Christians: Is it moral to abstain from sex within marriage?

Originally posted by Char-Lee
God walked in the garden with man in those days, I think the be fruitful and multiply was conversation not a command! think about it the earth was pretty empty at the time! We know it is over burdened with us now.

Overpopulation is a myth. Some places like Russia are actually having an underpopulation crisis, for example the Russian government has actually started giving money to people for having children.

reply to post by Nosred


Most developed countries do in some form, but you're right in that Russia is actually giving young couples in certain regions homes and large cash payouts.

On to[pic though, I am not a Christian or even religious, but I have been taught in Christian schools and have read the Bible, and I do not recall any passage saying you couldn't use protection..

Originally posted by Nosred

Originally posted by Char-Lee
God walked in the garden with man in those days, I think the be fruitful and multiply was conversation not a command! think about it the earth was pretty empty at the time! We know it is over burdened with us now.

Overpopulation is a myth. Some places like Russia are actually having an underpopulation crisis, for example the Russian government has actually started giving money to people for having children.

The places that are underpopulated cannot grow food, the world is short of food and water, Governments want people to reproduce for soldiers and young to support the old.

Originally posted by windword

Originally posted by BabiesGame69
i would say yes abstain from cumming at all.

You do know holding "the boys" inside won't save them, they'll die anyway? They don't live forever inside you. As a matter of fact, the male body considers sperm an enemy and creates antibodies to kill the sperm. Nature counteracts that natural reaction by creating several "nurse sperm" per one regular sperm to protect it from the male's own imune system.

That's why men feel "the need" to ejaculate. If it doesn't come out natually, it will come out while you sleep. OH NO Lilith got you while you slept. You are cursed!

^this^
Not to mentions the billions of swimmers that die after normal copulation, rarely do they reach the target of the egg. So even in BabiesGame reasoning, he should not even attempt to make a child with his wife because there will be billions of casualties while trying to get a woman pregnant.

Come on people use some common sense and stop listening to what some old preacher from the Catholic church is telling you. The Catholic church is the reason for millions of starving children in the Philippines.
Read the bible and or get educated....please.

Overpopulation is not the focus of the OP, but with the discussion moving in that direction I would like to add a little clarity to this subject.

First, there is no such problem as overpopulation of the earth.

What is the problem is population density. We all choose to live in the same place. I forget the actual statistic, but it is something like 80% of the world’s population lives within 100 miles of the world’s coastal lines. Just a few fun fact about population,

If you were able to take every human on earth a place them in a military formation, everyone in the world would fit inside the city limits of Houston, TX.

If you divided the entire world’s population into family group of four and gave each of them a normal quarter acre lot and a 1500 sgft home the entire world population would not fill the State of Texas.

So, as you can see the earth does not have overpopulation.

What we do have is a problem with resource distribution and density.

reply to post by brokedown


That is very true....

but try feeding 9 children and you have no job. It comes down to common sense and education. How loving is it to bring those children into 3rd world chantey town just because the priest says you will go to hell if you waste sperm.

Take a trip through Amish country and you will see that the more children you have the richer you become. Children are used as work hands and the older they are the more valuable they become.

It is not how many mouths someone has to feed, it is all about choices we make.

We can choose to see our self as a victim (what our media and governments desire), or we can choose to see our self as God intends, a beautiful prince or princess of the throne, heir to the kingdom. Take back our power and blossom.

I am not saying life is easy, it is not, it is a struggle. Each day that presents itself comes with another set of challenges. What I am saying is that our society has allowed itself to be brainwashed to the real role a child has in the family. The child is to assist the family through its labor. Our society has lost this concept and by doing so weaken the family, handicapped the child and allow poverty to invade the mind.

If some one has many mouths to feed, a large kitchen garden is the answer. Grow during the season, and store for the winter. This is exactly how families fed themselves just 50 years ago. What has changed ?

Our society is what changed. Got to have cable TV, play station games, the latest clothes, new car… it is all Vanity !

What are the rewards of our Vanity, dis-respectful children who as adults cannot support themselves.

You do indeed reap what you sow.

Don't get married if you don't want children or if you can't trust your partner not to cheat because of rare sex. I think this only applies if you are a Catholic.

reply to post by brokedown


I respect what you are saying....


but lets get back to killing sperm and if one will go to hell for that.

OP? Anyone else?

Sorry, but here comes the question: Are you married and your wife is telling you she doesn't want kids? Or she doesn't want sex?

Either way? Let's go through a quick check list.

Do you bath every day, trim your facial hair so it isn’t scratchy, bush your teeth and practice good hygiene?
Are you patient and kind and loving.
Do you treat her with respect in and out of bed?

If you are able to check 'YES" to each of those things and your wife still is against 'sex' - then you need to see a marriage or sex counselor.

