Sexual Purity: a Call to Holiness

Paul explained that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (vs.18) and that when we defile ourselves sexually, it extends beyond just ourselves

The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women is a book by Jessica Valenti which contains research that shows that there is a prevalent false notion promoted within the United States that a woman's worth is dictated by whether or not she is sexually active. She argues that the country’s intense focus on chastity is damaging to young women and claims that girls remain virgins until they are married. She accomplishes this by putting into context the historical question of purity, modern abstinence-only education, pornography, and public punishments for those who dare to have sex. The Purity Myth presents a revolutionary argument that girls and women are overly valued for their sexuality, as well as solutions

Sexual Ethics are integral to Judaism because they provided direct guidance on how to behave morally and in accordance with the Torah and God. Although, over many years Jews were suffering from persecution, they are currently showing stability which can be attributed to the framework that is outlined through the strong ethics that they uphold. Sexual ethics provide guidance on how to behave morally, righteously and in accordance to the Torah as well as preventing promiscuity, infidelity, immorality and sexual acts which hinder the constancy of Judaism. The teachings on Adultery,

Romans 1:24-27; Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,

This idea is not stated in the Bible; rather, it is established by how we interact with others in our reality. The logic of godly sex demonstrates traditional beliefs about gender and sexuality while trying to understand contemporary sexual identities, practices, and desires; one main component of this is the ability to have "good" sex, which means approved by God and satisfactory (Burke 2016: 33). For evangelical Christians, only married, monogamous, heterosexual couples are allowed to have sex. Many website creators and users have used the logic of godly sex to justify creating and using Christian websites that discuss sex. Individuals decide what is godly and what is not though discussion with others; these ideas can be interpreted differently among individuals who have established themselves as evangelical Christians and is oftentimes negotiated among them through dialogue; they have used existing beliefs to construct new sexual logic.

Biblical sexual fulfillment is only achievable in the covenant of marriage, which is how God intends sexual fulfilment to be. In marriage sexual openness and fulfilment brings the two individuals that are united together into a deeper more intimate loving state. This deeper bond and intimacy that sexual fulfilment creates in this covenant of marriage between the two individuals also creates an understanding of the spiritual intimacy and closeness our Creator desires to have with us as individuals. Sexual fulfillment does not automatically occur in marriage between the two individuals that have united as one. They have to purposefully and intently strive towards obtaining this goal together to deepen and grow the marriage relationship. “The Gift of Sex: A Guide to Sexual Fulfillment” by Clifford and Joyce Penner provides the information and guidance to understand and obtain sexual fulfilment in marriage the way God created and intended sex to be enjoyed, a wonderful gift from God, while learning together how to overcome the stumbling blocks Satan places in your path.

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

Sexuality is part of every culture and is used for many different purposes. Stories we tell create a normalization of the dominant version of sexuality in society. The borders of what sexuality can be are set within the normal. In both the Wicked + the Divine and Ceremony sexuality plays a major role. They are both trying to challenge the constraints that Western society places on sexuality, the role sexuality plays, and the cultural imposing of one version of sexuality on another. Those who have power do not have to obey the limitations placed on sexuality.

of the church taught that sexual relations should be avoided if possible and indulged in

Our culture isn’t afraid to hold it back when it comes to conversing about sex. Yet the church has maintained a reputation for keeping their mouths shut as if they were hesitant to teach people about this beautiful gift from God. However, “Song of Solomon” holds nothing back as it praises the beauties of sexuality. Some people who first encounter the book of “Song of Solomon” when reading the Bible become quite disturbed. How in the world can such a vivid and sultry book be found in something that is supposed to be a guide through a world of darkness? “Song of Solomon” is a poetic book of the Bible which describes the passionate sexual relationship between a man and his wife. In today’s culture, people tend to forget that sex was originally

Although there is no clear directive about the sanctity of marriage in the New Testament, many councils based their decisions on celibacy from the gospel writers. Paul, for example, "counseled a moderate approach. Stopping short of suggesting that sexual relations within marriage were in any way defiling, Paul portrayed marriage, like much human activity, as a distraction from prayer." He saw that individuals who are unmarried have more time to focus on the Lord. Paul also made a distinction between married and unmarried women. He states that "there is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband." Unlike in the Old Testament, the New Testament emphasizes how relationships can make a person unfocused instead of unclean. Celibacy also has its origins in Jesus' position, as no text reveals that he got married. The Second Vatican Council, for instance, saw priests who took up celibacy as an imitation of Christ. Jesus stated that "if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." In the Middle Ages, priests would act as Christ's disciples, and thus the Roman

According to Anderson (2015), women have a higher ranking in some sections of Hinduism, but as an overview, without women, men would not be complete. Men use women to complete rituals, sacrifices and have women become read at his beckon call. Sexuality in Hinduism has a variety of viewpoints. For example, “Women are not to have any independent sexuality outside of the context of marriage” (Bannerji, 2001). Hijras identify themselves with feminine terms and as wives. Avilasha Ghosh explained that the LBGTQIA community is being recognized as outsiders, and transgender communities have been legally recognized as “Third Gender” by the Supreme Court. Anderson shares that the Hindus are usually conservative about their sexuality and family matters,

The idea that is still taught in some churches today is that the Christian sexual ethic came to earth fully formed, straight from heaven, about 2,000 years ago. Throughout all that time, there was exactly one way for Christians to express their sexuality — by staying abstinent until they got married to a person of the opposite gender. And then, you could have at it all you wanted.

Biblical writing tends to have strict laws about sex and sexuality and how it was expressed and universally accepted. The Pauline Epistles, or Paul’s views, had unique views on sex because he completely distrusted gender as a whole and because he believed that there would be an apocalypse. Many of Paul’s ideas were widely accepted back than because they explained may things that people could not, for instance it explains homosexuality. Today, the laws are seen differently and in some cases interpreted much more literally than they were back then. It is likely that ideas have changed either because people have become more understanding and accepting of others or because we no longer view sex and sexuality as a thing to be ashamed of. This new age of interpretation is seen in the way homosexuality is accepted today, submission of the wife to the husband in some religious dominations, and the ideal of marriage and its sexual implications.

The main source of this code of purity and virtue is the resurgence of Puritanism in the last decades of 18th century (Methodism and Evangelical movement). There was a revival of the old traditions which were very conservative and especially repressed of any sexual behaviour.