The Sex Lives of Saints: An Erotics of Ancient Hagiography (Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion)
"A dazzling series of readings of early Christian hagiographies that will, by turns, delight, confound, illuminate, and challenge diverse historians, theologians, and theorists."—Church History"Brilliant and important. . . . From page one she challenges approaches to hagiography that dismiss ascetic desire as the sublimation of sexuality and a pathological hatred of the body."—Theological Studies"This fine book detects a vibrant eroticism in tales of fourth- and fifth-century saints. Rather than read ancient saints' lives as anti-erotic, or, worse,an-erotic, Burrus reveals a flourishingars erotica."—Journal of Religion"Burrus's interweaving of ancient and modern voices is as meditative as it is analytical, but the overall effect is to induce the reader into an alternative view of what constitutes the allure of the saintly life. . . . AfterThe Sex Lives of Saintshagiography will never be the same."—Journal of Early Christian StudiesAn engrossing, thought-provoking, and thoroughly enjoyable read."—Journal of the History of Sexuality