The New Testament and Sexual Culture in Antiquity
“For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” - Matt 5:19
“Shun sexual immorality! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against the body itself.” - 1 Cor 6:18
When we read the New Testament’s injunctions against “sexual immorality” many people often regard them as Victorian-era prohibitions premised on the fear that young people are, shall we say, having too much fun.
I’m still able to recall the 1991 song “People Are Still Having Sex” by La Tour which opens with these lines:
Have you noticed, that people are still having sex?
All the denouncement, had absolutely no effect.
Parents and counselors, constantly scorn them.
But people are still having sex and nothing seems to stop them.
Is that how the NT thinks about sex? It is dirty, so only do it with your spouse! It is an admissible sin for married couples! We have to stop teenagers from doing it at all costs! STOP HAVING SEX!
Despite the prohibitions of sexual “immorality” in the New Testament and the “sex-is-of-the-devil” from the middle ages, our age is the exact opposite. Sexuality is now the # 1 thing that determines your identity. Your personhood is reducible to your sexual desire. I’d aver that “gender identity,” with its 100+ options, is basically sexual desire + individual personality = you! The only sexual taboo is violence while celibacy is a fate worse than death. My gosh, I’ve even met Anglican priests who believe that adultery, as long as it is consensual, is okay!
But what if I told you that the New Testament prohibitions on “sexual immorality” were not a product of Victorian-era prudishness about what is a normal and natural human desire for intimacy and fulfillment? There is far more going on behind the scenes here!
Sometimes it helps if you understand the sexual culture of antiquity and what the NT authors are responding to in their prohibitions of sexual immorality.
Let me give you two examples! Note, not for the squeamish, so if you’re easily offended, don’t read further!