Sexuality and Morality in Christianity - Thesis Example

The area of ethics that guide Christians on the issue of sexuality and morals is currently very controversial. That is true especially now we see many cases of churches breaking up because of sex and morality issues. A good example is the united church of Canada which got divided into different problems such as whether the church should ordain people who have a heterosexual nature. Another example is the doctrines of the Catholic Church that classify things such as masturbation; homosexuality acts, use of contraceptives during intercourse and abortions as immoral (Klesse). The two topics have some connection in a way that one gets used to giving more details to the other. Christianity has many teachings that get obtained from the bible. They act as guides for how Christians live. On the other hand, morality represents the great dignity people should uphold in their lives and the love they have for both their fellow humans and god. There have been many discussions about Christian sexual ethics with many researchers trying to understand its relation to morality (Grubbs et al. 125). Different approaches got applied in the two articles under discussion. In this article, I first compare the features of this materials as well as how the different authors give their arguments and discuss my view on the differences, information relating to the topic.

To get a grasp of this topic, one needs to know the origin of religion, the construction meaning of Christianity and lastly the function of religion in peoples lives. Another concept that requires deep understanding is the relation between religion and anxiety. As evident in the articles, when a person violates the norms and traditions of Christianity, he or she becomes guilty and that in turn leads to the permanent anxiety about religion (Foucault). Specific standards indicate the hostility between Christianity and sexuality with morals getting encompassed therein. Christianity considers the satisfaction of the sexual desires that people have as sinful and wrong. This limit the activities of the specific people due to the fear of going against the teachings of Christianity. The sexual suppression related to Christianity goes ahead and leads to asceticism. That encompasses the taming of a person sensuality after corruption of the mind and creating a religious aspect that the person can maintain. One of the results of the above element is celibacy (Ellingson Stephen and M). The bible demands monogamy from the heads of the church yet does not prohibit celibacy among the people, and that leads to the rise of questions about the connection between sexuality and Christianity. Some religions like Catholicism showcase a lot of disagreement whereby they allow celibacy while discrediting passion and prefer their followers to follow the example of the desire projected by the Virgin Mary.

From the articles, we see that sexual intimacy when done while not breaking any moral codes and Christian teachings can act as a resource for spiritual transformation and the renewing of peoples lives. Therefore, it is evident that sexual morality has a lot of influence on the way people live their lives. It helps in restoring the sense of joy, person power to influence and get influenced, healing, and creation of passionate relationships as well as strengthening family and relationship ties between couples. When people view sexuality in the way shown above, it can then get accepted into the community and even play a significant role in increasing the grace of God on the people (Wiesner-Hanks). However, detrimental morals destroy the positive view of sexuality. For example, the goodness of sexuality gets broken and killed by different immoral acts such as sexually abusing children, use of sex as a tool for exploitation, rape, and use of sex for coercing something from another person. Tin an effort of creating more understanding of sexuality; it is essential to understand the problems that come with the traditional Christian sexual ethics. They state that sexual acts should only be carried out with the right person, in the right way and also for the pure purposes that the Christian values indicate (Boswell). The people who follow that code get considered as sexually pure while, on the other hand, those who violate it gets viewed as sexually impure an in need of redemption. That leaves very little room for critiquing the connection between sexuality and Christianity.

Another thing evaluated in the article about the gender boundaries that encompass evangelical Christian sexuality. It shows how some Christian men create different meanings in association with gender-deviant sex with the aim of justifying it and fitting it in the biblical and Christian way of life. The article goes ahead to offer different insights about heterosexuality, masculinity and their relation with religion (Burke 6). The argument of the men in this aspect is best describes as weak as one cannot normalize his behavior and yet he is condemning another for similar acts just because they do not meet the required gender awareness.

From those articles, we get to view sexuality and morality in different ways thus acquiring more insight into the relation of the two. Some codes guide each component and arguments arise when one system does not align with the other thus reinforcing different views. The issue of the sexuality in the Christian context is yet to be understood and still draws different arguments from scholars. Another conclusion is that morality acts as the unifying factor between the two concepts (Finnis 171). It is, therefore, appropriate to follow the correct set of morals as a Christian so as not to destroy the positive view of sexual intimacy. All of the issues discussed in the articles are a reality as they take place in our day to day lives. Nevertheless, the discussion needs to get further to present more information for the analysis and help come up with a mutual understanding.

Works Cited

Burke, Kelsy. "What makes a male: Gender and sexual borders on evangelical Christiansexuality websites?" Sexualities 17.1-2 (2014): 3-22.

Boswell, John. Christianity, social broad-mindedness, and homosexuality: Gay people inWestern Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century.University of ChicagoPress, 2015.

Ellingson, Stephen, and M. Christian Green, eds. Religion and sexuality in cross-culturalperspective. Routledge, 2014.

Finnis, John. "Personal integrity, sexual morality and responsible parenthood." Why HumanaeVitae Was Right: A Reader (2014): 171-92.

Foucault, Michel. The history of sexuality, vol. 2: The use of pleasure. Vintage, 2012.

Grubbs, Joshua B., et al. "Contravention as Addiction: Religiosity and ethical disapproval aspredictors of supposed addiction to pornography." Archives of Carnal Behavior 44.1(2015): 125-136.

Klesse, Christian. The specter of promiscuity: Gay male and bisexual non-monogamy andpolyamories. Routledge, 2016.

Wiesner-Hanks, Merry. Christianity and sexuality in the early modern world: Regulating Desire,reforming practice. Routledge, 2014.