Christianity - Sexual Ethics Part Twelve: Ethical Issues in Christianity - Sexual Ethics Sources The are an authoritative source for Christian sexual ethics as they are for all ethics. In addition, some Christian churches have two further sources. 1.The first is law. This is divine law written in human hearts and perceived by human reason alone, of whether one is a Christian or not, e.g. the immorality of murder can be through reason alone. 2.The second is Tradition. It is an authoritative source of God's, combining Scripture, church law, church documents, and for Roman Catholics, papal. Anglican and other Protestant churches give primacy to Scripture, while the Roman and Eastern Catholic churches source Scripture, Tradition and natural law. Christians also non-authoritative writings by theologians and biblical scholars. A Model of Christian Sexual Ethics Four beliefs underlie Christian sexual ethics. 1.Human beings are created in the image and of God. 2.Human beings are sinful by nature. 3.Human beings are to with God's divine plan. 4.Human beings are co-creators with God. The first two are common across the ; the second two are not and provide points of difference between them. In, a number of principles give practical expression to Christian sexual ethics. These : 1.the exclusivity of marriage 2.the heterosexuality of marriage 3.fidelity in the relationship 4.the procreative purpose of sexual intercourse 5.the unitive purpose of sexual 6.personal integrity 7.human dignity 8.mutual self-giving in sexual intercourse 9.sexual satisfaction. In turn, these principles are applied to specific issues relating to sexual activity through two commandments. They are: 1.evil is to be avoided, based on the Ten 2.good is to be done, based on the Great Commandment. Core Underlying Christian Sexual Ethics In God's Image and Likeness The Scriptures tell us that is created in God's image and likeness.
- 2 - God created human beings in the image of, in the image of God they were created, male and female God them. - Genesis 1:27 God desires that humankind should flourish. Human beings will only according to their particular nature. Part of human nature is to be free like God, in whose image human beings are. The problem is that humankind is not yet complete or perfect. Human beings misuse the freedom they have by rejecting the true freedom of human flourishing. Sin is the of true freedom. You might be wondering what this has to do with sexual ethics. The short answer is:! For human beings, their meaning and purpose of life is to become who they really are as God's image and, revealed in Jesus as the complete human being, fully free and fully alive. As with God, human beings are morally bound to promote the fullness of life. Any sexual ethics that human freedom is sinful. Sinful by Nature Sin is a personal in relation to God, a falling short of the mark God set for us. It is a offence or revolt from the heart, against God. In the Book of, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden uses language to reveal a truth about humanity's inclination to sin. It begins with Adam and Eve living in with God their Creator and all creation. This harmony is also called justice' or 'original holiness'. The situation changes radically when Eve is by the devil to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild that God had made. It asked the woman, 'Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?' The woman the snake, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, 'You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death'. Then the snake said to the woman, 'No! You will not die! God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, good from evil.' - Genesis 3:1-5 The woman, Eve, saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat and to the eye, as well as enticing for the wisdom it could give. So she took some and ate it and gave some to her who also ate it. Their eyes were opened and they realised that they were naked so they sewed together to make themselves loin-cloths. Why could Adam and Eve be? It was because God gave them the wonderful gift of desire! Why? God wanted them to desire to live in unity and with God. In addition, they could desire or NOT desire that to which they were not, otherwise God's gift of desire would not be a gift but. They desired something to which they were not entitled - to be like gods. Acting on desire, they ate of the forbidden tree. Their eyes were opened they lost their and were naked before God. Adam and Eve's disobedience was the first sin, i.e. sin, and they transmitted it to their offspring and all humankind.
