Sexual Ethics

Question 1

Pythagoreans, Stoics and Cyreniacs on sex

Answer 1

Pythagoreans: abstain from sex- unholy- stops soul’s progress
• Dualism: body + soul, physical + spiritual
• we should abstain from physical pleasure

Stoics: same as pythagoreans
• control over one’s own emotions, should not lessen oneself to animalistic instinct

Cyreniacs: celebrated physical pleasure, sensual enjoyment- these were supremely good

Question 2

Ancient Hebrews on Sex

Answer 2

positive attitude to sex, sensual erotic beauty ‘Song of songs’
• “How fair is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the smell of your ointment than all spices!”

Question 3

Sexual morality in the 21st Century

Answer 3

• sex pursued for its immediate physical satisfaction
• if there is mutual consent then any form of sex is morally right
• monogamy and commitment are not important
• marriage is not a prerequisite
• the freedom of the individual is paramount

• legal and moral attitudes meet in a distinctive way
• e.g. adultery is considered by many to be immoral and it provides legal ground for divorce yet it is not a crime
• some believe sex with many partners is promiscuous and immoral while others argue that when there is consent it is not a matter of morality
• H.L.A. Hart in ‘Law, Liberty and Morality’: “Sexual intercourse between husband and wife is not immoral, but if it takes place in public it is an affront to human decency”. a private sexual act could not harm anyone except “a few neurotic..persons who are literally “made ill” by the thought of it”

Question 4

Problems with Sex in the modern day

Answer 4

• although freedom is the most important thing to many…
• rising concern over sexual crimes
• rising teenage pregnancy rates
• proliferation of STIs
• more abortions than ever
• more children living in poverty as a result of marital breakdown
• However, some argue restriction would prevent them from realising their true sexual identity

Question 5

Sex in the Old Testament

Answer 5

• in ancient cultures, fertility was a big concern in agriculture and continuation of the species
• a man’s status measured in terms of his property and offspring
• men would often have several wives and concubines, Jacob had two of each who produced 12 male heirs
• prior to the fall, Adam and Eve had sex because it was good in itself, not only because of lust but because God made it to be enjoyed
• the Genesis story is supposed to provide basis for good sexual relationships , in Christian marriage ceremonies God is invited to be part of the marriage
• Genesis 3 fall: relationship between God and humanity changes: “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (pain in childbirth, lust/obsession, sexual dominance)
• sex can no longer be intrinsically good after the fall and consequences must be suffered
• seems acceptable for a man to control or dominate his wife and to insist she is a virgin, yet it doesn’t seem that the same always applies to men
• Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughters would not be acceptable by today’s standards

Question 6

(NT&Sex) Jesus

Answer 6

• Jesus said little about sex, focused on followers living as part of the Kingdom of God
• “love God with all your heart and your neighbour as you love yourself”
• Ephesians 1:35: “
• Mark 10:11: “whoever divorces his wife and (kai) marries another commits adultery (porneia) against her”
—kai could mean in order to, porneia could refer to a woman who was not a virgin, an adulterous women or a non believer

Question 7

(NT&Sex) St Paul

Answer 7

• Paul wrote expecting Christ to return imminently, so no detailed sexual ethics
• Galatians 3:28: “there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (all are equal)
• Ephesians 5:22-24: “wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord…Just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands”
• Ephesians 5:31-32: “a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the Church”
• Paul is more rigid than Jesus, a product of his times, valuing celibacy and the inferior role of women as a result of his religion
• he was also influenced by platonic dualism and the views of the Greek philosophers that spiritual pleasure is greater than physical pleasure

Question 8

Traditional Christian approach to sex

Answer 8

• Augustine considered non-reproductive sex to be a sin whilst Aquinas suggested it can be for enjoyment while needing to be connected to reproduction
• In some fundamental Christian communities the role of women is mostly the raising of children
• in early Christianity, celibacy was regarded as holy because Jesus never marrie Martin Luther left the monastery and married, Eramus praised marriage as the natural state and thought of celibacy as the unnatural state and that sex between a married couple is for pleasure and not just reproduction
• Churches hold that extramarital sex, adultery, masturbation and homosexual sex are sinful because of scripture or a natural law standpoint (Aquinas and our purpose)
• Christianity saw purpose of marriage as fidelity (fides), procreation (proles) and union (sacramentum), sex outside of marriage undermines the family and risks birthing children into insecure environments

