly" loving that remains, in Burrus's reading, promisingly mobile, diverse, and open-ended.

Genres: Religion, History, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Sexuality, Medieval

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

A native of Texas, Virginia Burrus received her B.A. (1981) in Classical Civilization from Yale College, and her M.A. (1984) and Ph.D. (1991) in History of Christianity from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Currently the the Bishop W. Earl Ledden Professor of Religion at Syracuse University, she had previously taught in Drew University's Theological School and Graduate Division of Religion.

Dr. Burrus's teaching and research interests in the field of ancient Christianity include: gender, sexuality, and the body; martyrdom and asceticism; ancient novels and hagiography; constructions of orthodoxy and heresy; histories of theology and historical theologies. She is past President of the North American Patristics Society, Associate Editor of the Journal of Early Christian Studies, and co-editor of the University of Pennsylvania Press series "Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion."

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virginia Burrus takes the ascetic lives of the saints and rolls them over, undresses them, reveals in them the undeniable (irresistible) eroticism of saintly love - that which reverses, defies gender, defies place and time, not by rejection, but by a subversive mimesis, where "lack is not filled but eclipsed, suffering not eradicated but surpassed in joy."

Very good read - probably would be beneficial to have a background in queer theory and theology but this book occupies a space between academia and poetry and so isn't that hard to digest for the nonacademic

[Amy Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important book, especially methodologically. I think the readings were stretched too much in some places and the thesis perhaps covered too much ground. But overall, a provocative book and even where I would have read something differently, I was grateful for and stimulated by her conclusions. It would do to have some knowledge of Foucault and continental philosophy on the part of the reader, also, a familiarity with the texts is needed since Burrus offers a necessarily focused reading.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the lives of early Christian saints and ascetics through the lens of Queer Theory! WOW!

[Richard Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

The incessant use of anachronistic ideas makes all the conclusions in this book suspect. And, it is poorly written.

[Joseph Berríos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit I started reading this book because I wanted evidence to demonstrate that there’s actual eroticism in the Spaniard mysticism. While in fact this book talks about hagiographies, I got some answers to my doubts. Nevertheless, the style was a bit strange; for example, after chapter three I started losing a bit of interest due to the lack of bigger citations of the hagiographies that were being presented. Also, there were times when the author started to philosophize and (at least to me) it felt like it had no connection to her main thesis.

[Lulu]

mostly late fourth and early fifth centuries -- Jerome's Lives of Paul , Malchus , Hilarion , and Paula ; Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina ; Augustine's portrait of Monica ; Sulpicius Severus's Life of Martin ; and the slightly later Lives of so - called harlot saints .

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sublimely incomprehensible. She has something important to say but I can barely pick up on it every once in a while.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is - without any question - the weirdest fucking book I have ever read

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a little too much theory in this one for my taste but it’s an interesting exercise in queer-reading late antique hagiography.