{"id":2841,"date":"2007-07-30T00:30:37","date_gmt":"2007-07-30T05:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/"},"modified":"2007-07-30T00:30:37","modified_gmt":"2007-07-30T05:30:37","slug":"augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/","title":{"rendered":"Augustine on the Protestant Sex Ethic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Protestants today may be thoroughly surprised to learn that things weren\u2019t always so permissive and open when it comes to sexuality \u2014 that is, between husbands and wives. Gilbert Meilaender, in The Way That Leads Home<\/a><\/em> (chp. 4), puts Augustine to the test. Augustine influenced the Roman Catholic view of sexuality massively, and so it is good to state what Augustine argued.
\nI ask this question though: In your community of faith is there any discussion about contraception \u2014 or is it either simply ignored or assumed as legitimate for the Christian? How realistic is the procreation theory of sexuality? the \u201cunitive\u201d or \u201ccommunion\u201d theory?
\nAugustine made a distinction between goods and pleasures \u2014 and he was theologically and philosophically nervous about pleasures, deriving as they do from ardent desire, because humans are fallen and prone to let pleasures run amok. Here is an analogy from Augustine:
\n1. Food is a good because it is provided by God for our health and sustenance \u2014 and that is all. Food eaten for the purpose of fullness or pleasure is sinful. (Augustine, you might imagine, was big on fasting, too.)
\n2. Sex is \u201ca good\u201d because it is provided by God for procreation \u2014 and that is (about) all. Augustine actually allowed for Adam and Eve to have had coitus prior to the Fall but that is a condition in which humans no longer find themselves. So, any sexual intercourse outside of the intent of procreation partakes in desire and pleasure and outside its good.
\nAugustine\u2019s view is the rigor of sex for procreation viewpoint \u2014 and it is not officially the Roman Catholic view. RCism believes \u2014 and here I\u2019m relying on the way Meilaender describes it \u2014 in sexual intercourse not only for procreative but also unitive <\/em>intents. Wife and husband surrender themselves to one another and come to a fuller knowledge of one another.
\nContraception, it follows, is wrong because it divides the procreative from the pleasure principles.
\nMeilaender disagrees with Augustine. On food, he thinks there is clearly also another \u201cgood\u201d: food is also designed by God to draw humans to the table for conversation, for fellowship, and for loving one another. So also sex is more than procreation: it is also has a unitive focus.
\nAll admit \u2014 how can they not? \u2014 that sexuality is not only procreative but is also pleasurable. If one puts with procreation also the unification good, is there a place for pleasure in a Christian theory of sexuality?
\nNow we ask a question that most Protestants don\u2019t think about. Hardly ever. But, this is precisely the theological conversation that has shaped the Church\u2019s view of sexuality. Augustine believed that pleasure, since it accompanied the procreative process, is a good if it comes as a result of the procreative intent. Otherwise, it is like eating too much or eating for the sake of pleasure alone. In other words, it is only about pleasure.
\nMeilaender does something I\u2019ve not seen: he thinks sex, which he calls a \u201cmode of presence to the spouse unlike any other\u201d (140) \u2014 should not have either the procreative or unitive intent. Instead, it is the passion of a man and a woman and both the procreative and unitive results are gifts from God. \u201cLove-giving has been life-giving, not because the lovers willed it, but because God has so blessed it\u201d (140). The gift is seen as gift when the wife and husband \u201cset aside our intentions and purposes\u201d (140). Sex then is to be sought for its communion with one another \u2014 let God determine the gifts.
\nAugustine, he suggests, reminds us that sex is not simply about pleasure.
\nContraception is permissible as long as the couple doesn\u2019t prolong that \u201cmode of presence\u201d too long \u2014 for then it is divorced from the \u201cgift\u201d God gives.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protestants today may be thoroughly surprised to learn that things weren\u2019t always so permissive and open when it comes to sexuality \u2014 that is, between husbands and wives. Gilbert Meilaender, in The Way That Leads Home (chp. 4), puts Augustine to the test. Augustine influenced the Roman Catholic view of sexuality massively, and so it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,1756],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-love-and-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\nAugustine on the Protestant Sex Ethic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Protestants today may be thoroughly surprised to learn that things weren't always so permissive and open when it comes to sexuality -- that is, between\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Augustine on the Protestant Sex Ethic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Protestants today may be thoroughly surprised to learn that things weren't always so permissive and open when it comes to sexuality -- that is, between\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-07-30T05:30:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/\",\"name\":\"Augustine on the Protestant Sex Ethic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-07-30T05:30:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-07-30T05:30:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Protestants today may be thoroughly surprised to learn that things weren't always so permissive and open when it comes to sexuality -- that is, between\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/07\/30\/augustine-on-the-protestant-sex-ethic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Augustine on the Protestant Sex Ethic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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