Jacob Chanikuzhy

“Go, and have sex,” appears to be the first command of God when it is paraphrased from the perspective of human sexuality. Because, the divine command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1,28) could not have been achieved by any other means than sex. Thus, one can say that human sexuality is affirmed and positively appreciated from the first pages of the Bible. When God created humans, he created them as male and female, with the possibility of mating and multiplying. The only thing that God found “not good” in the creation story was the loneliness of the first human being. So God made a partner for him. He gave them powerful sex drives to make their companionship exciting and exhilarating: “This at last is bone of my bones…” (Gen 2,23). Sex is involved or implied in many stories in the book of Genesis. In fact there are around 35 stories with licit or illicit sexual content in the book of Genesis itself.

Because of the Bible’s high regard for human sexuality, it has also a sublime sexual ethics. In the Book of Leviticus, God demands the people to be holy (Leviticus 11, 45). When it speaks about moral uprightness, it starts with a warning against the sexual sins (Leviticus 18, 6ff). Is it because, the sexual sins are the most serious threat to holiness or the most serious sins? Although sexual sins are not the most serious sins, they are the most common threat to holiness. Everybody would agree that murder is far more serious than sexual sins. However, temptation to kill and instances of killing are not as common as the temptation to commit sexual sins. The Old Testament prohibits sexual sins like premarital sex, prostitution, rape, adultery, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, onanism etc. The variety of sexual sins mentioned in Leviticus 18 indicates that sexual offences were rampant in the Canaanite culture. Besides, some sexual activities like temple prostitution were part of the religious practices associated with the fertility cults. The Bible is asking the believers to distinguish themselves from other cultures by keeping strict sexual ethics.

It seems that it is the strict sexual ethics of the Bible that alienates some people from their Christian faith. As is remarked often, more than science it is sex that secularizes society. Sex is an insatiable master. Like drug, the more one has it, the more one wants it. With the arrival of condoms and contraceptives, sex has been dragged from the sacred nuptial chambers to the streets, and has become more recreational than procreational. The advocates of sexual promiscuity holds that they can do whatever they wish with their body.

Disturbed by the biblical sexual ethics some think that the biblical stipulations are for the old generations of a couple of millennia back. In their view, the fact that the Bible stipulated certain sexual norms does not mean they have perennial value. For example, in the Bible we see God giving strict instructions regarding the sacrifices in the temple. Nevertheless, none of us are bothered a bit about not following any of them now. Is it not the case with Old Testament ordinance with regard to sex too? One can find an answer to this problem in the New Testament. According to the author of Hebrews, with the eternal sacrifice of Jesus, the old mode of sacrifice has come to an end. The New Testament declares the end of the Old Testament sacrifices, covenant and priesthood. However, the New Testament does not abrogate the sexual morality of the Old Testament. Instead, what it does is making it even more strict and sublime. “You have heard that it was said that ‘You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery…” (Matthew 5,28).

God of the Bible instructs the believers to adhere to strict moral principles, and he claims the authority to dictate the norms, “For, I am the Lord” (Lev 18, 4.5), the creator, the Father who knows what is right and good for his children. By obeying the commands of God concerning human sexuality, the humans admit that they are not gods but creatures. By challenging God’s commands humans claim to be gods who can decide what is good for themselves. Our attitude towards the sublime sexual morality in the Bible manifests our claim to who we are.