http://theholyapostate.blogspot.com/
The article is entitled: Sex!
The views expressed there are from his own worldview, which I do not endorse, but I try to carry on a healthy dialogue with him because he has been my friend for a very long time. I don't recommend that you go there, but if you do, be prepared. And if you feel the need to respond to anything he says, please be kind.
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I agree with you that "Christianity" and "the church" have not historically had a healthy perspective on sex. I even have to laugh at your invocation of Augustine, later sainted, who kept a mistress until the day she died, even while he was developing Christian theology. But the Bible has a very healthy perspective on sex, devoting, as you noted, an entire book to the subject.
I have often questioned the wisdom of telling our young people, "You can't have sex with someone you're not married to," and then telling them, "Don't get married, you're too young." As you pointed out, Biblical girls were usually married off at puberty, and boys not much later. That's not even legal today! Nevertheless, it was Biblical. And marrying for "love" has been a development of the industrial world. Most Biblical marriages were arranged, though with the involvement of the couples. The young man could make his choice, under the guidance of his father. And the young woman had the right to refuse. So even though they were arranged, they weren't forced.
I have a solution, but our culture (especially our church culture) is not going to like it. We need to quit "raising" kids until they are 30 and older. We need to raise our kids to be more mature and independent by the time they are teenagers than we are currently doing. They need to get their educations, and then get jobs and earn livings, a lot faster than they are currently doing. They need to be given more responsibilities earlier in life, more training for the issues that really matter in life, and more preparation for the realities of commitment and faithfulness in all areas of life. Including marriage. (and I could open a whole 'nother can of worms here, but I won't) I think we need to be raising our sons to be husbands and fathers, and our daughters to be wives and mothers. But for some reason, we're not.
Now for my disagreement: the Bible has plenty to say about pre-marital sex. It's called fornication, and it's as big a sin as adultery. In fact, fornication literally means "uncovering the nakedness of". Biblical marriage is centered around the Biblical covenant (another lost concept), which involves a separating of flesh and consummation through blood. We spend too much time preaching against sex, because it's sin, rather than promoting the sacredness of the act! The Bible never defines women as property (although some have misused the Bible to treat women as such); I think the Bible is probably the only sacred text that truly upholds the rights and liberties of ALL people.
God is the One who created sex, and He gave it to Adam and Eve for several purposes, only one of which was procreation. Sex forges a physical, emotional, and spiritual bond between those who engage in it together, which contributes to healthy bodies, healthy minds, and healthy relationships. Sex brings two people closer together than any other act between individuals, making them, Biblically speaking, one flesh. Every time a married couple has sex, it should have the same effect on their relationship as taking communion has on our spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ...it is a reminder of covenant, of commitment, of faithfulness, and of love.
And regarding Song of Solomon, which is practically my favorite book of the Bible, it truly is a book about intimacy, but it has so many layers it cannot JUST be a book about sex. But I think you are mistaken when you say the passion described is between two people who are not married; Solomon and his bride were married at the end of Chapter 3 and celebrated their consummation at the beginning of Chapter 5. As a betrothed couple, they may have shared certain intimacies that were allowable under those ancient marital arrangements, but when Solomon entered his "garden", he found it a garden enclosed, pure, fragrant, and waiting only for him.
1 comment:
Right on, Casey! We first need to teach the teachers, then the students will have a better education (not necessarily learning). A hundred years ago the 6tgh garders had a better education than todays' High School seniors. Indeed, some good universities begin with a year of remedial everything.
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