Aelred and Sworn Brotherhood

AbstractFriendship seems to be a subject that is not often talked about in church and, even if talked about, it is usually in the context of providing support for single Christians or those struggling with same-sex attraction. Ironically, such an approach exposes the deep flaws, particularly within Protestantism, due to the neglect of the vocation of celibacy as well as the rich resource on friendship within the Christian and cultural tradition. Retrieving from Aelred’s theology of friendship, together with the idea of sworn brotherhood in Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this article seeks to show the promise of theological retrieval for the life of the church. It argues that while Aelred’s theology provides a helpful way of thinking theologically about friendship, the portrayal of sworn brotherhood in Luo’s novel provides the embodiment of such friendship. Ultimately, it is through this process of retrieval that the church can convincingly put forth spiritual friendship to those who are single or samesex-attracted as an optionthat is no less viable than marriage.