- 3 - By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for but for all human beings. Adam and Eve transmitted to their human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of holiness and justice; this deprivation is called 'original sin'. - Catechism of the Church, 1416-417 Because of original sin, human sexuality, in all its, has been tainted. In other words, humanity's distorted desires are given through sexual activity. Adultery, prostitution, pornography, child sexual abuse and other sexual practices are examples of humanity's distorted desire. Co-operators and Co-creators with God God's plan is that human beings should according to their own nature, to be free like God, in whose image each is. Even though they are not yet complete or perfect, God's plan is not that human beings should wait in for the arrival of the kingdom of God. On the contrary, they are to work for the promotion of the kingdom of God by co-operating with God's plan for their. Sexual union is a participation in the life-giving and relational nature of God who is love. The sexual love of shares in the creative power of God, and is the source of their human as 'co-creators'. The Catholic Church calls the Sacrament of Matrimony, whose meaning is 'mother-making', a sacrament 'in the service of communion' ) - not just the between the spouses themselves, but the communion of all creatures with their and with one another. Sexual intercourse, therefore, is considered a sacred in the act of co-creation. As sexual partners, husband and wife are with God in the miracle of procreation - miracle, because through the loving act of mutual, a child is born who is created in God's image and. Commandments Avoid Evil The Ten Commandments provide a summary of the Old Law and are the of what it means to be human and created in God's image. They... what is contrary to the love of God and neighbour and what is essential to it. - Catechism of the Catholic Church, 21962 sexual ethics, the precept to avoid evil is in the fifth, sixth and ninth. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet your wife. Do Good Jesus summed up the whole Law of Moses, as well as the Old prophets, into his great
- 4 - commandment of love. The negative commandments of the Old Law, i.e. the 'thou shall nots' are turned around in the law of love - love of God and love of others. In the to love, all are commanded to do good. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself. - Luke 10:27 Love of God love of neighbour because God is found at the heart of our. For the same reason, love of neighbour means love of God. Jesus asked for action, not just words., we show our love of God by doing God's will, and we show our love of by treating others the way we want to be treated. In the of Christian sexual ethics, Christ's commandment to love demands that sexual be characterised by mutual respect, responsibility and fidelity. In other words, a sexual must be characterised by a sincere motive, mutual consent and a for the personhood, integrity, dignity, wholeness and human worth of both people in the. Morality of a Sexual Act While the negative precepts of the Ten are clear and unambiguous, i.e. they list what not to do. commandment of love is open to the interpretation of what it means to love, and this has for sexual ethics. As a result, we need to explore what a morally acceptable sexual act, and this is done according to three, the: 1.moral object of the act 2.intention or purpose in carrying out the act 3. of the act. If the moral object of a sexual act is evil, in and of itself, that act will always be ; nothing can make a sexual act moral if it is inherently evil. In to the moral object of the act being good, or at least, the intention must be good, and the good consequences of that act must any bad consequences. The moral object of a sexual act is evil if it is to the law of God, i.e. evil is to be avoided and good is to be done, and can never be by intention or circumstance. For example, rape is a moral evil it contravenes Christ's commandment of love; nothing can make rape morally. Its moral object is evil. Principles of Christian Sexual Ethics Exclusivity and of Marriage Mainstream Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran churches, teach that sexual intercourse belongs exclusively to the domain of one man and one woman in the of marriage. It follows then, that people who are single should not engage in sexual. A minority of Christian groups take a more liberal approach, claiming that heterosexual marriage is the ideal context for sexual intercourse, single Christians who are unable to remain are permitted to express their sexuality in a relationship marked by love, mutual and commitment.
- 5 - The precept that sexual intercourse belongs exclusively to the state is supported in the Scriptures. To the unmarried and to widows I say: it is good for them to stay as they are, like me. But if they cannot self-control, let them marry, since it is better to be married than to be burnt up. - 1 7:8-9 Fidelity in the Marriage Relationship When the pharisees questioned Jesus on the of divorce, Jesus said: Have you not read that the Creator from the made them male and female and... said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh? They are no longer two,, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide. - 19:4-6 For this reason, Christianity holds that marriage must be characterised by:, meaning that marriage is a life-long commitment, and faithfulness, meaning that the are expected to remain faithful to one another until death. Unitive and Purposes of Sexual Intercourse Christian marriage draws inspiration from both the Old and New. Jesus developed the image of marriage as a sacred covenant uniting the couple to one in the Holy Spirit. He applied the image of the bridegroom to, and the marriage relationship to that between himself and his followers - God and us. It is the bridegroom who has the bride; and yet the friend, who stands there and listens to him, is filled with joy at the voice. This is the joy I feel, and it is complete. - John 3:29 marriage should mirror the love God has for human beings, as well as God's purposes. As a result, marriage is both unitive and procreative. It is because both... a man and a woman, who by their of conjugal love 'are no longer two, but one flesh' (Matthew 19), render mutual help and service to each other through an union of their persons and of their actions. - Second Vatican, Gaudium et Spes - Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, the Nobility of Marriage and the Family', 1965, Part II, Chapter I, 348 is procreative because conjugal love is the means by which human life is.
