Christianity and Sex
As much as some of you may have been surprised at my omission of sexuality in the list of myths about Christianity, I was even more so surprised. In order to help correct that, I am putting this down as myth number eleven.
11. Christianity views sexuality as inappropriate or limits it to procreative activity only.
I am well aware of commentators who have, in the distant past, made the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) out to be a mere allegory to Christ and the church. Now, while I agree that marriage and physical intimacy are intended to point toward Christ, certainly God created sex the way it is to be enjoyed, albeit within marriage. Reading through SOS, there can only be so many parallels between how Christ views us and how Solomon views his wife's breasts. Granted Christ was the creator of our bodies and does indeed see them as beautiful, but I think the scope of the poetry within SOS goes well beyond the reduction of the language to one-to-one correspondence with Christ's marveling at His creativity. There is an inherent sexuality to the book that doesn't have a parallel elsewhere in Scripture with Christ and the church.
Having said all of that, I am a firm believer in the appreciation of sex as something enjoyable and meant to be embraced and written about and sung about and prayed for (yes, prayed for). I honestly thank God for it and I see within Scripture God cheering us on. He created every nerve and fiber and muscle and fluid and it is meant to be a wonderful and creative thing. Maybe we could get Zach to detail what all goes on physiologically to gain an understanding of what's happening. Whether we see it as an evolutionary plus, or something God gave as a gift for us to enjoy and to ultimately point to Himself, we can all agree that it is not something awful or shameful or reducible to simple procreation.
11. Christianity views sexuality as inappropriate or limits it to procreative activity only.
I am well aware of commentators who have, in the distant past, made the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) out to be a mere allegory to Christ and the church. Now, while I agree that marriage and physical intimacy are intended to point toward Christ, certainly God created sex the way it is to be enjoyed, albeit within marriage. Reading through SOS, there can only be so many parallels between how Christ views us and how Solomon views his wife's breasts. Granted Christ was the creator of our bodies and does indeed see them as beautiful, but I think the scope of the poetry within SOS goes well beyond the reduction of the language to one-to-one correspondence with Christ's marveling at His creativity. There is an inherent sexuality to the book that doesn't have a parallel elsewhere in Scripture with Christ and the church.
Having said all of that, I am a firm believer in the appreciation of sex as something enjoyable and meant to be embraced and written about and sung about and prayed for (yes, prayed for). I honestly thank God for it and I see within Scripture God cheering us on. He created every nerve and fiber and muscle and fluid and it is meant to be a wonderful and creative thing. Maybe we could get Zach to detail what all goes on physiologically to gain an understanding of what's happening. Whether we see it as an evolutionary plus, or something God gave as a gift for us to enjoy and to ultimately point to Himself, we can all agree that it is not something awful or shameful or reducible to simple procreation.
posted by John at 2:08 PM
2 Comments:
I think we have Augustine to blame for this one.
Although, I also think that the "God created sex for enjoyment within marriage" thing is a myth created by Christians for themselves- I don't see any Scriptural basis for this claim, not even Song of Solomon.
I see your point and this is something I have been thinking about recently. I am reading in 1 Corinthians 7 right now and I am thinking of other parallel passages. I will post something in the comments section soon.
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