Christianity: New Teachings for a New Way of Life
The Christian vision of Human Sexuality compared to many religions is seen as quite restrictive. Religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism do not put near as much effort in restricting human sexuality as Christians do. Particularly in Hinduism, sex is seen as a good thing and is even celebrated. Even more, some Hindu’s practice the teachings of the Kama Sutra “which provides the details of erotic method…presenting the particulars of various types of positions, caresses, and embraces” (LoPresti 25). These views of sexuality in Hinduism are significantly different to the views of Christianity. “How would you characterize the Christian vision of human sexuality, as relatively positive and affirming or more cautious and restrictive?” (LoPresti 137)
One issue of Human Sexuality in Christianity is the idea of contraception. “Until 1930, when the Anglican Communion modified its teaching, Christians around the world had been unanimous in their condemnation of artificial means of birth control” (LoPresti 132). For centuries, procreation has been the primary purpose of marriage. Now with the advancements of a reliable birth control, sex has taken on a whole new consciousness. Sex now can be seen as fun and pleasurable and independent of procreation. The idea of sex separate from procreation is highly debatable especially in the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church “continues to hold that each and every act of intercourse must remain open to the transmission of new life” (LoPresti 133). This argument is the source of much heated debate due to the steady rise of the Aids Epidemic. The Aids epidemic in the world today is the source of a huge problem. Millions are infected and will continue to infect others without the proper means of contraception. Since there is no cure for Aids, the condom is the catalyst in attempting to control the Aids virus. Since the issue of contraception is in direct contradiction with the Roman Catholic Church, many Catholics find themselves torn between religion and health. So the question for Catholics becomes: Do we follow our catholic teaching or do we try and eradicate this disease? Although most devout Catholics would be opposed to disregarding the teachings of the church, the issue of sav...
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...ersons” (LoPresti 136). Christian teaching of homosexuality has created a hatred towards homosexuals, which in turn, causes homosexuals to be oppressed. This oppression is in direct contradiction with the teachings of Jesus’ ministry which stressed “a call to compassion and solidarity with those who are oppressed” (LoPresti 135). Therefore, the Christians view of homosexuality seems to be restricting, in that homosexuals are restricted from living a life without oppression.
Overall, the Christian view of human sexuality appears to be quite restrictive on the issues of contraception, nonmarital sex, and homosexuality. Furthermore, these unresolved issues within the church need to be updated to fit new circumstances which we know to be ok today, like homosexuality and contraception. No religion is a perfect religion, but it is though the continual evaluations of church teaching that we begin to find more logical, and accepting religion.
Works Cited
LoPresti, Anthony. “Christianity.” Sex & Religion. Ed. Christel Manning & Phil Zuckerman. Belmont, CA: Thompson, 2005. 117-141.
The film looks at both the understanding of the church, that is portrayed within the film, and the suggestion that there can only be one sexuality, heterosexuality, and that all others are sins in the eye of God. Christians understood sex and sexuality to be between a man and a woman and for the purpose of procreation. The film challenges this by giving other examples of things the Bible sees as sins because of the prevention of procreation, such as ejaculating outside of the body and contraceptives. Both of these are also strongly condoned by today’s society to prevent unplanned pregnancy and STI’s. This is directly related to Irvine’s article “Victims, Villains.. And Neighbours” about Comprehensive sex Ed. vs. abstinence sex Ed, and the debate between teaching kids about safe sex and how to use things such as condoms or birth control, or not teaching theme these things at all because this would be telling them that sex is okay as long as it’s safe, when abstinence sex Ed’s goal is to avoid sex all together until marriage because the reason we were created to have sex is to procreate and having sex outside of marriage is wrong and using any kind of contraception that could prevent procreation is...
There are many different beliefs floating around Christian as well as secular circles as to what it means to be “pro-life”. Some claim that this view equates all forms of contraception to abortion while others claim that to be “pro-life” one must only be against abortion. In his book The Pro-Life/Choice Debate, Mark Herring summarizes the Humanae Vitae, a document released by Pope Paul VI in the late 1960s, saying “it warns against using contraceptives and engaging in sexual relations for their own sake…” The stance that will be taken in this paper will be that to be “pro-life” is to be against abortion and not contraception. Equating all forms of contraception to that of abortion is an ill-founded and uneducated claim that does more to hurt the perception and potential power of the pro-life movement than it does to help it. It allows the discussion to veer far off the path, as can be seen in Christina Page’s book How the Pro-Choice Movemen...
Through the close study of two of the aspects shown in the diagram, their contributions allow Christianity to be considered a living religious tradition. The significant contributions of Pope John XXIII, during both his papal and Pre-papal life have had everlasting effects on not only Catholicism, but Christianity as a whole and lead to the sense of Christianity being a living religious tradition. His works include two Papal encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris, along with his work being Apostolic Delegate of Greece and Turkey. Moreover, The significant practice of Baptism has further contributed to Christian being considered a living religious tradition as it accounts for the premise of most Christian beliefs to be initiated, especially in terms of salvation and affirming the beliefs in the trinity and following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The. 1987 Lopez, Kathryn Muller. Read Daniel: Negotiating The Classic Issues Of The Book. Review & Expositor 109.4 (2012): 521-530. ATLASerials, a Religion Collection.