Question 9

Link between Sex and Love in Christian Theology

Answer 9

Until the twentieth century there was no link between sex and love in Christian theology:
• ‘Marriage and the Church’s Task’ (1978) CofE: “It is a profound sharing of present experience…a relational bond of personal love, a compound of commitment, experience and response, in which the commitment clothes itself in the flesh and blood of a living union”
• ‘Pastoral Constitution’ RCC: “The actions within marriage by which the couple are united ultimately and chastely are noble and worthy ones…spouses enrich each other with a joyful and thankful will”

Question 10

Jack Dominion

Answer 10

Catholic psychologist, believes in need for new view of sex
• ‘Passionate and Compassionate Love’ (1991): sex is a personal expression, a profound way of thanking each other for the loving partnership that they have, the sexual act is a model of total unity between the couple, reflecting the idea of sex in Genesis restated by Jesus and Paul. This personal expression is present with or without the life-giving dimension
• Dominion believes Christianity has erred in stressing biological importance of sex, and has trivialised the act
• mainstream Churches still reject this and argue sex is for procreation and sex before marriage (increasingly common among teenagers) is ‘living in sin’
• Dominion argues that commitment, love and permanence are the only criteria for acceptable sex

Question 11

Liberal Protestantism and Sex

Answer 11

• much more relaxed because of allegorical interpretation of the Bible, non-literal moral guidance
• attitudes towards sexuality have changed since Bible’s conception so Christian teaching should reflect change
• for some denominations, homosexuality is not a problem
• rather than requiring marriage for sex, commitment and desire to be together justify cohabitation
• sex can be for enjoyment and not just reproduction
• would generally accept divorce
• religion should be a force for social change

Question 12

Evangelical Protestantism and Sex

Answer 12

• accepts sanctity of marriage and permanence of the marriage, would appreciate that sometimes divorce is a necessary evil due to irreconcilable differences
• intercourse should be reserved for marriage because: the Bible teaches that sex should take place within marriage; sex is mainly for reproduction; partners become one flesh through sex and marriage
• would be opposed to homosexual sex as they cannot take place within Christian marriage and cannot end in conception of children

Question 13

Augustine on Sex

Answer 13

• context: gnosticism was a mixture of Greek traditions, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism: extreme dualism and pessimistic fatalism, dislike of body and needs and pessimism about sexuality
• Augustine: sex is a necessary evil reserved for marriage which, even in marriage can be dangerous because the devil uses women to lead men away from reason
• Adam and Eve were made for procreation though didn’t need to until the Fall/didn’t feel the desire or pleasure
• sexual desire is a reminder of our rebellion against God, our original sin
• Pelagius believed that we could control sexual desire by the will, but Augustine disagreed

Question 14

Aquinas on Sex

Answer 14

• Natural Law: all things have a purpose, good acts developed our nature and bad acts went against it
• the purpose of sexual organs and intercourse was procreation and other uses of sex are intrinsically wrong
• Summa Theologiae: sex can be wrong in two ways: when “the act of its nature is incompatible with the purpose of thesex act” (this prohibits masturbation, bestiality, homosexuality and anything which doesn’t lead to procreation); when “conflict with right reason may arise from the nature of the act with respect to the other party” (incest, rape, adultery)

Question 15

Marriage

Answer 15

• ‘New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology’ (1995) Atkinson and Field: marriage is a total troth communion which can be broken by any kind of prolonged infidelity”
• marriage in Christianity is ordained by God, an exclusive and binding relationship (Genesis 2:24) “one flesh”
• hierarchy in marriage has been controversial: “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husband…Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect” (1 Peter 3:1, 7)
• Christians respond that this is about love and sacrifice (like Jesus) not domination. this dynamic is out of love

