NaijaNewsPapers:


Growing up in a conservative Christian church, I was taught that the gospel was one, complete, and indestructible whole — particularly as it applied to human sexuality. But it’s not that simple.


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.


But what I wasn’t taught in Sunday School is that the Bible’s teachings on sex have been interpreted in many different ways. I didn’t know that the early Christians actually started practicing celibacy because they were convinced the end of the world was near. No one told me that marriage wasn’t always defined and controlled by the church. And that even within marriage, sex wasn’t always something that Christians were taught to enjoy and cherish.


And the truth is that the standards on what it means to be a sexual person and live a Christian life have changed.

Here are 4 facts to prove it.

1. For the first 1,000 years of Christianity (that’s at least HALF of its existence, people), many Christians wouldn’t have considered getting married in a church.


Marriages in the West were originally just economic alliances made between two families, with both the church and the state staying out of the proceedings. This meant that weddings didn’t require the presence of a priest.


The church got involved in regulating marriage much later on, as its influence began to increase in Western Europe. It wasn’t until 1215 that the Church formally put a claim on marriage and hashed out rules about what made children legitimate.


2. To be a truly devoted Christian during the earliest days of the church, you needed to stop having sex altogether.


Early Christians’ belief that Jesus’ second coming was imminent created an environment that exalted celibacy over marriage. It was a radical departure from Jewish teachings that the disciples would have been familiar with. But it makes sense — what was the point of getting tied up with worldly responsibilities, like taking care of a spouse, children and a household, when the end of the world was near?


St. Paul, a celibate Christian leader who wrote most of the New Testament, thought of practicing celibacy as taking the higher road towards God, since it allows Christians to concentrate wholly on things of the spirit.

The second coming didn’t happen, but the emphasis on celibacy stayed. Couples in the second century were expected to stop having sex altogether after producing several children.


3. The Church developed some rules about sex that would seem strange.

In medieval times, the church became deeply involved with controlling people’s sex lives. Virginity and monogamy were still prized, while homosexuality could be punished by death. The church also had very specific requirements for what type of sex married couples could have. Since all sex was supposed to be for the purposes of procreation, certain positions were banned (no sex standing up, the woman shouldn’t be on top, no doggy style, oral, anal, or masturbation). And then there were restrictions on what days of the week people could have sex (not on fast days, or feast days for a saint, or on Sundays, for example).

Sex was also discouraged when a woman was menstruating, pregnant, or breastfeeding, (which considering there was no birth control, could have been a good deal of the time). All of these prohibitions meant that on average, sex between married couples was only legal about once per week, if that.

4. Jesus had very little to say about sex.
Other than a some heavy admonishments against lust and against divorce, the Jesus of the Bible didn’t have a lot to say about issues of sexuality. (My guess is that he was too busy hanging out with the poor and healing the sick to care. Just a guess). He also had nothing at all to say about homosexuality or sexual identity as we understand it today.

Most of the instruction about sex comes from Christian leaders who started spreading the religion after Jesus’ death.

http://www.naijanewspapers.com.ng/2017/08/4-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about.html

[img]https://4.bp..com/-74ZK0uo5Vv0/WaJnDvxMMEI/AAAAAAAAFQ0/e1VEYcdDD2Mej9DPIGoZ3Gh6OAsv69DOwCLcBGAs/s640/sex.jpeg[/img]

swiz123:
The basic reason for sex should be to procreate. All other reasons are secondary and to some extent not religious. There was a man in the Bible tho I've forgotten his name, he had sex with his brother's widow and poured his semen on the floor.God killed him. That should be enough reason to show that sex shouldn't be all about fun.

swiz123:
The basic reason for sex should be to procreate. All other reasons are secondary and to some extent not religious. There was a man in the Bible tho I've forgotten his name, he had sex with his brother's widow and poured his semen on the floor.God killed him. That should be enough reason to show that sex shouldn't be all about fun.

gentlegenius:
@ princeSammyz...
Sin either comes from doing something bad against a fellow man or disobeying God's law. Mutual sex between two unmarried partners is a sin because the two parties are disobeying God.
Sex was meant to be enjoyed only in marriage that is why God made certain laws to control man's sexual behavior outside marriage. The first law was that Anyone caught committing adultery(sleeping with any person's spouse with mutual agreement and enjoyment) should both be stoned to death.
The 2nd law was that Any man caught sleeping with a woman forcefully(rape) should be stoned to death.
The 3rd law law that really concern singles is was that when 2 unmarried people are caught having sex(fornication), the man involved should be forced to pay the girls bride Price and marry her without any option of divorce in future... See Deutronomy 22.
These laws showed that God designed sex to be officially enjoyed within the bounds of marriage. So disobeying God is what makes the act a sin.

princy80:

Good points but do you know it is a sin to eat crayfish following Old Testament laws?

princeSammyz:
And I keep wondering what even made sex outside marriage a sin... Every other sin seem to be some kind of harm against a neighbor or against God, but sex, mutual pleasure for two consenting adults... I keep wondering

dapyd1:
The marriages in the bible were traditional. The wedding at Cana was traditional. The old testament wedding g were traditional. The weddings in the new testament are traditional. Church weddings came in, as you said, less than 1000 years ago.

