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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Try Virginia Burrus, _‘Begotten, Not Made’: Conceiving Manhood in Late Antiquity_ (Stanford U.P., 2000) and Mathew Kuefler, _The Manly Eunuch: Masculinity, Gender Ambiguity, and Christian Ideology in Late Antiquity_ (Univ. of Chicago Pr., 2001). Kuefler's book received a negative review from Conrad Leyser in _Journal of Roman Studies_ 93 (2003), 415-16 and a favorable one from Burrus in _Journal of Religion_ 83 (2003), 135-36. Best, John Dillon On Monday, December 17, 2007, at 11:39 pm, Kevin Jang wrote: > I am not sure if I am going on a bit of a wild goose chase here in my > research. But I am trying to cast the net wide here. While reading the > New Testament, in Matthew 19:12, " "For there are some eunuchs, which > were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs > which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made > themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able > to receive it, let him receive it." (Matthew 19:12 KJV). I am > particularly intrigued by the idea of such links of the > eunuch(spiritual or literal figure of speech) to the phenomenon of > voluntary celibacy within the early medieval and late medieval phases > of Christendom,particularly in cases like the encratitism of the East > and also the high Middle Ages with ambiguous figures like Robert of > Arbrissel who was actually associated with the founding of houses for > laywomen who desired to escape the confines of their immediate > surroundings(social and economic), including pr! > ostitutes. So far, I have only arrived at one particular study of > this field of voluntary celibacy and it is concentrated mainly in the > period of the Carolingian Reform, namely Dyan Eliott's "Spiritual > Marriage". > > Are any of the members here aware of any primary and secondary > materials written in this field? On my own end, I am most aware of > Augustine of Hippo's admiration for the priesthood, and the monastic > orders, and also, his earlier Christian predecessor in the method of > Biblical exegesis, Origen, who spurred off considerable controversy > not only with his beliefs of the pre-existence of the soul, but also, > his voluntary castration of himself so as to kill the sin of fleshly > lust literally. I would be interested in hearing what members here > have to say about this phenomenon of the eunuch(metaphorical or > literal) in both the Byzantine East and the Latn West during the > Middle Ages. > > Thank you. > > Kevin Jang ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html