Question 16

Divorce (general)

Answer 16

• “therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matthew 19:6)
• Jesus seems to forbid divorce altogether in Mark 10:11-12 (“anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery”) but allows it when there is adultery in Matthew 19:9 (“except for marital unfaithfulness”)
• Selwyn Hughs in ‘Marriage as God Intended’ (1983) argues divorce doesn’t need to be the end of the marriage after adultery but that forgiveness and reconciliation should take place
• RCC forbids divorce whilst other churches are more lenient
• Secular Ethicists argue marriages can go wrong so divorce should be an option

Question 17

J.A.T. Robinson on Divorce

Answer 17

‘Honest to God’ 1963
• Christian moral teaching needed to adapt to the modern day
• it is unrealistic to expect people to marry for life : “it is a position that men honour much more in the breach than the observance”
• Jesus’ teaching were not to “be understood legalistically, as prescribing what all Christians must do…they are illustrations of what love may at any moment require of anyone”
• to say that sexual relations before marriage and divorce are inherently sinful is inappropriate, the truly wrong thing is a lack of love, perhaps divorce is right in some circumstances
• recall situation ethics

Question 18

Definitions of Marriage

Answer 18

• Religious definition of marriage: Ordained by God a man and a woman make a commitment to an exclusive and binding relationship that will last until the death of one of the partners
• Non Religious definition of marriage: the legally or formally recognised union of two people as partners in a personal relationship

Question 19

Libertarian Approach to Sexuality

Answer 19

• the view that sex is morally permissible if there’s consent between the participating parties
• sometimes called contractarian view (contract from consent)
• no need for sex to be marital or reproductive, contraception is permitted ; only important thing is that relationships are equal
• freedom is most important, rape goes against freedom principle, as does sex with minors
• J.S. Mill’s ‘harm principle’: ensures no harm is done to anyone
• adultery seen as wrong because it can harm

Question 20

Evaluation of Libertarian Sexuality

Answer 20

-strengths
• celebrates sexual liberation
• tolerant and permissive
• freedom from constraints of moral laws (homosexuality is allowed)
• Freud: healthy sexual relationships benefits people psychologically
-problems
• may be power imbalances in relationships, meaning there is not full freedom
• ‘Sex’ (1991) Raymond Belliotti: Rocco’s family is desperate for money so he sells his middle finger to his neighbour for $5000 and private medical care. There is a power imbalance here
• issue determining what is harm: pornography may be made with consent from all directly involved, but indirectly harms attitudes towards sex

Question 21

Feminist approaches to Sexuality

Answer 21

• rejects Christian and liberal approaches
• problem with Hebrew tradition of women as secondary to man
• this belief is not a result of Christian ‘moral law’ but Christian social conditioning
• Liberal approaches assume a level playing field and that women have equal freedom despite patriarchy
• women may not even be aware of their disempowered status
• contractarian idea is worthless because of social conditioning which limits women’s role in society and affects their sexual ‘contracts’

Question 22

Scholars on Feminist Approach to Sexuality

Answer 22

-Catharine Mackinnon (1987): sexuality must be re-imagined and remade before moral sexual relationships become possible
-Jill Johnston (1974): there should be separation of men and women and sex among women (a political statement to undermine the domination and power of men)
-Raymond Bellioti:
• rejects idea that women are incapable of deciding for themselves
• women should be allowed to accept a socially defined role if she chooses to
• sexuality is not fundamental to the human person and isn’t as significant as feminists make it out to be
-Martha Nussbaum: role of women is reinforced by “our archaic laws and socially inept interpretations of them”

Question 23

Homosexuality context

Answer 23

• growing acceptance- legal marriages
• 5% of men and 9% of women have had a sexual experience with a partner of the same sex
• sexual offences act 1957: end intolerance and inequality against homosexuals
• human rights issues- long time, finally legalised Civil Partnerships 2005, marriage in 2014
• still controversial

