Essay

A new book by literary historian Martin C. Putna (1968), combines the apparently irreconcilable topics: Christianity and homosexuality. It does so in the genre of an engagingly and clearly written study in a style that is not exactly academic and which, on the one hand, provokes, and, on the other hand, documents every provocation by rich literature, or rather metaliterature – especially with reference to the Bible. And it often interprets the Bible in a dramatically new way: not only does it discover distinct homosocial and homoerotic themes in the Bible, but it even comes up with the hypothesis that “Jesus was gay”. However, Putna does not only follow the extreme, he takes also central, moderate or even slightly conservative positions that operate, for example, on the principle of Christ as the natural protector of all social outsiders, including homosexuals. An inspiring work that, for many, wouldn’t be a bad thing to read. For some, it is imperative.