Fornication
John Milton plays on the double meaning of the word in The Reason of Church-Government Urged against Prelaty (1642): "[She] gives up her body to a mercenary whordome under those fornicated [ar]ches which she cals Gods house.
[20] For instance, William the Conqueror's right to succeed to the throne of Normandy was never questioned on the grounds he was a bastard nor, in his conflict with Harold Godwinson over who should rule England, was this issue raised as an argument against him.
However, notorious and open lewdness, when carried to the extent of exciting public scandal, continued to be an indictable offence at common law, however fornication in a private sense was not illegal.
[35] In some Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,[36] Afghanistan,[37][38][39] Iran,[39] Kuwait,[40] Brunei, Maldives,[41] Malaysia, Morocco,[42] Oman,[43] Mauritania,[44] Qatar,[45] Sudan,[46] and Yemen, any form of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal.
[75] Likewise, Friberg's Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament defines porneia as being "generally, every kind of extramarital, unlawful or unnatural sexual intercourse".
However, it is an excellent translation for porneia, which basically referred to any kind of sex outside of marriage [...] This has been contested [...] but the overwhelming weight of scholarship and all the available evidence from the ancient world points firmly in this direction.
A study by Bernard Hoose states that claims to a continuous teaching by the Church on matters of sexuality, life and death and crime and punishment are "simply not true".
"[96] In his sermon on the Epistle to the Ephesians Chapter 5, Luther stated: In naming uncleanness in addition to fornication, the reference is to all sensual affections in distinction from wedded love.
Luther defined marriage as "the God-appointed and legitimate union of man and woman in the hope of having children or at least for the purpose of avoiding fornication and sin and living to the glory of God.
"[112] The Australian non-denominational Christian teen sex education website, "Boys Under Attack", cites Lutheran sources to assert that people should maintain virginity until marriage.
[121] E. William Monter asserts that, "The supposedly repressive dimension of Calvinist morality affected women's lives in ways which were often beneficial... Each year the [Genevan] Consistory judged a half-dozen cases of fornication by engaged couples and as many accusations of illicit sex between masters and servants.
[124][125] An interesting case is that of Pierre Palma Cayet, who scandalously wrote a book in which he provided a scriptural defence of brothels, prostitution and fornication, which led to him being deposed as a Huguenot pastor.
[140] The prominent conservative American Calvinist theologian, R. C. Sproul, opposes premarital sex on the grounds that the marriage covenant is an essential legal safeguard, protecting both members of the couple from each other's sinfulness.
The 1988 Lambeth Conference made this declaration in its Resolution on Marriage and Family: "Noting the gap between traditional Christian teaching on pre-marital sex, and the life-styles being adopted by many people today, both within and outside the Church: (a) calls on provinces and dioceses to adopt a caring and pastoral attitude to such people; (b) reaffirms the traditional biblical teaching that sexual intercourse is an act of total commitment which belongs properly within a permanent married relationship; (c) in response to the International Conference of Young Anglicans in Belfast, urges provinces and dioceses to plan with young people programmes to explore issues such as pre-marital sex in the light of traditional Christian values" (Resolution 34).
Thatcher notes that, today, "Non-nuptial cohabitation is unlikely ever to be thought consistent with Christian faith if only because God wills only what is best for us, and there [are] good reasons for thinking that these arrangements are not the best for us."
"[148] Also in 1987, the General Synod of the Church of England asserted "(1) that sexual intercourse is an act of total commitment which belongs properly within a permanent married relationship, (2) that fornication and adultery are sins against this ideal, and are to be met by a call to repentance and the exercise of compassion".
[152] The 2003 report, Cohabitation: A Christian Reflection, produced by the Diocese of Southwark, found that the Church's traditional teaching that sex before marriage is wrong has been inherited from a different form of society than that which exists today.
[152] In a 2004 interview, the Anglican Primate of Australia, Archbishop Peter Carnley, noted that heterosexual de facto relationships and a disinclination to commit were more serious worries for him than the same-sex marriage movement.
"[162] The Kinsey Institute comments that: Prior to the 1950s, the religious influences forming sexual constructs [in Britain] came almost exclusively from "the official church" of England, and "unofficially" from the other Christian denominations.
With the national religious scene resembling the circular approach of the politicians to sexual knowledge and attitudes, the sociosexual control and influence appears to bounce back and forth between church and state according to a mutually cooperative formula...
Porneia can refer to all sorts of sexual sin including deflowering a virgin [...] there was no dating or physical intimacy prior to an arranged marriage in the vast majority of cases.
Evangelical Friends cooperate with ministries and recommend resources – Biblically-based books, clinics and counselors – which offer counseling for sexual addictions and moral failures of any kind.
The basis for a good marriage is not sexual alone, but true love that is developed through communication, mutual respect, deep friendship, and a lifetime of self-giving, as the Apostle Paul admonished.
The sacramental quality of the sexual relationship depends upon Spirit as well as on the motives of the persons concerned.A 2013 study of 151 newly married young adults at nine Southern Baptist churches in Texas found that over 70% of respondents reported having had premarital vaginal or oral sex.
[176] In his book Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers, sociologist Mark Regnerus notes that "Evangelical Christian teens are more likely to have lost their virginity earlier than mainline Protestants.
[186] The program which consists mainly of signing pledge cards, purity rings and books, has been adopted by several evangelical denominations and organizations such as Cru and Youth for Christ.
[192] Verse 8.362 of Manusmriti exempts the rules on adultery for women who earn their own livelihood or are wives of traveling performances, where the woman enters into sexual liaisons on her own volition or with the encouragement of the husband.
[192] For example, adultery is not a punishable offence if "the woman's husband has abandoned her because she is wicked, or he is eunuch, or of a man who does not care, provided the wife initiates it of her own volition", states Indologist Richard Lariviere.
For example, states Ariel Glucklich, the sexual liaison is taught as a means for a man to predispose the involved woman in assisting him, working against his enemies, and facilitating his successes.
[55] The Quran disapproved of the promiscuity prevailing in Arabia at the time, and several verses refer to unlawful sexual intercourse, including one that prescribes the punishment of 100 lashes for those who did zina.
