Sexual Morality And The Catholic Church

The sexual behaviors religion deems moral, the levels of scientific understanding in sexual matters and what the media deems sexualy ideal all profoudly influence how a society view and behave with regards to sexuality. For example, if religion being a primary influence in a society deems sexualy activity to only be appropriate between a monogamous, married couple, and should only be talked about between those couples, then it’s likely individuals within that society will hold very conservative views on sex. Additionally, in a society with poor scientific understanding of human sexual behaviour and function, will be a perfect breeding ground for urban myths and misinformation, such as the idea that a woman’s hymen breaks when she loses her virginity. Conversely in a society where media is the primary influencer, of the society promotes and propagates objectifying views of women’s body, it’s more likely that the majority view of sex in that society is that it’s something that’s done by a man to a women, and that giving sex to a man is (or is one of several) a woman’s primary purpose.

Throughout life many of us have our own views on what we believe is right, it is more or less based on the way we were raised and our morals and beliefs. Once we hit puberty and start learning about sex, many of us get curious and begin to experiment in sexual activity. We are influenced by many things in media like movies, shows and songs, almost forcing us to believe that sex is the greatest thing in the entire world. Abstinence is a moral that is almost completely abolished in this modern age. People who do practice abstinence are most likely judged and taken as sexually impotent or prude. This topic brings controversy to many people and religious beliefs because many

To start with, let's take a type of religion, christianity, and the United States’s society and see how their views of sex are. Since the christian religion is large , I will narrow it down to my christianity, Baptist, in order to avoid conflict with other christian

Growing up as a Catholic I was educated in the spirit of living a pure life, learning many aspects about what I should not do. My parents and the entire Catholic community in which I grew up praised a restrictive life, wherein most of the pleasures in life were forbidden. Sex has been always a taboo subject for Catholics. My parents taught me that sexual relationships are only allowed after marriage. People who were known to be engaged in sexual relationships without being married were regarded as sinners and they were not respected within our community. Being raised in this spirit of considering sexuality a sin, I had become to despise the idea of sex, considering it impure and vulgar. As a child I could not imagine myself ever being married and desiring to be involved in sexual relationships, because I was inculcated with the idea that sexuality is

The most important recurring issues in the study of the history of Christianity during our time period is sexual abuse amongst the Catholic Clergy and abortion, the killing of a living entity, as it is a sin against God according to biblical doctrine. Many believe that sexual abuse happening in the Catholic Church, is directly related to celibacy. The Churches restriction on priests that directs them to abstain from sexual relations. This issue has been debated since the reformation in which Martin Luther and other reformers opposed celibacy. They based their argument against celibacy on the bible scripture, namely Genesis 1:28, where God wanted people to “be fruitful and multiply”. There is nothing in the bible that directly mentions celibacy. There are many versions that mention fornication and uncleanliness and the interpretation of the Catholic Church seems to have made this deduction based on those scriptures. The other major issue that is common in most of the world’s religions is abortion; the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Church still adopt the early church’s belief to oppose the practice of abortion. Abortion is considered murder and a mortal sin in accordance which many versus in the bible as it relates to each of these faiths. Even between the Old Testament, where the law or Tora refers to the 10 commandments, where Exodus 20:13 states “Thou shall not Murder” and

Sexual Purity: A Call to Holiness INTRODUCTION The world in which Christians live today is very similar to the world that Paul taught, lived, and traveled in. Christians are surrounded by and struggle with the issue of sexual purity that believers struggled with in Paul’s day. Sexual immorality is a result of a much larger problem: the refusal of God’s call to be holy. The pagan Gentiles during the New Testament had a skewed picture of moral issues, including sexuality. F. F. Bruce provides a unique look into Greek culture and morality when he quotes Demosthenes who lived during this time period: “We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for our day-today bodily needs, but we have wives to produce legitimate children and serve as

When looking at pre-marital sex, traditional Christian teachings of the bible suggest that sex is only for married couples and hetro-sexual couples. For example, Timothy 5:2: ‘As a Christian man, if you are not married to her, then she is your sister whom you must treat "with absolute purity." Similarly in 2

