a screenshot from an interview with Sufjan Stevens in Vulture conducted by Craig Jenkins. transcript:

JENKINS: There’s a certain subset of song you write that, depending on a listener’s perspective, can scan as either deeply religious or potentially quite sensual. This is a thread in “John My Beloved” and “To Be Alone With You” and “Javelin (to Have and to Hold).” What inspires that train of thought?

SUFJAN: The religious is very sexual. It’s erotic. Look at Catholic art through the ages, Baroque art. It’s all very fleshy and sensual and full of naked bodies. I’ve always embraced that. I’ve always felt that my relationship to God is a very intimate and sensual one. Sacraments are. It’s engaging with God in a physical way. You’re literally eating the flesh and drinking the blood of God during the Eucharist. It doesn’t get much more erotic than that. If you’re a vampire, that’s the ultimate erotic experience.

JENKINS: Most people who lurk the texts don’t luxuriate in the closeness of Jonathan and David.