Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: nh0g+@andrew.cmu.edu (Nils Hammer) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Sexual sin Message-ID: Date: 20 Jul 90 07:10:22 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 37 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu True, I am not following the existing discussion, but: I wonder if all premarital sex is fornication, I suspect that someone more learned than I can give us a technical definition. When the subject is discussed, I always feel there is something wrong with the standard hardline thinking. After all, consider the sin of Onan, which was NOT making his brothers wife pregnant, but people used it for the basis of lots of weird unhealthy "sins" to accuse others of. I enjoy theological arguments, and I am fortunate in having a Roman Catholic friend to share them with ;-) However, if we rigidly examine everything by laws, I don`t think justice follows. When I look at thing with what I like to think of as my christian nature, I often get a different answer. I have met fornicators, and did not enjoy their company. I have also had many friends who's pre-marital sex seemed completely wholesome, and in fact, was likely to lead to marriage. My R.C. friend would basically agree Nils K. Hammer nh0g@andrew.cmu.edu [The "Theological Wordbook of the Bible" says that the Hebrew word means intercourse outside marriage, but in many cases it refers more specifically to sacred prostitution involved in pagan religion. In the NT it covers at least adultery (Mat 5:22, 19:9), intercourse outside marriage (John 8:41), incest (I Cor 5:1), and sodomy (Jude 7), which seems to justify a fairly general translation such as "unchastity". The story of Jesus' birth in Mat. implies that having sexual relations before marriage would be a cause for breaking off the engagement. Ex 22:16 and Deut 22:14 clearly imply that a woman is expected to be virgin until she is married. There have been suggestions that there is a double standard in the OT, but I'd be very surprised if any Christian would advocate that. In I Cor 7 it seems clear that one is expected to marry before having sexual relations. What Onan refused to do was his specific legal duty. According to Deut 25:5, it would have made her his wife, so I don't see that this would be fornication. I'll leave it to others to discuss whether there is any justification for relaxing these requirements. I'm simply trying to clarify the Biblical usage, as you requested. --clh]