EARLY CHRISTIANITY
AND THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT, Continued
The great Apostle Paul gave
marriage advice in his letter to the Corinthians. In it,
he appears
to suggest that it was good not to marry if you weren’t already married.
He urged those that were married to remain faithful to each other.
“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for
a
man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let
every
man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise
also the wife unto the husband. . . . For I would that all men were
even
as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after
this
manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried
and
widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they
cannot
contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to
burn.” (I Cor. 7:1-3;7-9)
In “Marriage, a History,” we read:
“What
distinguished early Christianity from Judaism in its approach to
marriage
and family was the belief that the kingdom of God was close at
hand,
and people must therefore break with worldly ties to prepare for the
imminent
arrival of God’s kingdom. In subsequent centuries this aspect
was
played down, but early Christianity was hostile to marital and kinship
obligations to a degree unimaginable to any previous reformers aside
from
Plato.
“The founders of Christianity agreed with Jewish scholars
that it was
better to marry than to be preoccupied with lust. But
their acceptance of
marriage was much less enthusiastic. ‘It is better,’
Paul grudgingly
conceded, ‘to marry than to burn’ (I Cor. 7:9).” (Coontz,
Stephanie:
“Marriage, a History,” pg. 85-86)
William Barclay believes
that we find in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, written nine
years
after his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul’s true view of marriage,
in which he
appears to validate it. Paul writes:
“For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be
joined unto
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:31)
The Apostle
Peter also gave marriage advice in one of his letters. He urged the
expression of those lovely qualities which could keep married Christians
happy
and away from the temptation of adultery. This translation is
from “The Message,”
by Eugene H. Peterson:
“The same goes for you
wives: Be good wives to your husbands,
responsive to their needs.
There are husbands who, indifferent as they
are to any words about
God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty.
What matters
is not your outer appearance – the styling of your hair, the
jewelry
you wear, the cut of your clothes – but your inner disposition.
“Cultivate
inner beauty; the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.
The
holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were
good,
loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of
Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true
daughters
of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.
“The same
goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives.
Honor them,
delight in them. As women they lack some of your
advantages. But in
the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your
wives, then,
as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.” (I Peter 3:1-7)
(Translation:
Peterson, Eugene H.: “The Message”)
To the early Christians, chastity
was just as important as marital fidelity:
“Freedom from unchastity
was one of four minimum entrance
requirements for aspiring candidates
to Christian groups, as stated in
a letter sent from the elders and
apostles at Jerusalem to Antioch
Christians via Judas Barsabas and
Silas.” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, pg 206)
We read about those four
minimum entrance requirements in Acts:
“For it seemed good to the
Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no
greater burden than these
necessary things; That ye abstain from meats
offered to idols, and
from blood, and from things strangled, and from
fornication: from
which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye
well.” (Acts
15:28, 29)
The choice of these four minimum requirements was reached
after fierce debates
by the elders regarding what they would require
of the new non-Jewish converts
to Christianity. Should the Gentiles
be required to be circumcised, was one
question, for instance. In
the end, only a few rules regarding food remained, plus
the one moral
rule: no fornication. This is sex outside of a marriage relationship.
The elders had taken Jesus’ teaching to heart, that to indulge in
lust, inside or
outside of marriage, was as sinful as the act of adultery.
William Barclay quotes the historian J.D. Unwin, who had studied over
80 different
civilizations, and from his study Unwin discerned the
following pattern:
“Every civilization is established, and consolidated
by observing a strict
moral code, is maintained while this strict
code is kept, and decays when
sexual license is allowed. . . Any human
society is free to choose either
to display great energy or to enjoy
sexual freedom; the evidence is that
it cannot do both for more than
one generation.” (Barclay, William:
“The Ten Commandments,” pg. 141)
You can find numerous articles on the Internet that quote Unwin’s
study, and those
of other sociologists concerned with the impact of
moral laxity on society. Some
sources theorize that it would take
several generations to see the impact of this
sexual freedom.
If you
are interested in learning more about the history of marriage, divorce,
and
sexual relations, from ancient times up to the present day, you
can find detailed
information in “Marriage, a History: From Obedience
to Intimacy, or How Love
Conquered Marriage,” by Stephanie Coontz;
2005)
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
Christian Science
demands adherence to the moral and spiritual law of “Thou shalt
not
commit adultery.” The demand is upon both men and women, inside and
outside of a marriage relationship. The principle behind God’s Commandment
includes Jesus’ teaching on lust, and anything that would stain or
invade the purity
of one of God’s children, or the purity of man’s
relationship with God. We will
explore both the moral and spiritual
concepts of the Seventh Commandment,
and see how the idea of our unity
with God -- our “at-one-ment” -- is the true
Covenant which is not
to be adulterated.
“‘Thou shalt not commit adultery;’ in other words,
thou shalt not adulterate
Life, Truth, or Love, -- mentally, morally,
or physically.” (Eddy, Mary Baker:
“Miscellaneous Writings,” pg. 66)
The
Moral Demand of the Seventh Commandment:
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer
and Founder of Christian Science, writes in
Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures:
“Infidelity to the marriage covenant is the
social scourge of all races,
‘the pestilence that walketh in darkness,
. . . the destruction that
wasteth at noonday.’ The commandment, ‘Thou
shalt not commit
adultery,’ is no less imperative than the one, ‘Thou
shalt not kill.’”
“Chastity is the cement of civilization and progress.
Without it there is
no stability in society, and without it one cannot
attain the Science of
Life.” (S&H 56-57)
Committing adultery is
a moral wrong according to Christian Science. Good
morals provide
a foundation for our spiritual growth and ability to heal.
Maintaining
chastity, and turning from the temptations of adultery, will also
keep
us from much personal sorrow.
“You must control evil thoughts
in the first instance, or they will control
you in the second. Jesus
declared that to look with desire on forbidden
objects was to break
a moral precept. He laid great stress on the action
of the human mind,
unseen to the senses.” (S&H 234)
“In order to heal by Science,
you must not be ignorant of the moral and
spiritual demands of Science
nor disobey them. Moral ignorance or sin
affects your demonstration,
and hinders its approach to the standard in
Christian Science.” (S&H
483)
“Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the
spiritual
ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through
better health
and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.” (S&H
485)
“Never breathe an immoral atmosphere, unless in the attempt to
purify it.”
(S&H 452)
“It were better to be exposed to every plague
on earth than to endure the
cumulative effects of a guilty conscience.
The abiding consciousness of
wrong-doing tends to destroy the ability
to do right. If sin is not regretted
and is not lessening, then it
is hastening on to physical and moral doom.
You are conquered by the
moral penalties you incur and the ills they bring.
The pains of sinful
sense are less harmful than its pleasures. Belief in
material suffering causes mortals to retreat from their error, to flee from
body to Spirit,
and to appeal to divine sources outside of themselves.”
(S&H 405)
Coming Up: Meeting the Moral Demands;
Christian Science and Marriage;
Dealing with the Temptation of Adultery;
"Blessed are the merciful"; Divorce?