Question 24

Causes of Homosexuality

Answer 24

not fully known
• Freud: homosexuality is a personality disorder resulting from a person’s failure to deal with repressed issues of sexuality from infancy and to develop into mature sexuality
• Elizabeth Moberly (Homosexuality: A New Christian Ethic 1983)): “A homosexual orientation does not depend on a genetic predisposition, hormonal imbalance, or abnormal learning processes, but on difficulties in the parent-child relationships, especially in the earlier years of life”
• scientists have attempted to find a homosexual gene, but this may cause even more ethical dilemmas because people may look for a ‘cure’
• Anthony Storr (Sexual Deviation 1964): homosexuals “have a vested interest in affirming that their condition is an inborn abnormality rather than the result of circumstances; for any other explanation is bound to imply a criticism of themselves or their families”

Question 25

The Catholic Church’s opinion on Homosexuality

Answer 25

• homosexual sex cannot lead to reproduction and so fails to meet Aquinas’ criteria of what makes an act good according to the Natural Moral Law (it is part of our purpose to procreate: “be fruitful and multiply”)
• Catechism of the Catholic Church: there’s no sin in having an inclination towards the same sex as we cannot control inclination and therefore cannot be fairly judged for it. Homosexuals are called to chastity to achieve grace and perfection. Maintains that homosexual acts don’t proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity, the acts are depraved and intrinsically disordered.

Question 26

Criticisms of the Church’s opinion on Homosexuality

Answer 26

• Burton Leiser (Homosexuality, Morals and the Law of Nature 1997): following this logic, elderly and infertile couples cannot have moral sex, and that screwdrivers can be used to open bottles.
• Kate Saunders and Peter Stamford (Catholics and Sex 1992): some cardinals have expressed views about homosexuals that could be seen as intolerant and that the Church may act in a discriminatory way against homosexuals in matters such as teaching and adoption
• Arcigay (an Italian gay rights organisation): estimates that more than 150 gay men are murdered in Italy

Question 27

Church of England’s opinion of Homosexuality

Answer 27

does not recommend the physical expression of homosexual orientation but acknowledges that the Church must respect those who “are conscientiously convinced that they have more hope in growing in love for God and neighbour with the help of a loving and faithful homophile partnership” (What the Churches Say 1995)
-1998 Lambeth Conference of Bishops (CofE) declared four positions from which homosexuality could be viewed:
• a disorder from which the Christian can seek deliverance
• homosexual relationships should be celibate
• the are preferred over promiscuous relationships, although are still short of God’s best for man
• homosexual relationships should be fully accepted

Question 28

Liberal Christian opinions on Homosexuality

Answer 28

• the quality of the relationship is what determines its moral value
• natural law approach is unsound and biblical condemnation is disputable
• We are made in the “image and likeness of God”, meaning that if one is made homosexual, then one’s nature and inclination are good. Otherwise, God would deliberately create disordered beings (he does do this anyway).
• B.A. Robinson (www.religioustolerance.org): liberal Christians within the Methodist Church consider gay and lesbian ordination and same-sex marriage as a civil rights issue. Ordination and marriage should be available to gay people.
• It is questionable whether a religion rooted in Hebrew culture could become more accepting, though it has already rejected its approval of slavery and patriarchal treatment of women

Question 29

Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (Liberal) Quote

Answer 29

“human sexuality in all its richness is a gift from God gladly to be accepted, enjoyed and honoured”

Question 30

Gareth Moore (The Body in Context Sex and Catholicism 2001)

Answer 30

the Bible requires us to help and support the marginalised: “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:28)

-Exodus 21:7
-Exodus 35:2
-Leviticus 11:7
• we follow Leviticus 18:22, but not these. Our interpretation of the Bible is inconsistent

Question 31

Canon Jeffrey John controversy

Answer 31

• Canon Jeffrey John: July 2003, withdrew his acceptance of the post of Bishop of Reading due to the outcry from evangelical anglicans over his sexuality (even though he was celibate)
• Dr Philip Giddings: the appointment of Jeffery John was wrong in the first place because “we are not free to discard what is said in the Bible, however unpopular”
• Dean of Southwark, the Very Reverend Colin Slee: “Canon John has become the victim of appalling prejudice and abuse which has its main proponents within the Church of England… the news will hurt thousands of Christian people”
• ArchBishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams: “this has been a time of open and painful confrontation in which some of our bonds of mutual trust have been severely strained”

