Heidi Epstein

Jonathan’s Loves, David’s Laments

Theology

“This book is an interdisciplinary tour de force. Van der Horst mines theology, musicology, historicist vs. essentialist debates over biblical meaning and sexual identity, and the dialogical dynamics of musical experience to elucidate how musical afterlives of the David-Jonathan story inhabit 'irrefutable' spaces for homoerotic desire and queer identification within the biblical text. These musico-aesthetic riches redefine biblical authority and will allow theologians and activists to deploy 'Jonathan loved David' with even more intellectual integrity.”