India has a reputation for being a very “sexually tolerant society”(Nanda 1999:49) . The reason for this is the roles that Hijra play in Hindu religion but also because Islam and Hinduism are both sexually positive. This means that both of these religions have a particularly wide range of sexual expression and acceptance compared different to western cultures(Nanda 1999:50). More specifically for Hinduism, “humans achieve their goals-salvation, bliss, knowledge and (sexual) pleasure”(Nanda 1999:50). This is different from western cultures because many westerners view sexual expression in very strict categories and contractions to these categories causes discomfort to certain people. Hinduism allows for more options in sexual expression which allows for “celebrating the idea that universe is boundlessly various, and that all possibilities may exist without excluding each other”(Nanda 1999:53). Indian people are very tolerable, embrace social exceptions, and endless different personalities to the point where Hijra are
In the first few readings of the Bible, we are introduced to God, a spiritual being, that made sex a core unit of humanity. In fact, it was his orders to Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply,” (Genesis 1:28). In this same book of Christian teachings we also see in the book of Songs of Solomon, many poems and singings celebrating sex and the union it creates. According to Christianity, sex is not something to be demonized. Sex is not a sinful act. In fact, God created sex for man to enjoy. It is the union between two people to bring them to a higher spiritual level. For example, in the book of Genesis chapter two verse 24 it says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and...
I also did not bother to ask more questions about sexuality from a biblical worldview. Church attendance was inconsistent therefore I was not provided the information from the church either. Sex is heavily discussed in schools epically during my high school years. During high school sexuality amongst peers was heavily discusses as they bragged about all the people they had relations with as it was an accomplishment. I did take health my sophomore year and male and female biological perspectives where discussed but nothing that mentioned the spiritual and emotional aspect of sexuality. I did have a positive body self-image but did not quite understand and value sexuality as God intended. The church I currently attend did a series on Great Sex, Great Marriage about a year ago, and I enjoyed the sermons and thought how this information needs to be shared. As I am young so I grew up in the culture were everyone was ‘hooking-up’ and having babies and multiple
#11- “Biblical Evidence for Catholicism: Biblical Evidence Against Contraception and For the Blessing of Many Children.” Biblical Evidence for Catholicism: Biblical Evidence Against Contraception and For the Blessing of Many Children. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2014.
... to make one general statement regarding a controversial issue and expect it to work, or be true, for everyone. There will always be "what if…" questions that need to be looked at on a case by case basis. When the pope published Humanae Vitae he completely disregarded the opinions of the people he is supposed to be leading. I feel that because the church says that every sexual act should have the possibility of creating life it is hypocritical to support natural family planning but not contraceptives such as condoms and the pill. Each of these takes away the possibility of having a child and is used with the same intent. I feel that this issue should be decided on each couple based on their situation and should not be decided by someone as removed from the situation as the pope is.
In the Western countries where Christianity has a significant affect on the history and the country, some people treat sexuality more seriously. For example, in the Bible, there is a story about the temptation of sex in the beginning of the Genesis. In the story, Eve cannot resist the temptation from the snake and commits a sin. As the time moves on, different cultures do have some changes in how they view sexuality, especially after the Victorian Era. During the Victorian Era, women’s roles were constrained and prostitution flourished that led to people thinking that women were more demanding on having sex.
Xiaoyuan, Z. (2007). Christianity to Me: Approaching God in Love/CHRISTIANISME POUR MOI : S'APPROCHER DE DIEU DANS L'AMOUR. Canadian Social Science, 3(6), 86-91. Retrieved June 12, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1582608161).
Buddhism which just may be the most tolerant religion in the world, constitutes teachings that can coexist with almost any other religions. Buddhism began with Siddhartha Gautama who lived in northern India in the sixth or fifth century B.C.E. The religion has guidelines in two forms in which Buddhist followers must follow. These are the Four Noble Truths and the Eight fold Path. Buddha taught that man is a slave to his ego and that the cause of suffering is desire, essentially the way to end suffering is to overcome desire. Buddhist views toward sex are those constituting that it is a natural part of human life, but also something that is associated with craving. As the Buddhist path involves overcoming these cravings this also means becoming less oriented towards sex. In most Buddhist traditions, devoted practitioners become celibate monks and nuns, and in traditional societies this was the only alternative to a family life. Celibacy traditionally signifies a noble, yet mystifying devotion that is difficult to understand and has become the subject of much critique, especially within the realms of Catholicism. But what are the origins of this tradition? this essay will present various sources of information on the subject from various traditions, with an emphasis on celibacy within buddhism.
I will begin first with the idea that sexual behavior should not be granted its own moral code. Sexual ethics only makes sense if sexuality plays a unique role in human life. If procreation has significance precisely because it is a contribution to God's ongoing work of creation, sexuality is supremely important and must be governed by restrictive rules, which would therefore prohibit sexual acts that are not for procreative purposes. This justification of sexuality as a unique aspect of human life, however, is dependent on a theological claim that there exists a God who micro manages the sexual lives of individuals. Without the presence of such a God, there can exist no separate restrictive rules on the nature of sexual acts. Even if we grant that there is a God, most people will agree that sex is more often used as a way to intensify the bond between two people and therefor sex is the ultimate trust and intimacy that you can share with a person.
There is constantly cessation why women and men cohabitate, nurture, desire, and endure. Many shrug the similarities and differences to the side due to the complex nature that is involved in understanding the progression. Since the beginning of time, according to the bible, man was placed as the dominant sex, fending for the families well being. The woman has tended to the important jobs around the homestead as situations arose. Often in society, one will find himself in a battle depending on the views of the receiving recipients. Following is a dialogue explaining a safe and metro sexual view as a general whole.
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: HarperOne, 2010.