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Question: What traditional Christian sexual positions/prohibitions depend upon the rejection of sex systematically closed to procreation and could they survive its acceptance and/or theological validation?
"The primary blessing of sexuality lies in procreation, which until very recently was universally recognized as having its proper place within the family unit created by husband and wife. Current pressures to create ersatz families headed by homosexual lovers or single parents violate the Church's most basic understanding of what God calls "family to be: a man and a woman who join as "one flesh" for the deepening of their mutual love by bringing forth "the fruit of their bodies." The unitive value of marriage, therefore, is inextricably linked to its procreative potential. If a husband and wife are unable to conceive for any reason, their conjugal union as such is not diminished. But as the anguish of the typical sterile couple makes clear, marriage and sexuality find their true fulfillment and achieve their true purpose by bringing forth new life. This is why Orthodoxy, like Roman Catholicism, insists that in every act of sexual intercourse the couple should willingly accept the possibility that conception might occur. In cases where measures are taken to avoid pregnancy, yet conception does occur, then the couple will receive that new life with gratitude and joy. They will embrace it as a gift of God's bounty, to be cherished, protected and nurtured through the entire gestation period. And they will remain aware that any decision to abort that life for reasons of expediency can only be regarded by the Church as the gravest sin, tantamount to murder. Unlike their Catholic counterparts, Orthodox bishops and priests today usually acknowledge that married couples may need to practice a form of family planning that includes some method of birth control (more properly: conception control). Not all Orthodox agree with this, however. This very disagreement over the issue of contraception testifies to the fact that within Orthodoxy procreation is understood to be the primary aim of and justification for sexual activity. The unitive aspect of sexual love, therefore, is a blessed and joyful corollary to procreation. It is a gift for which we can rejoice and give thanks. It is so, however, only inasmuch as it derives from the more fundamental purpose of Christian marriage, which is to participate directly in God's creative work through the bearing and raising of children.[...]an engaged couple very understandably want to express their love and their commitment sexually. Why should they be obliged to wait, especially if financial or other considerations do not permit to be married immediately? Why can they share virtually everything as an engaged couple, but may not enjoy the pleasures of sex, particularly in this day and age when contraception is so easy and effective? The question answers itself. There where openness to procreation is systematically rejected, sexuality cannot fulfill its God-given purpose. The same is true within a marriage where the couple refuses to have any children at all. We are not talking about situations where a couple may delay child bearing for a certain period of time, or even where, following the birth of several children, the parents may decide to use contraception indefinitely in order to hold their family to a manageable size. It is where procreation is rejected in principle, whether within or outside the conjugal union, that the true purpose of sexuality is frustrated. By its very nature that rejection is sinful. Its intentionality makes of it a moral and not merely an "ontic" evil."http://www.svots.edu/Events/Summer-Institute/2004/readings/breck-reading.html
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Who is Father John Breck, please?
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Who is Father John Breck, please?
Breck received his B.A. in Religious Studies from Brown University (1960), an M.Div. (Master of Divinity, the basic seminary degree for those seeking ordination) from Yale Divinity School (1965), and a Doctorate of Theology from the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg in Germany (1972). In 2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania.
After converting to Orthodoxy from Protestantism, he served as Professor of New Testament and Patristics at St. Herman's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Kodiak, Alaska) from 1975-1978, as Professor of New Testament and Director of Studies at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (Paris, France) from 1978-1984, and as Professor of New Testament and Ethics at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York) from 1984-1996. http://orthodoxwiki.org/John_Breck
Last edited by NeoChalcedonian; 05/28/09 10:35 AM.
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His work as a Scripture scholar is phenomenal, IMHO.
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Figured as much. How does he reconcile his position with that of Fr. John Meyendorff, who wrote that sacramental Christian marriage has no earthly or utilitarian purpose?