- 6 - Parents should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and those to whom it has been transmitted. - Second Vatican Council, et Spes, Part II, Chapter I, 450 While mainstream Christian denominations teach that human beings are with God and co-operate with God's divine plan, there are varying of what this means in reality. For example, the Roman Catholic Church that as co-creators with God we must at the same time, with God's divine plan. For Catholics, therefore, the procreative purpose of sexual within marriage is inseparable from the unitive purpose, i.e. every act of sexual must be open to procreation. By contrast, Protestant churches teach that the and procreative purposes of marriage can be separated. A married couple may have sexual simply for sexual pleasure, without the possibility of conceiving. This does not mean that couples should not be open to having children, simply that this is not required in every act of sexual intercourse. This difference is as it produces variations in Christian sexual ethics. Personal Integrity The word,, means 'honesty' and 'truthfulness'. All acts of sexual intercourse must honour and be to the relationship between husband and wife. Therefore, sexual intercourse should, in accord with God's divine plan, with the genuine good of the other person and should be to the spouse for his or her benefit and pleasure. When sexual is based on a profound reverence for the other human person, it takes place in love; honours a person's free will and only occurs when both give their free consent. Where there is integrity, sexual intercourse leaves the two people with an sense of goodness and wholeness. Human Dignity A person's human dignity lies not in what he or she does, but in who he or she is. in the image and likeness of God, each person is endowed with an, permanent and sacred value which is unable to be violated or taken away. The of the person which is a reflection of the absolute inviolability of God, finds its and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. - Pope John Paul II, Laici - The Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, the Inviolable Right to Life', Chapter III, 538 In the context of sexual ethics, sexual conforms to the truth and dignity of the person only if it is and expresses genuine love and profound respect for the spouse. Human demands that sexual activity promotes mutual respect, responsibility and commitment in the.
- 7 - Mutual Self-Giving In Christianity, sexual intercourse is a sacred participation in the act of. Sexual partners, i.e. husband and wife, are seen as co-creators with God in the of procreation - miracle, because through the loving act of mutual, a child is created as God's image and likeness. The only place for sexual intercourse is within marriage, because marriage is about love, and love is about in a relationship of mutual self-giving. Sexual Satisfaction In Genesis we learn that God humankind into two distinct, but complementary sexes - male and female. therefore is a good gift, given by God. The enjoyment of sexual and the satisfaction of sexual desire within marriage are intrinsically good as long as they are of a positive relationship of love between the spouses. Furthermore, St Paul viewed as a necessary state to control sexual passion. But if they cannot self-control, let them marry, since it is better to be married than to be burnt up. - 1 7:9 Fidelity Fidelity is faithfulness to sexual love between husband and wife. The faithfulness of the spouses makes active and real the essence of within marriage. Marital fidelity mirrors the covenant of love that God with the Chosen People, and forms the only context for having and children. The fidelity of the spouses in the unity of marriage reciprocal respect of their right to become a father and a mother only the other... the vitality and stability of society require that come into the world within a family and that the family be firmly based on. - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Donum Vitae - Instruction on Respect for Human Life, 'Why Must Human Take Place in Marriage', Part A, 61 Christian Responses to Sexual Issues and Extra-Marital Sex Pre-marital sex or fornication occurs when two unmarried people engage in sexual. Extra-marital sex or adultery occurs when a married person engages in sexual with someone other than his or her spouse. In mainstream Christianity,, understood as a life-long and exclusive relationship between one man and one woman, is the proper within which sexual activity takes place. These churches are opposed to any form of sex because sexual intercourse makes the two people one body, and this occurs within.
