The Defeat Of Miriam And The ' Test ' Of Sons And Lovers '

However, they both did not see procreation as necessary. In 1 Corinthians Paul states, “What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not” (1 Corinthians 7:29). A reason for St. Paul's fondness for celibacy is his belief that the world will end anyways. Paul also believes procreation is unnecessary, because the world will soon end and time should be spent on devotion to God. And Augustine saw procreation as the continuance of original sin and wickedness. “There is none free from sin, not even the infant who has lived but a day upon this earth”(Confessions I,8), Augustine believed that the sins of Adam are inherited by everyone including infants. Both Paul and Augustine thought marriage was permissible, but celibacy was ideal and sexual desire should be

She could feel Paul being drawn away by this girl. And she did not care for Miriam. "She is one of those who will want to suck a man's soul out till he has none of his own left," she said to herself; "and he

During that era, the entirety of sexual intercourse (irrespective to the practice of married couples with intentions to procreate) was deemed immoral. This was because any practice of sexual activity was

“It was my birth that made her like that. My father thought it his duty to tell me so that I could do whatever was possible to make it up to her. My birth was what robbed her of her sanity… I was too young for the kind of guilt my father wanted me to feel. I couldn't stand it” (MLA). Paul’s premature birth was not his fault, his father raised him always making him feel like a mistake, but Paul couldn't stand the feeling of guilt.

be between man and wife, however, they also believed that sex is something God allows

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.

Mary Beth did her best to play the part and be a well-behaved Christian woman, but she felt hallow inside. When she had sex before marriage, her “good girl” streak was gone and her relationship with God was severely damaged.

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

The first lesson that we can learn is that sex before marriage is wrong. This is supported by a multitude of verses such as Hebrews 13:4 (NIV) which says, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Sexual immorality is obviously applicable in the context of marriage and Paul actually single out sexual immorality as completely different from all other sins, so it is nothing that we should treat lightly. He says in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your

“Miriam” by Truman Capote and “The Pit and the Pendulum” by Edgar Allen Poe both are short stories that exibhit a motif of lonelines and alienationn due to isolation. The main characters in the two strories become scared of the idea of being isolated from others. This affects both of their mental health causing them to act strange and force them with a way to cope with their loneliness. Both characters become outsiders because they are so isolated from others that they act different from the rest of society. Mrs. Miller in the short story “Miriam” has a fear of growing old and being lonely.

The prominent glaring topic that has to be dealt with is the teaching that wives should submit to their husbands. Many husbands today have taken this teaching too literally and have caused heartache in their marital relationships by demanding that the wives do everything that they say. The one thing that is left out in this way of thinking is that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ loved the church so much that he sacrificed himself for her. The husband should do the same thing. As Manfred T. Brauch has pointed out, “Paul is actually saying that when a wife who is a Christian submits herself to Christ and lets Him be the Lord of her life she will have no problem

After St. Paul, one of the most prominent Christian early church leaders who had an impact on the way Christians view sex

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 morality about sex had a main aim: An ideal of purity based on a chastity code which emphasized the relevance of premarital continence. In order to keep this chastity code, anything related to sex was silenced in an attitude of deliberated ignorance, an attitude of rejection of sex, especially in women, who usually associated sex with a marital duty.

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.