" 
 :::::Paulinus of Nola was a married Christian bishop of the fourth century, who apparently maintained (somewhat effusive) platonic correspondence with a number of men who would later be called saints, including Augustine.  The fact that one of his poems promises another man that he will be ""held"" (this is a metaphor for a spiritual holding, as the literal words make clear) should not surprise readers: Paulinus' main theme, in all his poems, is the metaphorical marriage of Christ and the Church, and the subsequent unity in love that obtains among believers.   R. Norton has ONLY his point of view, which, by the way, may only be that.  Paulinus' poem can be nicely appropriated by today's gay readers, who have their own way of reading such texts, but without some other ancient sources that corroborated Norton's claims about Paulinus' orientation, he has nothing to convince any historian of Christianity.   "