The other day I was saying that lady that got pregnant after traditional wedding and before church wedding was certified to. People came for me here on nairaland. The church refused to do wedding for her. Why?

Bible says, therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother. Which part of the wedding ceremonies do the parents permit you to leave and follow your spouse, TRADITIONAL.

The blessings Bible regards for marriage is your parents, not the priest. Church weddings is just an addition.

But then, people don't study the word with an open heart. We have carried doctrines above and beyond. Our hearts are rigid. Anyone that doesn't agree with us is saying nonsense.

As for me, I'll likely do church wedding because of my wife. But I'll recognise the traditional and court. And I can have sex after them. I believe God's hand is on the marriage already.


As far as I'm concerned also, any sexual act between couples is allowed. If me and my wife like, she can handcuff me to the bed.

swiz123:
The basic reason for sex should be to procreate. All other reasons are secondary and to some extent not religious. There was a man in the Bible tho I've forgotten his name, he had sex with his brother's widow and poured his semen on the floor.God killed him. That should be enough reason to show that sex shouldn't be all about fun.

gentlegenius:

So what was the punishment for those who eat crayfish? Did he Bible said that Any man who broke such law should be killed? Did the new testament not say that everything God created is good for consumption? Did the new testament say anywhere that fornication or adultery is a good practice?
The new testament gives us the freedom to do away with certain OT laws like eating and drinking but that doesn't include illicit sex.

princy80:

Where does your Bible tell you that it does away with rules on eating and drinking? GIVE PROOF OF QUOTATIONS

BTW
lev. 11:9 “‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. 11 And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you.

princeSammyz:
And I keep wondering what even made sex outside marriage a sin... Every other sin seem to be some kind of harm against a neighbor or against God, but sex, mutual pleasure for two consenting adults... I keep wondering

youngerikina40:


U made me check ur dp, d guy on ur dp tho




Aspirant












He be wrestler

NaijaNewsPapers:


Growing up in a conservative Christian church, I was taught that the gospel was one, complete, and indestructible whole — particularly as it applied to human sexuality. But it’s not that simple.


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.


But what I wasn’t taught in Sunday School is that the Bible’s teachings on sex have been interpreted in many different ways. I didn’t know that the early Christians actually started practicing celibacy because they were convinced the end of the world was near. No one told me that marriage wasn’t always defined and controlled by the church. And that even within marriage, sex wasn’t always something that Christians were taught to enjoy and cherish.


And the truth is that the standards on what it means to be a sexual person and live a Christian life have changed.

Here are 4 facts to prove it.

1. For the first 1,000 years of Christianity (that’s at least HALF of its existence, people), many Christians wouldn’t have considered getting married in a church.


Marriages in the West were originally just economic alliances made between two families, with both the church and the state staying out of the proceedings. This meant that weddings didn’t require the presence of a priest.


The church got involved in regulating marriage much later on, as its influence began to increase in Western Europe. It wasn’t until 1215 that the Church formally put a claim on marriage and hashed out rules about what made children legitimate.


2. To be a truly devoted Christian during the earliest days of the church, you needed to stop having sex altogether.


Early Christians’ belief that Jesus’ second coming was imminent created an environment that exalted celibacy over marriage. It was a radical departure from Jewish teachings that the disciples would have been familiar with. But it makes sense — what was the point of getting tied up with worldly responsibilities, like taking care of a spouse, children and a household, when the end of the world was near?


St. Paul, a celibate Christian leader who wrote most of the New Testament, thought of practicing celibacy as taking the higher road towards God, since it allows Christians to concentrate wholly on things of the spirit.

The second coming didn’t happen, but the emphasis on celibacy stayed. Couples in the second century were expected to stop having sex altogether after producing several children.


3. The Church developed some rules about sex that would seem strange.

In medieval times, the church became deeply involved with controlling people’s sex lives. Virginity and monogamy were still prized, while homosexuality could be punished by death. The church also had very specific requirements for what type of sex married couples could have. Since all sex was supposed to be for the purposes of procreation, certain positions were banned (no sex standing up, the woman shouldn’t be on top, no doggy style, oral, anal, or masturbation). And then there were restrictions on what days of the week people could have sex (not on fast days, or feast days for a saint, or on Sundays, for example).

Sex was also discouraged when a woman was menstruating, pregnant, or breastfeeding, (which considering there was no birth control, could have been a good deal of the time). All of these prohibitions meant that on average, sex between married couples was only legal about once per week, if that.

4. Jesus had very little to say about sex.
Other than a some heavy admonishments against lust and against divorce, the Jesus of the Bible didn’t have a lot to say about issues of sexuality. (My guess is that he was too busy hanging out with the poor and healing the sick to care. Just a guess). He also had nothing at all to say about homosexuality or sexual identity as we understand it today.

Most of the instruction about sex comes from Christian leaders who started spreading the religion after Jesus’ death.

http://www.naijanewspapers.com.ng/2017/08/4-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about.html

[img]https://4.bp..com/-74ZK0uo5Vv0/WaJnDvxMMEI/AAAAAAAAFQ0/e1VEYcdDD2Mej9DPIGoZ3Gh6OAsv69DOwCLcBGAs/s640/sex.jpeg[/img]

komekn:


If you want to make deductions about Christianity it is much more credible to make reference to Biblical scripture otherwise. You are making self led and self derived opinionated observations.