It is good for a man not to TOUCH a woman (1 Cor. 7:1)
Alan B. Thomas
a_b_thomas at yahoo.com
Tue Jun 18 17:02:04 EDT 2002
This comment seems somewhat representative of a trend:
> It is likely that there was some teaching in Corinth
> which suggested that
> married people were more spiritual if they did not
> have sexual relations.
> Probably a fervent overreaction to the prevalent
> sexual sins in Corinth.
> Paul corrects that misunderstanding. If you are
> married, sex is part of your
> mutual responsibility, and not unspiritual at all.
> One of the reasons for
> this advice is again to avoid the temptation of sex
> outside of marriage (v.
> 5).
I see no need at this juncture to introduce
speculation or attempt to guess at what is not
mentioned in order to clarify what is mentioned. This
section is already hard enough, do we really need to
begin the endless suggestions of guessing what Paul
left unstated, especially that which would alter the
natural reading of the text?
Verse one does not specifically mention sexual
intercourse, and hAPTW would not be understood in such
a limited sense. hAPTW includes any form of sexual
arousal, without requiring it leading all the way to
PORNEIA. What PORNEIA indicates is that verse 1 is
referring to unmarried individuals, since PORNEIA is
not an option for married couples. And that is, to
some extent, how I understand verses 2 onward.
To eliminate hAPTW, to whatever extent it progresses
(even to the final stage of PORNEIA), marriage is the
only appropriate response to the issue raised by the
Corinthians. hAPTW is an indicator that two
individuals have affections for each other, and the
only place to express sexual affections in within
marriage. In other words, Paul simply states that the
response to hAPTW is marriage. Verse 9 reiterates or
summarizes this.
I certainly do not claim to have the answer to this
chapter, but it seems we are needlessly going beyond
what is clearly stated by venturing haphazard guesses
as to what might have led Paul to write what he has.
I do agree later in the chapter Paul warns against the
struggles of marriage, but if a couple are fighting
sexual urges, the issue is settled: become husband and
wife.
=====
Sincerely,
Alan B. Thomas
Unless God provides indisputable, verifiable evidence
of His revelation to mankind,
it must be rejected at all costs....
("I did nothing in secret" Jesus Christ)
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