The Venerable John Boswell

Bio:

Dr. John Boswell was a professor of medieval history at Yale whose scholarship challenged all conventional wisdom regarding Christianity and homosexuality. For this, many different factions have tried to suppress, erase, and discredit him after his untimely death. There is only one known video recording of one of his lectures, which you can watch on Youtube. Read on for more details about his life and work.

Iconography:

• "The Venerable": in one sense bitterly ironic, since Professor Boswell died young. On the other hand, it calls back to the Venerable Bede.
• Tongue of flame: a traditional symbol for the Holy Spirit. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the gift of "speaking in tongues" and the "interpretation of tongues." Professor Boswell spoke or read at least 17 modern and classical languages.
• Harvard Doctoral robes: a symbol of his academic achievement and authority. Professor Boswell was educated and worked in some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, and was briefly the chair of the Yale history department before he had to step down because of his illness. Someone like Thomas Aquinas probably would have considered him a social equal. He was not "a single controversial historian" with a couple of crackpot theories.
• Palm frond: a traditional symbol for martyrs. In a very broad sense, a martyr is someone whose death can teach us something, or is otherwise "theologically significant." Professor Boswell died of AIDS in 1994. HIV/AIDS is not "God's judgment upon sinners," as some reactionaries believe. It is a mindless disease that governments and other institutions (including churches) allowed to spread unchecked in gay communities for years, simply because they were gay. It was only when "respectable" people began coming down with it that medical research began in earnest and public health protocols were put into practice. It was, and still is in some places, a public health disaster even now that effective treatments for it exist. Professor Boswell was one of the vanguard of AIDS patients who died before effective treatments were available, and part of a generation of queer elders who should still be with us. He would be 76 years old in 2023.
• "The crown of glory for me is with you": this is a line from "The Passion of SS. Serge and Bacchus," which Professor Boswell translated into English for the first time, which makes it widely available to people outside of small, elite academic circles. In the legend, Bacchus has been martyred and has appeared to Sergius in a vision. He uses this line to encourage Sergius to stay strong until they can be reunited in heaven. In another sense, the icon of Professor Boswell is encouraging the people who admire him to keep up his work. Keep digging up subversive, queer Christian history, and keep challenging him. We didn't stop writing English history after the Venerable Bede, and we won't stop writing LGBTQ Christian history after the Venerable Boswell.

Hagiography:

Professor Boswell, known as Jeb to his friends and family, was said to be remarkably kind, generous, funny, and sensitive. He was beloved by his students and respected by his colleagues. He became a devoted Roman Catholic when he was a teenager, and attended Mass daily until his death. He was approachable and open regarding the challenges of being both gay and Christian, and was also openly critical of the Church in spite of (or perhaps because of) his personal faith. He challenged both religious conservatives, for obvious reasons, and also "enlightened secularists" whose dogma held that "organized religion," and Christianity in particular, was the root cause of all homophobic discrimination in the world. There are many people who would have preferred to let his life and work quietly slip into the past, and there are even some who have actively tried to erase him, but John Boswell will not be erased. In my opinion, Professor Boswell should be officially commemorated by every church that considers itself "Open And Affirming." This modern movement builds on work done by Professor Boswell, and he must be respected in all of his twinky, flamboyant, brilliant, and life-giving glory. He declared that queer people could know God without shame or self-censorship, and that the Church could be made to repent and welcome us as it once did.

Further reading about John Boswell:

https://qspirit.net/john-boswell-historian-gays-lesbians/

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/first-person/john-boswell-s-faith-lit-generation

https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/john-boswell

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17004797/john-eastburn-boswell