A Special Illumination: Authority, Inspiration and Heresy in Gay Spirituality

by Rollan McCleary

Overview

Gay spirituality represents a hidden strand in Western thought that was only publically declared from the Gay Liberation of the 1970s. Since "coming out", expressions of gay spirituality have proliferated in both number and diversity. Beginning with gay theology within Christianity, the phenomenon has now reached as far as Buddhism and neo-paganism. But, so far, critical analysis of the movement has been very limited largely because gay spirituality has been treated as a political and social movement arguing for rights and acceptance within religious circles. 'A Special Illumination' offers an indepth analysis and argues that gay spirituality should be placed at the heart of religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781904768548
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/01/2004
Pages:	382
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rollan McCleary obtained his doctorate from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. He is the author of Signs for a Messiah published by Hazard Press and The Expansion of God published by SCM/Orbis.

Table of Contents

Foreword; PART ONE: AUTHORITY; Chapter One: General Introduction; Chapter Two: Gay Theology; Chapter Three: Queer Spirituality and Theology; Chapter Four: Experience and Gay Pastoral Theology; PART TWO: INSPIRATION; Chapter Five: Towards a Faerie Vision; Chapter Six: Inside the Faerie Vision, Spirit and Soul; Chapter Seven: Gay Mystics; Chapter Eight: The Way of Eros and Ganymede; PART THREE: HERESY; Chapter Nine: Uses and Abuses of Heresy; Chapter Ten: Achieving Synthesis; Afterword: Incompletion and the Ethical Question