Marriage, Celibacy, and Pederasty
Marriage, Celibacy, and Pederasty
Chapter 1 is the first chapter in part A of the book, “The Integrative Significance of the Body in the Life of Virtue,” which examines Gregory’s early ascetical theology, which covers a span of roughly seven years—from the composition of the De virginitate, his earliest work (371), to the death of his brother, Basil of Caesarea, in September 378. Chapter 1 begins with an analysis of Mark Hart’s essay on Gregory’s De virginitate, and makes the case for the integrative view of the virtues in the life of virginity. For Gregory, virginity is emblematic of the angelic life and the privileged point of entry into the life of virtue, but Christians who pursue the life of virginity must also eschew other vices, such as pride and hate. This leads onto an area of discussion that has been subject to considerable misunderstanding—the difference between the Platonic ideal of the chaste love of a man for an adolescent boy and Christian virginity. For Gregory, celibacy replicates the same spiritual outcomes as Platonic pederasty but removes the need for a physical example of beauty—the beloved—to redirect erotic desire toward the Form of beauty.
Keywords: marriage, celibacy, Platonic pederasty, nature, procreation, death
California Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