I get the feeling there's a wife out there who can't stand to do the 'nasty' cause she thinks her husband is nasty and she's blaming it on religion.

Beyond that? Look at the scripture that's posted here from Corinthians. We all have an obligation, Christian or not, to please our 'partners' and be pleased by them in return. Along with that comes the understanding we must have a modicum of respect for ourselves, and our partners to accomplish this.

peace

Sex is good in marriage. God blessed it and wants you to enjoy it as often as you are able. However, a woman's cycle and a man's cycle for sexual drives do not always meet so there are times when one partner needs to be patient for the other. And this goes both ways. As for a remark asking if the man took a bath, etc. I have seen some fairly filthy can't take a bath women walking around as well so that goes both ways. It's good to be both acceptable and clean and fresh looking for the one you love as you would want them to be for you.

As for birth control. There are ways to have sex and not get pregnant. One is the female rhythm method, this works when done right, and the other is for a man to put a jacket on it and stop whining over it doesn't feel right. I don't suggest pills because they cause a host of physical problems for a woman that she shouldn't have to suffer.

So have sex, but do it married, and enjoy it when you can, as much as you can.

I never understood the practical reasoning behind why sex had to wait until marriage. Outside of spiritual belief (which I don't really consider practical despite valid) there's only reasons of financial stability for a potential child being born in the event of an accidental pregnancy. And that reason doesn't really work either since people don't need to be married for a child to be financially stable.

I came on way to strong here...cant believe i even participated. Somehow i think we have been trolled here. In any case...

carry on people, do what you do...or don't.

Originally posted by arbitrarygeneraiist
I never understood the practical reasoning behind why sex had to wait until marriage. Outside of spiritual belief (which I don't really consider practical despite valid) there's only reasons of financial stability for a potential child being born in the event of an accidental pregnancy. And that reason doesn't really work either since people don't need to be married for a child to be financially stable.

edit on 28-7-2011 by arbitrarygeneraiist because: (no reason given)

Well, I think the thread is within the realm of Christian moral values, and seeing how the rest of the unbelieving world really don't have any they can point to except what feels right to them, the practical reasoning would be, there is a God and that's they way He wants it to be. But like I said, not everyone agrees to that about sex and marriage.

Its a shame many people dont know the difference between the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity. Christianity is based on the bible. Roman Catholics religion is based on a mixture of the original religions in the roman empire, which was many and which included Christianity.

Catholics follow the Pope's decree.
Christians base their believe in the New Testament.

Pope's mandate that birth control was a sin.
The bible does not.

There are plenty of other things about the roman Catholic Church that have given Christianity a black eye because people do not understand the difference. For those who don't know. Look into it, starting with Luther.

Originally posted by Gravity215
Its a shame many people dont know the difference between the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity. Christianity is based on the bible. Roman Catholics religion is based on a mixture of the original religions in the roman empire, which was many and which included Christianity.

Catholics follow the Pope's decree.
Christians base their believe in the New Testament.

Pope's mandate that birth control was a sin.
The bible does not.

There are plenty of other things about the roman Catholic Church that have given Christianity a black eye because people do not understand the difference. For those who don't know. Look into it, starting with Luther.

You are correct, but Jesus also said that those who were not against Him were for Him. I'm not a Catholic, I'm a Christian btw.

Didn't Jesus say something like "Love thy neighbor as thyself"?

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

reply to post by SmedleyBurlap


Jennybee33 got it right on the head.

if their morals mean causing the other to be tempted by Satan than yes, specially if your not a big fan on the traditionally accepted definition of "fasting" (see Is58.6) and as far as prayer I'm always reminded of the two guys who went to the "temple" to pray (Luke18)-

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.
The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
1Corinthians7

why get married?

but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
7

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled
Hebrews13

of course there seems to be more to "marriage" than first meets the eye also

What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mark10

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Revelation18

And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Matthew22
biblos.com...

Natural family planning has been easy in my expirience. There is a measure of error in any known birth control, but when done properly natural planning is as effective as almost anything else. Resisting urges isn't difficult when you know that you have a willing partner when the right time comes. Men being sex-crazed animals is a myth pushed on society by mass media. Women disliking sex from married partner is also a myth. Knowing the natural fertility cycle is being self-aware, and recognizing part of who you are. Those who don't keep track are in disconnect with themselves. Few young women seem to realize the potential dangers of long-time pill usage, almost no young men think about this. It can take years to regulate the body after stopping. The religious traditions of the Catholic Church should come naturally and feel right when in practice. If you see them as a dogmatic negative that brings guilt and chaos in your life - it is like anything else in the universe, things tend to cooperate with you in the universe when you are positive about them, and cause chaos when you are negative about them. I see it as a path to self-awareness, and in being a physical creature. It makes you feel more alive, in control, and opens for the possibility of prosperity through fertility.