in chapter one probably came from seeing what went on in Corinth. He knew the abysmal immorality of the city. In the seventh chapter of I Cor inthians Paul shares practical ad vice on how to be on guard against looseness in marriage. It is neces sarily blunt, specific, down-to-earth advice. It is needed today perhaps as much or more as it was in Cor inth. From the William's transla tion we read, "It may be a good thing for a man to remain unmar ried; but because of so much sex ual immorality every man should have a wife of his own, and every woman a husband of her own. The husband must always give the wife what is due her, and the wife, too, must do so for her husband. The wife does not have the right to do as she pleases with her own body; the husband has his right to it. In the same way the husband does not have the right to do as he pleases with his own body, the wife has her right to it. You hus bands and wives must stop refus ing each other what is due, unless you agree to do so just for awhile, so as to have plenty of time for prayer, and then to be together again, so as to keep Satan from tempting you because of your lack of self control." There were those who had con cluded that because of the sexual looseness in Corinth all sex should be avoided. Augustine, a noted theologian of the past, wrote that the sexual act was not only unes sential in marriage, but that mar riage without it would be holier. Paul points out that celebacy is not to be considered the normal thing to do. One cannot escape the prob lem of sex by disowning it alto gether. A person is not necessarily Page 17
these words which I command you shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk in the way, and when you lie down, and when you arise." That is good advice! Why do we not follow it today? PROPER SEX PERSPECTIVE: PART 1 We are living in days when "hard core pornography" can be seen from books and magazines in al most every imaginable place. Sex ual freedom has almost become a religion. Hollywood grinds out motion pictures which promise more inside the theater than they dare show on the billboards. Tele vision, in a determined effort not completely to be outdone, brings into our living rooms attractions that a few years ago were confined to night clubs. This sexual bombardment takes its toll on marriage. Unfaithfulness inside and outside of church circles has become an increasingly serious problem. Even Christian husbands and wives come to feel that in the sordid seventies it is impossible to take seriously Paul's warning to the Christians at Corinth "shun sexual looseness like the plague" (I Cor inthians 6:18 Phillips' Translation). Corinth in the first century was not exactly a paradise of purity. It was the "sin city" of the ancient world. Corinth was the "good time city" of ancient Greece. The city's temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, was served by a staff of prostitutes. To say that a man "lived like a Corinthian" meant that his existence was absolutely dissolute. When Paul wrote the book of Ro mans he was living in Corinth. The long list of sexual sins described
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