Adultery and the Preservation of Life

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms:

Why the Seventh Commandment is So Controversial

Good Morning,

Of all the Ten Commandments in some ways the Seventh is the most pertinent to our current cultural breakdown and the one we have the most trouble talking about with seriousness and openness. Everyone’s grandma told them not to talk about it, so we don’t, except through euphemisms and juvenile remarks. However, none of the other statutes found in the summary of the Lord’s very character have as a consequence of its keeping (or breaking) the possibility that life can be created. The Sixth Commandment, which we looked at the past couple of weeks of course concerned its ending, but here we are working through what the one who made the heavens and the earth has to teach us about our own ability and calling to bring forth a new humanity made in His image.

Even those who our catechism below (which includes Paul, see 1 Cor. 7:8-9), mentioned with the gift of continency must take seriously the positive attributes given uniquely to mankind to do something only God has done. It’s a major responsibility and its violation has led to innumerable deaths from everything from disease to war. As I noted on Twitter the other day there is one weird trick that would guarantee all STD’s go the way of the Dodo…the problem is no one wants to follow it.

The greatest of the Homeric epics of ancient Greece centers around Helen and Paris and her kidnapping. The one Shakespeare play we all know the most about is grounded in the forbidden love between Romeo and Juliet. Romance, sexual intercourse, and all the grandness of the concept must not be hidden from conversation if the Church and her people are going to witness to the fallen world concerning sexuality’s beauty and God-given purpose. It is good and right and we have nothing to be ashamed about when we rest in the way our Lord has provided for husband and wife to find one another in grace.

Continue here.