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Figured as much. How does he reconcile his position with that of Fr. John Meyendorff, who wrote that sacramental Christian marriage has no earthly or utilitarian purpose? He replies:
... the ultimate purpose of the conjugal relationship is neither procreation nor personal fullfillment, but the working out of the spouses' mutual salvation. This is an aspect of the covenant bond of marriage that has generally been neglected, even by elements of the patristic tradition. St. John Chrysostom can insist that marriage is a remedy to eliminate fornication," and St. John of Damascus, taking up a familiar theme of Gregory of Nyssa, will argue that "marriage was devised that the race of men may be preserved through the procreation of children." Yet we need to keep in mind that these great teachers were speaking to particular issues that shaped. their views in significant ways. In his "Sermon on Marriage," for example, Chrysostom the pastor is concerned with the problem of married men committing adultery; and the purpose of John of Damascus is to praise the supeior virtues of virginity. Their observations concerning the power and subtlety of sexual temptation are correct, and their intention to defend chastity, both within and apart from the conjugal state, is laudable. It is true, though, that their focus tends to obscure the biblical witness that identifies the true end and purpose of marriage within God's providence. That purpose is to transfigure fallen sexuality into an act of worship-an offering of praise, thanksgiving and intercession-by which the union of husband and wife prefigures and prepares their eternal communion with God.
Nevertheless, he describes the Patristic and teaching of the Church that the unitive value of marriage/sex is inseparable from its procreative potential or an openness to the possibilty of procreation. What about the Betrothal and Crowning texts themselves? “Establish them in the holy union which is from Thee. For in the beginning Thou didst make them male and female, and by Thee the woman is joined unto the man as a helper AND for the procreation of the human race.” (Betrothal Service)
O God most pure, fashioner of every creature, who didst transform the rib of our fore father Adam into a wife, because of Thy love towards mankind, and didst bless them and say to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, who didst make of the two one flesh: Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, and what God has joined together, let no man put asunder: Thou didst bless Thy servant Abraham, and opening the womb of Sarah didst make him to be the father of many nations. Thou didst give Isaac to Rebecca: and didst bless her in childbearing. Thou didst join Jacob unto Rachel, and from them didst bring forth the twelve patriarchs. Thou didst unite Joseph and Aseneth, giving to them Ephraim and Manasseh as the fruit of their procreation. Thou didst accept Zechariah and Elizabeth, and didst make their offspring to be the Forerunner. From the root of Jesse according to the flesh, Thou didst bud forth the Ever virgin one, and wast incarnate of her, and wast born of her for the redemption of the human race. Through Thine unutterable gift and manifold goodness, Thou didst come to Cana of Galilee, and didst bless the marriage there, to make manifest that it is Thy will that there should be lawful marriage and procreation. Do Thou, the same all holy Master, accept the prayers of us Thy servants. As Thou wast present there, be also present here with Thine invisible protection. Bless this marriage, and grant to these Thy servants, ___ and ___, a peaceful life, length of days, chastity, mutual love in the bond of peace, long lived offspring, gratitude from their children. a crown of glory that does not fade away. Graciously grant that they may see their children’s children.
[…] Do Thou, the same Lord, stretch out now also Thy hand from Thy holy dwelling place, and unite this Thy servant, ___, and this Thy handmaiden, ___; for by Thee is the husband joined unto the wife. Unite them in one mind; wed them into one flesh, granting to them the fruit of the body and the procreation of fair children. (Crowning Service)
THE BLESSING - the priest removes the crowns, blessing the couple with these words: “Bridegroom! Be exalted like Abraham, blessed like Isaac and multiplied like Jacob, walking in peace and righteously doing God’s commandments.” Then: “And you, O bride! Be exalted like Sarah, gladdened like Rebecca and multiplied like Rachel, being happy with your husband and keeping the precepts of the Law! (Crowning Service)
Last edited by NeoChalcedonian; 05/28/09 12:56 PM.
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Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. (Malachi 2:13-16, NIV)
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Fr Stanley Harakas may learn invaluable lessons from Fr John Breck.
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