Question 32

Gene Robinson controversy

Answer 32

2003, Nigerian Church (of Anglican Communion) opposed ordination of a gay bishop (Gene Robinson
• Nigerian President Oluisegun Obasanjo: “such a tendency is clearly un-biblical, unnatural and definitely unAfican”
• Obasanjo was supported by Information Minister Frank Nweke: “In most cultures in Nigeria, same sex relationships, sodomy and the likes of that, are regarded as abominable”
• 2005, Archbishop Peter Akinola announced the Nigerian Church was to break away from the western Churches because they had strayed too far from biblical teachings
• Bishop Gene Robinson: “the acceptance of gay and lesbian people into the life of the church…will happen in God’s time”

Question 33

Bible passages on Homosexuality

Answer 33

• Genesis 2:24: “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh”, quoted in Matthew, Mark, and Ephesians
• Genesis 9:1: “be fruitful and increase”
• Leviticus 18:22: “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable”
• Genesis 19: God destroys Sodom (find quote)
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: “neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders…will inherit the kingdom of God”- words malakoi and arsenoloitai have been translated as male prostitute and sodomite

Question 34

Interpretations and Opinions of Bible passages on homosexuality

Answer 34

• D.S. Bailey: “It is hardly open to doubt, that both the laws in Leviticus relate to ordinary homosexual acts between men”, but thinks they’re outdated
• Westboro Baptist Church: hosts ’www.godhatesfags.com’, extreme response to bible teaching
• John Boswell (Archetypes of Gay Love in Christian History 1982): other rules in bible are not followed so strictly. Bible condemns hypocrisy but no one has been killed for it.
• Gareth Moore (1992): Leviticus 19:19 condemns wearing garments of two types of material yet few Christians acknowledge it. We follow rules when it suits us. Scripture is used inconsistently to reinforce prejudice.
• Meaning of words in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 are unclear and John Boswell disputes the modern interpretation of them.

Question 35

Homosexuality and morality

Answer 35

• John Harris (The Value of Life 1984): sexual activities are an issue of etiquette, not ethics. Homosexuality poses no harm to society and is therefore exempt from moral judgement.
• Mark Bonnington and Bob Fyall (Homosexuality and the Bible 1996): “Warm companionship without any sexual element is not something that should be regarded as odd by the Christian community”
• worldwide Anglican Church (Book of Discipline 1996): “Homosexual persons are no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth…Although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality”

Question 36

Qatar world cup controversy

Answer 36

• Qatari law calls for a prison sentence of one-three years for “inducing or seducing a male or a female in any way to commit illegal or immoral actions”, including “sodomy”
• 2004 penal code: criminalises same-sex activity and leads to heavier sentences of up to seven years

Question 37

Catholic opinion on contraception

Answer 37

• originates in natural moral law: purpose of sex is procreation, so couples should not actively prevent conception
• artificial contraception is sinful, whether it prevents conception or is an early form of abortion
• life begins at conception so the fertilised egg is a person
• natural family planning (sex when the woman wouldn’t be fertile) is acceptable
• using contraception encourages extramarital sex, premarital sex, and thus damages the institution of marriage

Question 38

Catholic opinion on artificial conception

Answer 38

• it is wrong because children are a gift from God, not a right
• if donor eggs or sperm are used, it goes against the unity and integrity of marriage (sacramentum)
• IVF procedures involve the selection of viable embryos which means some embryos are discarded, which equates to killing a human
• no moral solution to infertility

Question 39

Pope Francis on contraception

Answer 39

• has stopped calling artificial contraception evil, but favours natural contraception
• artificial contraception is permissible in order to control Zika virus
• abortion is still evil

Question 40

Humanae Vitae quotes on contraception

Answer 40

• “every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life”
• “the married couple make legitimate use of a natural disposition”