According to John Boswell, the 4th century Christian martyrs Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus were united in the ritual of adelphopoiesis.

Adelphopoiesis, or adelphopoiia from the Greek ἀδελφοποίησις, derived from ἀδελφός (adelphos) "brother" and ποιώῶ (poio) "I make", literally "brother-making" is a ceremony practiced at one time by various Christian churches to unite together two people of the same sex (normally men). It is documented by the historian John Boswell in his book Same-sex unions in pre-modern Europe, also published as The marriage of likeness. The ceremony was mainly practised by the Eastern Orthodox Church - Boswell gives text and translation for a number of versions of this ceremony in Greek, and translation only for a number of Slavonic versions. Saints Sergius and Bacchus. ... Saints Sergius and Bacchus. ... The Saint Sergius in this article is the Fourth Century martyr. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christianity. ... Professor John Boswell John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947 - December 24, 1994), was a prominent historian and a professor at Yale University. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that views itself as: the historical continuation of the original Christian community established by Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles, having maintained unbroken the link between its clergy and the Apostles by means of Apostolic Succession. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup...

Nevertheless, the historicity of Boswell's interpretation of the ceremony is contested by the Greek Orthodox Church, which sees the rite as a rite of familial adoption, as the term adelphopoiesis literally means "brother making". ^[1] Boswell's scholarship has been assailed as being of dubious quality by those who dispute the scholar's interpretation of the facts.^[2] Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Hellēnorthódoxē Ekklēsía) can refer to any of several hierarchical churches within the larger group of mutually recognizing Eastern Orthodox churches. ...

The purpose of the adelphopoiesis ceremonies is controversial. Boswell maintained that they were celebrating romantic, indeed sexual unions between two men, and thus a forerunner of gay marriage. Others such as Brent Shaw have maintained that they are more akin to "blood-brotherhood" and had no sexual connotation. Same-sex marriage is marriage between individuals who are of the same legal or biological sex. ... Brent D. Shaw is a historian who teaches ancient history at Princeton University. ... Blood brother can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth, who swear loyalty to one another. ...

Boswell comments on the lack of any equivalent in the Catholic church; however, the British historian Alan Bray in his book The Friend, gives a Latin text and translation of a similar Roman Catholic rite from Slovenia, entitled Ordo ad fratres faciendum, literally "Order for the making of brothers". Alan Bray was a British historian and gay rights activist. ...

Boswell (Same-sex Unions, pp. 298-299) denies that adelphopoiesis should be properly translated as "homosexual marriage". He decries such a translation as "tendentiously slanted". This, however, has not stopped many gay activists from claiming (incorrectly) that Boswell's book purports to demonstrate that "gay marriage" was in fact sanctioned by Christian churches in the past. At the same time, Boswell claims (unconvincingly to most scholars, it would seem) that "brother-making" or "making of brothers" is an "anachronistically literal" translation and proposes "same-sex union" as the preferrable rendering. Boswell's preference, however, is not unproblematic. "Sex", for instance, while pointing to a seemingly "objective" characteristic of the participants involved in the rite, in fact draws attention to the physical condition or biological sex of the "brothers" -- whereas the rites for adelphopoiesis explicitly deny that the union itself is a "carnal" one. "Union of spiritual siblings" is perhaps a more "neutral" translation than Boswell's "same-sex union."

Alternative views^[3] is that this rite was used in many ways, to include between leaders of nations to make a permanent pact, as well as between religious brothers. This was a replacement for "blood brotherhood" which was forbidden by the church at the time.

References

1. ^ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/bosrevdisc-kennedy1.html
2. ^ http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9411/articles/darling.html
3. ^ http://www.eskimo.com/~nickz/qrd-eastern_orthodox/adelphopoiia.some-responses and http://www.melkite.org/Questions/M-4.htm

mjkihnjkh

External links

• http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=4511
• http://www.samesexunions.org.uk/
• http://www.learnedhand.com/shaw_boswell.htm