- 8 - Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female and... said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh? - 19:4-5 Sexual intercourse outside marriage violates one's own body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep away from sexual. All other sins that people may commit are done outside the body; but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you from God? - 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 Pre-marital and extra-marital sex are by the Lutheran Church because in marriage... two persons become 'one flesh' ( 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6) and create a personal sexual union that embodies God's loving to create and enrich life. - Mark S. Hanson (Presiding Bishop), Free in Christ to Serve the : Lutherans Talk about Human Sexuality - Part 3, 'Common Christian Convictions about, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2006, Session 2, p.24 The Anglican Church reasons that... God's will for married people is chastity before marriage, and then a relationship of fidelity and mutual sharing at all levels. In the Roman Church, sexual intercourse outside marriage is inherently immoral, whether it is or extra-marital. When two partners, of whom at least one is to another party, have sexual relations - even transient ones - they commit. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire. The sixth commandment and the New forbid adultery absolutely. The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of. - Catechism of the Catholic Church, 72380 In a so-called 'free union', a man and a woman refuse to give and public form to a liaison involving sexual intimacy. The expression 'free union' is : what can 'union' mean when the partners make no commitment to one, each exhibiting a lack of trust in the other... or in the future? - of the Catholic Church, 82390
- 9 - Some today claim a 'right to a trial where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the of those who engage in premature sexual relations may be, 'the fact is that such can scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man and a woman, nor,, can they protect it from inconstancy of desires or whim. - of the Catholic Church, 92391 Contraception and Family Planning As noted, the Roman Church teaches that the procreative and unitive purposes of sexual intercourse in are inseparable. On this basis, it argues that a couple must have a reason for choosing not to have children at particular points in time. This view is supported by the Orthodox and Protestant churches, although the latter place emphasis on the unitive purpose of sexual intercourse. All forms of contraception are regarded by the Catholic Church as immoral acts, because such break the natural connection between the procreative and unitive purposes of sexual, and violate the principles of fidelity and mutual self-giving. The Church only natural methods of contraception, such as natural family planning, because these respect the procreative and unitive aspects of sexual intercourse. Furthermore, the use of methods leaves the couple open to the possibility of falling pregnant. The Church regards abortive methods of contraception, such as the use of the after' pill as morally unacceptable, because it is contrary to the, You shall not kill. It is a violation of human dignity and a denial of the of personal integrity. Notwithstanding this ruling, there is however, a range of views in to the use of artificial contraception within the Orthodox Church. Some place greater emphasis on the procreative purpose of sexual intercourse than on it its purpose. Therefore, they disallow the use of all forms of natural and contraception. Others permit the use of natural forms of contraception. Still others permit artificial contraceptive methods, such as condoms, on the basis that family does not break the natural connection between the procreative and unitive of sexual intercourse. Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches permit the use of contraception for the purpose of spacing and controlling the number of. They do not regard the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage as. In addition, these churches place great emphasis on the unitive purpose of sexual. By contrast, there is a range of views within Lutheranism. Conservative authorities tend to adopt the Roman Catholic position. Liberal Lutheran authorities adopt one of two with some permitting all forms of artificial contraception, and others only methods. Same-Sex Sexual Activity Mainstream Christian denominations do not condemn individuals who have a orientation. However, the majority of these denominations regard same-sex sexual activity as immoral. This is pointed out in Scripture. That is why God them to degrading passions: why their women have exchanged natural intercourse for practices; and the men, in a similar fashion, too, giving up normal with women, are consumed with passion for each other, men doing things with men and receiving in
- 10 - themselves due reward for their. - Romans 1:26-27 According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sexual activity is gravely immoral. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that acts are intrinsically disordered'. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be. - Catechism of the Catholic Church, 102357 Within the Anglican Communion as well as the Church, a variety of opinions exist. Primarily, this arises from their on the unitive aspect of sexual intercourse. Two views that have been put by groups within the Anglican Church include: 1... those who are by orientation and have not received the gift of celibacy should enter into a faithful same-sex relationship as a better alternative than a life of sexual. 2... the Church should regard permanent same-sex relationships in exactly the same light as and bless them accordingly... - House of Bishops' Group, Some Issues in Human - A Guide to the Debate, 'The Debate on Homosexuality', Church House London, 2003, Part B, 1.4.9, p.33 A minority of Uniting Church hold a view similar to that published in the Uniting Church of 1996 Interim Report on Sexuality. We are convinced... that there is no reason for rejecting homosexuality or homosexual relationships per se. - Scott, What Christians Say about Sex - An Overview of Interpretations, 'Homosexual, Baptist Churches of NSW, 1997, Introduction, p.50 Love Christian sexual ethics is based on the of each person and the sacredness of life. Men and women are called to the gift of sexuality through self-respect, respect for others and self-giving love. Love is always and kind; Love is never jealous; Love is not boastful or, It is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, It does not take or store up grievances.
- 11 - Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, But finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make, To trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. Love never comes to an end. - 1 13:4-8