Sexual relations are a powerful and essential part of God’s intentions for defining humanity. God intended sexual relationships to be ideal for His creation. Therefore, Paul emphasizes the destruction sin distorts from the illegitimate use of the gifts from God. “Even their women exchanged natural sexual relation for unnatural ones…men also abandoned natural relations with women with lust for one another…men committed shameful acts with other men…” (Romans 1:26-27). They are of such importance that the Bible gives them special attention and counsels more restraint and self-control than with any other desire. Paul indicates one of clearest ways of society or a person in rebellion against God is the rejection of God’s guidelines for the use of sex. In Paul’s day, many pagan practices encouraged homosexuality, “men committed shameful acts with other men,” (Romans 3:27). Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in God’s Word (Leviticus 18:22). God does not obligate or encourage the degradation of this act in humanities relationships. Paul even states that the people were aware of their wrongdoings. “Although they know God’s righteous decree…they not only continue to do these very things but

This is where the tension lies. The underlying question is who decides what is right and wrong? Do humans or does God? As a Christian I believe God decides and has revealed his design for humans from beginning to end in the Bible. Of course there were things God said to people in the Bible days that were specifically relating to their context. God also revealed many universal principals for all humans to follow and obey. A part of this study is to look at what God has said about sex, sexuality and relationships that was universal not contextual.

We live in a society today that tolerates and accepts many things Catholics would classify as “gravely sinful” or “morally wrong”. The act of fornification and homosexual acts are both mortal sins that most Catholics commit. At a very young age, the principle of marital sex between a husband and wife is instilled into the minds of children. Growing up in a religious home, I was taught that sex is an important and sacred matter that only married couples could partake in. Like many others, I rejected and frowned upon pre-marital sex. However, after reading an article about a person’s experiences, I finally understood that no one should dictate your life – specifically, what you do with your body.

Intercourse is designed for a mature man and woman who love each other as 1 Corinthians 7 reads, “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (English Standard Version, 1 Corinthians 7: 1-5.). The bible also says, “Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the

There is a polarization between Catholics who believe in the Church’s Sexual Teaching, conservative Catholics, and those who fight for Catholic Social Teaching, liberal Catholics. Both highly value the Church’s teachings and encourage society to change in order to address either the social or sexual protection of humans. While there is a division within the pews, in reality these two teachings actually cooperate with and reinforce each other. Two groups do not see how these teachings greatly impact one another and only through their intersection is it possible to defend the rights of the marginalized. This paper will agree with Erika Bachiochi and argue that the Church’s social and sexual teachings collaborate and rely upon each other by

“If you’re happy and you know it, it’s a sin” was a statement my former coworker made as to how he thought the Catholic Church viewed sexuality and dating. He made that statement because I had told them I was waiting for marriage and wanted to be chaste. Unfortunately this is the viewpoint as to how people think the Catholic Church is toward sex and dating. This deception is far from the truth, what the Catholic Church actually teaches is how to truly love to the fullest.

The federal government still gives funding to educating children on abstinence. This approach teaches kids refraining from sex until marriage is the key to a healthy and happy life. Many Christian groups still campaign for young people to remain abstinent. The Bible promotes purity until marriage and monogamy once married. Christians believe we should treat our bodies as a temple and refrain from sexual immorality. They also believe followers of Christ should have control over their own bodies and should only act in holy and honorable ways and not in passionate lust. During my research I found a Christian organization that explained premarital sex as selfish and cruel, because you are negatively affecting both your relationships with God; whereas sex after marriage was described as “giving and unselfish”. They also went on to explain sex is meant only for your life partner because when you partake in sex chemicals in the brain are released that make you feel attached and trusting, and if you have sex outside of marriage you will become attached to a person that has no commitment to you. It is best to be committed to the person you have intercourse with because you become trusting and attached to the other person and become one

Sex is the sacred sigh of the covenant with God, when a couple has sex they are sealing the covenant with God. Breaking this sign of the covenant is one of the most harmful sins that we as a people can expose ourselves to. In order for us to enter into heaven God says "But among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity...because these are improper for God's holy people.1" Breaking the sign of the covenant with God is breaking God's law and going against everything God wants for us. God doesn't ask much from us considering all that he has given us, he asks us only to follow his laws, in Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command.1" Premarital sex goes against God's command and ruins our relationship with him.