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...

In this startling original work of historical detection, Mark D. Jordan explores the invention of Sodomy by medieval Christendom, examining its conceptual foundations in theology and gauging its impact on Christian sexual ethics both then and now. This book is for everyone involved in the ongoing debate within organized religions and society in general over moral judgments of same-sex eroticism.
"A crucial contribution to our understanding of the tortured and tortuous relationship between men who love men, and the Christian religion indeed, between our kind and Western society as a whole....

The past decade has seen homosexual scandals in the Catholic Church becoming ever more visible, and the Vatican's directives on homosexuality becoming ever more forceful, begging the question Mark Jordan tries to answer here: how can the Catholic Church be at once so homophobic and so homoerotic? His analysis is a keen and readable study of the tangled relationship between male homosexuality and modern Catholicism.
" Jordan] has offered glimpses, anecdotal stories, and scholarly observations that are a whole greater than the sum of its parts. . . . If homosexuality is the guest that...

A 2000 Lambda Literary Award Finalist
The past decade has seen homosexual scandals in the Catholic Church becoming ever more visible, and the Vatican's directives on homosexuality becoming ever more forceful, begging the question Mark Jordan tries to answer here: how can the Catholic Church be at once so homophobic and so homoerotic? His analysis is a keen and readable study of the tangled relationship between male homosexuality and modern Catholicism.

There are numerous Summas from the thirteenth century, but none quite like Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae in simplicity, scope, and rigor of organization. The structure of the Summa may seem complex to those approaching it for the first time, but it is a remarkable feat of clarity in comparison with its predecessors. In his spare and accessible English translation, Mark D. Jordan captures this clarity in Thomas's discussion of the theological virtue of faith.

Mark Jordan has written a provocative and stimulating introduction to the issues surrounding sexual ethics and sexuality and theology, filling a much-needed void in this field. Jordan summarizes key topics and themes in the teaching and discussion of religious ethics as well as pushing forward the debate in interesting and original directions.

The opponents of legal recognition for same-sex marriage frequently appeal to a "Judeo-Christian" tradition. But does it make any sense to speak of that tradition as a single teaching on marriage? Are there elements in Jewish and Christian traditions that actually authorize religious and civil recognition of same-sex couples? And are contemporary heterosexual marriages well supported by those traditions?

As evidenced by the ten provocative essays assembled and edited by Mark D. Jordan, the answers are not as simple as many would believe. The scholars of Judaism and Christianity...

Is the reform we have seen in the wake of the pedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church meaningful? Have our conversations about the causes of these scandals delved as deeply as they need to? For those questioning the relations between hierarchical power, secrecy, and sexuality in institutional religion, Mark D. Jordan's eloquent meditations on what truths about sexuality need to be told in church-and the difficulty of telling any truths-will be a balm and a revelation.

Responding to the recent upsurge of interest in Thomas Aquinas, this book goes straight to the heart of the contemporary debates about Thomism.

• Focuses on the concept of authority, both in terms of Aquinas's own attitude to authority, and how the Church authorities have used Aquinas's texts.
  
• Engages with appropriations of Aquinas's work by a range of theologians, from liberal Catholics to the creators of radical orthodoxy.
  
• Argues for future readings of Aquinas which are substantially different from those which have gone before.

Responding to the recent upsurge of interest in Thomas Aquinas, this book goes straight to the heart of the contemporary debates about Thomism.

• Focuses on the concept of authority, both in terms of Aquinas's own attitude to authority, and how the Church authorities have used Aquinas's texts.
  
• Engages with appropriations of Aquinas's work by a range of theologians, from liberal Catholics to the creators of radical orthodoxy.
  
• Argues for future readings of Aquinas which are substantially different from those which have gone before.