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== Contemporary Context Purpose==''God created mankind with a sexual appetite. "Get ready for the best, most mind-blowing [A] man will leave his father and mother and fulfilling sex life ever. From toys to taboos, from arousal be united to orgasmhis wife, you'll find advice and support on all things sexual. Why not? You deserve itthey will become one flesh"'' ([[httpGenesis|Gen.]] 2://love24).ivillage.com/lnssex/topics/0 In its proper context of [[marriage]],,4tgp,00sex can be a good thing.html]!
In the [[Old Testament]], sex for the purpose of procreation was emphasized, as children were evidence of God's blessing on a marriage. However, procreation is not the reason for marriage. "Procreation is not the only purpose of sex in marriage, but sex and procreation go hand in hand."<ref>''Preserve Them, O Lord'' by Fr. John Mack. Ben Lomond, California, Conciliar Press: 1996. p. 121.</ref>
==Context of marriage==
:''See main article: [[Marriage]].
Marriage is assumed to be voluntary, monogamous, heterosexual, and permanent. Within marriage, a man's body belongs to his wife, and a wife's body belongs to her husband. For this reason, one should care for one's body not only for oneself, but also for one's spouse. "The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does" ([[I Corinthians|I Cor.]] 7:4).
:''"…each man should have his own wife There are many centuries of evidence showing how the concept [of a nuclear family] works in practice: pretty good, usually resulting in the survival and each woman her own husbandsuccess of a new generation, humankind’s first responsibility. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rightsBonuses of companionship, romantic love, pleasure and likewise the wife to her husbandjoy often appear as well. For the wife does not have authority over her own body In comparison, an ethic of sexual freedom, but where one in four pregnancies ends in abortion and the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own bodynumbers of children in single-parent homes keeps rising, but the wife doesfails this goal like clockwork. Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement Indicators for a set timesexually transmitted disease, divorce, abandonment, impoverishment of women and children, to devote yourselves to prayerunwed motherhood, and then come together again"'' (1 Corinthians 7:2abortion are at record levels; the heartbreak index is at an all-5)time high."<ref name="whymate" />
It is important good for one a child to understand have married parents, and sex within marriage best provides the child with this protection. "Marriage is not a license particularly important for unlimited marital relations, but an opportunity for asceticism. The ascetic character the rearing of children as they flourish best under the Christian life also covers the marital life long term care and nurture of the believerstheir father and mother."<ref>[http://www. According to Stnhclc. John Chrysostom marriage preserves purity, chastity, and even virginityorg/about/pdf/defenseofmarriage. doc A Letter from America's Religious Leaders in Defense of Marriage as a communion (DOC)] whose signers include His Eminence Archbishop [[Demetrios (Trakatellis) of persons is not restricted to the level America|Demetrios of matter and material sense; contrarily matter and material sense serve the communion America]], Primate of the person and Greek Orthodox Church in this wayAmerica, they acquire a spiritual content. and The prayers Most Blessed [[Herman (Swaiko) of the marriage service clearly address this pastoral issue. Washington and New York|Herman]], Archbishop of Washington and New York, Primate, The priest prays for the bed of the couple to remain ''"undefiledOrthodox Church in America."'' </ref>
"Some Orthodox [[saint]]s have even been called upon to abstain completely from that which is good in marriage itself. The holy martyrs [[Cecilia]] and [[Valerian]] [([[November 22]])] gave themselves entirely to God from the very first night of their arranged marriage. They were united in spiritual vision during a time of intense Roman persecution in the early Church. After great struggle for the Faith, they died together as martyrs for the love of Christ. More recently, Saint [[John of Kronstadt]] and his wife lived together in the same manner, so that Saint John could give himself over more completely to the tremendous burden of ministry that God placed upon him as a priest in nineteenth-century Russia."<ref>''Preserve Them, O Lord'' by Fr. John Mack. Ben Lomond, California, Conciliar Press: 1996. p. 117.</ref>
St. Paul indicated his preference for celibacy: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ... For I wish that all men were even as I am myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am" (I Cor. 7:1,7-8).
Orthodox tradition urges believers to resist not only sexual transgressions, but even thoughts of sexual transgressions. As Christ says, "If a man looks at a woman with lust, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart" ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matt.]] 5:27). Some critics hold this to be an impossible standard, for who can purge his heart of illicit sexual thoughts? Others (including many monastics) insist that such a purge is in fact possible, though difficult.
The [[ten commandments]] include injunctions against adultery and coveting a neighbor's wife (Ex. 20:14,17). Other books of the Old Testament, such as Proverbs and the Wisdom of Sirach, also advise against sexual sins:
*"Take no notice of a loose-living woman, for ... her words are smoother than oil, but their outcome is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death..." (Prov. 5:2-5).
*"But the adulterer has no sense; act like him and court your own destruction" (Prov. 6:32).
*"This is how the adulteress behaves: when she has eaten, she wipes her mouth clean and says, 'I have done nothing wrong' " (Prov. 30:20).
[[Category:Ethics]]