I feel a response is needed to the two recent articles on sexuality by Ken Camp [Herald, Sept. 9].
The article describing The Passion Principles by Shannon Ethridge leaves the meaning of “sexual freedom in marriage” rather ambiguous. I recall a Newsweek cover story on the sexual revolution in the 1960s with the title “Anything Goes.” Is that what is being advocated? Since I have not read the book, I don’t know.
Meanwhile, the “Churches’ Silence on Sexuality” describes some of the issues, and correctly observes that the subject is a field of land mines — especially for pastors. Camp should also be applauded for quoting Dan McGee at the article’s end: “Sexuality is a much deeper mystery than mere sexual behavior.” Amen!
However, the church’s teaching, particularly in the Roman Catholic tradition, has not been silent about sexuality. The traditional voice has been all too loud and clear, communicating that sexual activity is sinful and only allowed for the purpose of procreation. And even then it is still considered sinful — which is why the dogma teaches that we are born in sin. (Note: This doctrine of original sin is also what necessitates the traditional insistence on the virgin birth of Jesus.)
Protestants inherited much of this negative thinking about sexuality, and added their puritanical views and interpretations of what the Bible teaches about sex and marriage — in particular, this notion that the Bible only approves sexual activity within a monogamous heterosexual marriage. As Camp quotes Truett Seminary’s Roger Olson, “Sexual activity belongs within the confines of heterosexual, monogamous marriages. That should be the church’s position.” So much for silence!
Unfortunately for traditionalists, a simple reading of the Bible will demonstrate that there is no such unified view of sex and marriage in the Scriptures: polygamy is rampant in the Hebrew scriptures, and virginity and celibacy are implicitly elevated by the Apostle Paul as he advocates for the single state (1 Cor. 7).
Could it be that the main reason for the churches’ “silence” on sexuality is the culture gap between the church and society? The fact is that the church has never adequately responded to the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the breaking of taboos.
A personal story illustrates this point. Back in 1971, fresh out of seminary as a new, young associate pastor, I was asked by a Woman’s Missionary Union circle (that’s what it was called back then) to address the subject of youth and their concern. As an example, I innocently told of a recent situation with a young teenager who was distraught because her period was a day late. The ladies were aghast, not that the girl was apparently sexually active (which they chose to ignore), but that, as one put it, I had used a word (“period”) that she would not utter even to her doctor!
Perhaps the culture gap is best demonstrated by a scene from the movie Kindergarten Cop. In this 1990 movie, a little 5-year-old kindergartener announces to his new teacher’s partner that, “Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina.” Even today, many pastors would be in trouble if they used those words in the pulpit. Actually, LifeWay recently banned A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans for using the “V” word.
The fact is that sexual activity is not just coitus but includes a spectrum that can range from the innocent simplicity of holding hands to unspeakable acts of bestiality and worse. Moreover, to prohibit any sexual activity outside marriage is also to condemn masturbation, a rather universal practice which the church can’t seem to acknowledge, much less discuss.
Perhaps the biggest culprit behind the church’s irrelevance (or “silence”) is what I used to call the “Sunday school mentality.” Way back at the beginning of my ministry, I observed that the discussions in most classes were rather shallow, if not dishonest: most folks simply said what they thought they were supposed to say, rather than state how they actually felt or what their real-life experiences were.
It is sad if the church can say nothing other than pronounce that the Bible prohibits any sexual activity outside of marriage.
Ty Campbell, Raleigh