sexual ethics - premarital Flashcards
Introduction – Stats which show how social context is changing - premarital sex
- Young people are sexually active younger, 31% of males, 29% of females have sex before 16
- From 1999-2010, the number of sexual partners over the course of a life between 16-44 has gone up 3.7-7.7 in women and 8.6-11.7 in men
- Between 1996-2012, the number of cohabiting couples increased from 1.5-2.9 million and the number of children in these households doubled from 0.9 to 1.8 million. (perhaps due to society becoming more secular and a greatest abundance of premarital sex)
- Among Anglicans, 31% (1983) believed pre-marital sex is wrong, it is now down to 10% in 2012. Same for RCC, 32% to 11%.
premarital sex problems
o HIV o STIS o Unwanted pregnancy o Religion o Devaluing of self
stats cohabitation and premarital sex
o 1986-2007: increase in men cohabiting from 11% to 27% in the UK
o Projected that cohabiting couples will rise from 2.25 mill in 2007 to 3.7 mill in 2030.
o 1960s, fewer than 1 in 20 couples cohabited, more than 1 in 2 today.
♣ Why? Finance, secularisation of society
purpose of sex
o To continue the human species
o Strengthening a human relationship
o Enjoyment for both of those involved within a good or stable relationship
types of cohabitation
o Cohabitation demands a sexual relationship that is not within marriage. Definition provided by the Office of Population, a co-resident man and woman, living together within a sexual union, without that union being formalised by a legal marriage.
o Casual cohabitation – lack of formal commitment. Partners live together, but one of partners usually keeps separate dwelling. Makes up 50% of cohabitation, normally lasts for 2 years
o Trial marriage cohabitation – so that the couple can decide if they are compatible, before they commit to marriage
o Substitute marriage cohabitation – instead of marriage
bible and premarital sex
o 1 Corinthians 7:2 Let each man have his own wife and each woman have her own husband.
♣ Comes towards the end of a long section in which St Paul criticises the Christians of Corinth for their failure to live up to God’s law esp. regarding sexual immorality
o 1 Cor 6, make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, no adulterer or sexual pervert will possess the kingdom of God. (…) The body is not for fornication, it is for the Lord.
o Genesis 2:24 – That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh
o 1 Cor 7:9 – For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.
o Deut 22:13 – If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.
Xian response to cohab
o Marriage is the most stable and satisfactory basis for family and sexual basis. Cohabitation is unacceptable
o But.. trial marriage is treated by more liberal Xians as acceptable. Marriage is a number of states e.g. engagement, sexual relationship, marriage ceremony, children
o Church has to take into account secular attitudes to sex
o E.g. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
♣ Publically supported William and Kate’s cohabitation as a sensible way of testing marriage
♣ Received criticism from conservatives
o 2 ways in which Xianity is responding to secular attitudes
♣ Reject social norms, assert traditional sexual rules e.g. RCC
♣ Reinterpret sexual acts prev seen as sinful and look for a way to encourage a more positive engagement with those who have premarital sex e.g. CofE
church of England
o CofE Something to Celebrate: Valuing Families in Church and Society, 1995
♣ The wisest and most practical way forward may be for Christians both to hold fast to the centrality of marriage and at the same time to accept that cohabitation is, for many people, a step along the way towards that fuller and more complete commitment.
o Opposed by more conservative CofE Xians in General Synod
NL
o Like Aug, Aquinas believed that procreation is the primary purpose of marriage
o PP
♣ Goes against ordered society, reproduction, education of children
o SP
♣ Secondary purposes are derived, ‘goods of marriage’: procreation, nurture, control of sex
♣ Sex outside marriage would result in children being brought into unstable relationships. Marriage controls the sex drive
• It is opposed to the natural purpose of sexual intercourse, which is the generation and education of the child.
• Premarital sex is so deformed in itself that it can never be good or licit in any circumstances.
o Reason
♣ Human reason is a facet of NL, indicates that premarital sex is harmful to people (ordered society) and thus unacceptable
♣ Premarital sex is a failure of synderesis, apparent not a real good
RCC
o Marriage is a sacrament, one flesh idea is only appropriate in the sacramental one flesh union
o Treats any act of sexual intercourse outside marriage as a ‘free union’ in which a couple have refused ‘to give juridical and public form to a liaison involving sexual intimacy’
o Some today claim a ‘right to a trial marriage’ where there is an intention of getting married later. However firm the purpose of those who engage in premature sexual relations may be, ‘the fact is that such liaisons can scarcely ensure mutual sincerity and fidelity in a relationship between a man and a woman’.
o Views cohabitation as contrary to the moral law
o Premarital sex does not express fidelity, exclusivity and commitment.
o Those who have premarital sex are excluded from sacramental communion.
+ NL
+ Encourages respect for self and body
+ No ambiguity, view is clear cut
+ Sex is valued more and seen as something special within marriage
+ Less controversy with contraception and use of abortion
+ Less problems with STIs/AIDs etc.
+ NL schoalrs
+ Robert George – to treat your body as an instrument for pleasure leads to the disintegration of a person, reduces self-worth
+ NL, Aug
+ Augustine’s Confessions
- ‘ran wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventures… I could not tell the difference between lust and love’
- Sex is an expression of the whole person, part of lifelong devotion between husband and wife, reflecting the love and faithfulness of Christ for his bride the Church.
- possibly reflective of gnostic origins
- Sex is a ‘necessary evil’ but when confined to marriage saves a man from immorality. Sex is purely procreative and the lustful element simply ensures the continuation of mankind
+ NL, pope pius XI
- The conjugal act is designed primarily by nature for the begetting of children, those who exercise it deliberately frustrate its natural power and purposely sin against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and intrinsically vicious. Casti Connubii , 1930
- NL
- May encourage people to get married earlier and not think carefully about the decision
- Only 11% of RCC follow teachings of NL
- Sex is unifying
- Too absolutist, excludes lots of people
- Fletcher – sex is loving
