An Extremely Condensed History of Sex and the Church

by Motte Brown

Since I touched on the modern church’s squeamishness about sex, I thought it might be interesting to see what some of the early Christian leaders had to say. It seems many of them had a slightly prudish perspective as well.

For example, Augustine of Hippo believed that sex was so affected by the fall that the act itself could never be separated from lust, even within the bounds of marriage. He believed that the purpose of sex was for procreation and that sexual pleasure was merely “pardonable.” As for marriage, Augustine said it was “honorable and permissible” but believed celibacy was a higher calling.

This teaching was more or less continued throughout the early Catholic Church. It wasn’t until the reformation that a higher view of the marriage bed began taking root. And it began with Martin Luther himself who saw it as a means of protection, saying marriage is a “hospital” for lust. Contrary to Augustine, Luther — the priest who married a nun — said sex was for more than just the “begetting of children.”

But if you want to know who really encouraged married couples to increase and multiply, look no further than the Puritans.

Despite what is commonly believed, the Puritans loved sex. They just had an appropriately dim view of extramarital sex. Leland Ryken said, “Married sex was not only legitimate in the Puritan view; it was meant to be exuberant.” Puritans taught that sex was a common grace created by God for all humans in marriage. They rejected the medieval view that it must be supressed.

So what happened? In short, the Victorian Era happened. Victorian morality with its man-made code of conduct ushered in an age of prudery. And the church has been slow to recover. An increasing number of Christian speakers and writers talk about sex these days and some groups like XXXChurch go out of their way to be provocative, but popular Christian sex talk tends to be heavy on sex and light on good Christian thinking.

But there are signs things are changing. Dr. Al Mohler, president of SBTS, encourages pastors to preach the full counsel of God (which includes sex). Pastor Mark Dever is not only preaching it, he believes the marriage bed actually “display[s] the Christian gospel.”

God has set up sex as part of evangelism. That does not mean we practice evangelistic dating, let alone evangelistic mating. It means that the sexual intimacy of marriage helps our spouse to love God, it helps us understand how Christ loves the church, and it builds a marriage that is distinct from unfaithful and non-Christian marriages. In short, sex within marriage helps display the Christian gospel by teaching us how to love and how we are loved … by God himself.

Sex as evangelism? The Puritans would be proud.

1. Kristen said the following on August 25, 2010 at 6:14 pm

   

   http://dt1021.wordpress.com/2010/07/23/blessings-of-singleness-5-lack-of-physical-intimacy/
2. Rebekah said the following on August 25, 2010 at 9:38 pm

   

   Thanks for the link Kristen. That article gave me a lot to think about.
3. Candace said the following on August 25, 2010 at 10:27 pm

   

   Yes, thanks for posting the series link, Kristen. The author is extremely articulate in describing the suffering and how to find joy in particular realms of singleness.

   Lauren Winner describes some of challenge in her books and talks. Also, CJ Mahaney and Piper both wrote about the topic in a couple of different books.
4. Beck said the following on August 26, 2010 at 7:38 pm

   

   Kristen, thanks for the link that you posted. I’m going to read FAB’s other postings on being single. Encouraging to know we’re not alone in the struggles and loneliness we face as single Christian ladies. The enemy wants to make us think God has forgotten us; but He has not; not even for one moment!
5. CaliforniaLady said the following on August 26, 2010 at 11:56 pm

   

   @Kristen: That is a good article. I actually just posted it in response to Motte Brown’s previous post on lust.
6. Kristen said the following on August 27, 2010 at 12:17 pm

   

   I’m just happy that it was helpful to others as it was when Carolyn McCulley shared it on her blog this week.
7. TravelTheWorld said the following on August 30, 2010 at 8:36 am

   

   The article seems to skip a milestone event between the Victorian age and Mohler/Dever making statements. Our Catholic brothers and sisters look to the following statement by Pope John Paul II:

   http://www.scborromeo.org/docs/humanae_vitae.pdf