Doodlebug02
Active Member
Hi everyone. I was just wondering how many people on here think that sex before marriage is a sin? As for me, it's not a sin in my eyes. :no:
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Liberal Christians: Do you consider sex before marriage to be a sin?
- Thread starter Doodlebug02
- Start date
Trey of Diamonds
Well-Known Member
Nope.
Wandered Off
Sporadic Driveby Member
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This thread is in the Liberal Christianity DIR area, so any response other than a respectful question can come only from people who identify as liberal Christians.
Thanks - Staff
This thread is in the Liberal Christianity DIR area, so any response other than a respectful question can come only from people who identify as liberal Christians.
Thanks - Staff
Doodlebug02
Active Member
Well, it's nice to know that I'm not alone. I honestly expected to have more responses than this by now though.
Karl R
Active Member
In the bible, each sin falls into one of two categories:
1. Actions that are harmful to others.
2. Actions that are harmful to ourselves.
Certain promiscuous behaviors can meet one or both of those criteria. However, sex within a committed relationship is unlikely to be harmful to either party. So it's going to depend on the situation.
Does that mean those who explicitly identify as liberal christians, or does implicit identification count as well?
Al Bundy
Dook Sux
Wandered Off
Sporadic Driveby Member
If you self-identify as one, it counts whether you do so explicitly or implicitly.
I'm new here. Hi! Sex before marriage a sin? I believe sin is separation from God, God is all about healthy, healing relationships. People are waiting much longer to get married than my generation - in most cases that's probably a good thing. I think tthe act of sex itself is not a "sin" between 2 consenting adults (gay or heterosexual; married or not). They gotta respect any objections that a partner may express.
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
Okay, I'm not a "liberal" Christian and I do believe sex outside of marriage is a sin. That said, I don't intend to try to debate the point. I'm just wondering how "liberal" Christians interpret scriptures such as 1 Thessalonians 4:2-3, which states, "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication." Since it doesn't appear to me as if this is a verse that could be interpreted in a whole lot of ways, I'm wondering if you think that God has changed His mind since these words were written or what? (I'm having a really hard time thinking of what "what" means. 
)
)
.lava
Veteran Member
but commands of God are not meant for this or that person ((depending on situation)). they are meant for every single person in the name of offering equality inbetween individuals. because God does not discriminate people. how would you solve this dilemma?
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southdetroit
New Member
Okay, I'm not a "liberal" Christian and I do believe sex outside of marriage is a sin. That said, I don't intend to try to debate the point. I'm just wondering how "liberal" Christians interpret scriptures such as 1 Thessalonians 4:2-3, which states, "For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication." Since it doesn't appear to me as if this is a verse that could be interpreted in a whole lot of ways, I'm wondering if you think that God has changed His mind since these words were written or what? (I'm having a really hard time thinking of what "what" means.
I suppose that "God changed His mind" is one way to put it. I think it's very important to look at the Bible as something that addressed the issues of its time. We should inspect these sorts of passages nowadays with a critical eye. The Bible condemns fornication to encourage a conservative, family-centered society. This is not what we necessarily have in modern American society, where often people date a lot and like to take their time "settling down."
Karl R
Active Member
As a liberal christian, I would have to go back to the original Greek text, then study the history and society of Thessalonia to determine what the original Greek word meant in the context of that culture at that time.
Following that, I would have to find some information to determine what was occurring at the church in Thessalonia at the time of the letter. The Pauline letters were generally written to address specific problems in specific churches at specific times.
In modern times, it seems that fornication means, "whatever my church says it means." As a liberal christian, that's not an acceptable answer. I'll base my behavior off scripture that I do understand (the great commandment and the golden rule) until I have enough information to make an informed decision about this passage from Thessalonians.
Do you have some scriptural basis for this belief?
My response to Katzpur began to answer your first comment, but I'll elaborate.
There's a story about Confucius (roughly paraphrased):
A man was standing with Confucius when one of Confucius' students approached.
Student #1: Master, when you give us an instruction, should we put it into practice immediately?
Confucius: How can you put it into practice immediately? Your parents are still alive.
Shortly thereafter, another student approached.
Student #2: Master, when you give us an instruction, should we put it into practice immediately.
Confucius: Of course you should.
After the student left, the baffled bystander addressed Confucius.
Bystander: Master, those two students asked you the same question, but you gave them completely different answers.
Confucius: Yes. The second student is timid and needs to be encouraged. The first student is a fanatic and needs to be restrained.
I don't believe Confucius is in any way equal to god.
However, I don't believe christians are any smarter than Confucius' students. We require instructions that are tailored specifically to our circumstances. However, we're so conceited about our own intelligence that we believe we can pick up a bible and perfectly understand the lesson we're reading.
Even though it was addressed to someone else.
Even though it was translated once or twice since then.
Even though it was given 2,000 (or so) years ago.
Even though we have made no effort to understand the culture or society it was given in.
If I say, "My coworker went postal," you would understand what I meant.
If I said the same phrase 30 years ago, a listener would have drawn a completely different meaning from that statement.
The language I've learned from birth has noticeably drifted during my lifetime. Yet you're convinced that the message in the bible is immutable, even though the language and culture have undisputedly changed since the words were written.
