Historical Development
Tracing how Christian attitudes toward sexuality evolved — from the early Church's diversity through Augustine's influential pessimism to the Reformation's affirmation of marriage.
Before Augustine — a diversity of views
The earliest Christians held diverse views on sexuality. Some embraced radical asceticism; others affirmed marital sexuality in terms continuous with Jewish tradition. There was no single "orthodox" position on sexual pleasure.
Paul's letters contain the New Testament's most extensive sexual teaching. While often read as restrictive, a closer examination reveals remarkable affirmations:
Mutual sexual obligation — neither spouse should "deprive" the other. Sexual satisfaction is framed as a debt owed to one's partner. Abstinence requires mutual consent and should be temporary.
Revolutionary mutual authority — the husband's body belongs to the wife and vice versa. This symmetry was radical in the patriarchal Roman context.
Paul preferred celibacy for practical reasons (expecting Christ's imminent return) but explicitly states this is his opinion, not a command (1 Cor 7:25). He never condemns marital sexuality as sinful.
Clement represents an early "moderate" position. He affirmed that marital sex was good when directed toward procreation but was influenced by Stoic philosophy's suspicion of passion.
"Marriage in itself merits esteem and the highest approval, for the Lord wished men to 'be fruitful and multiply.' He did not tell them, however, to act like libertines, nor did He intend them to surrender themselves to pleasure."
Clement's position, while more restrictive than Jewish tradition, still affirms marriage as good. He borrowed Stoic ethics (sex for procreation, control of passion) but resisted the Gnostic rejection of the body entirely.
Various Gnostic groups viewed the material world as evil, created by a flawed deity. Some concluded that the body was a prison and sexual reproduction perpetuated cosmic evil. Others paradoxically embraced libertinism, reasoning that physical acts couldn't affect the pure spiritual soul.
The mainstream Church rejected both extremes, affirming that the body was created good (Genesis 1) and that sexual ethics mattered. But in combating Gnosticism, some Christian writers absorbed its suspicion of the flesh.
The man who changed everything
No single figure shaped Western Christian sexual ethics more than Augustine. His personal history, philosophical background, and theological controversies combined to produce a profoundly ambivalent view of sexuality.
Before his conversion, Augustine was a Manichaean "hearer" for nine years. Manichaeism taught that matter was evil, created by a dark power opposing the good God of light. Though Augustine rejected Manichaeism, scholars debate whether its dualism lingered in his theology.
"From adolescence to the age of 32, as he later detailed in the Confessions, Augustine was a frequent loser in the battle with lustful passions."
Augustine lived with a concubine for 15 years and fathered a son. His famous prayer — "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet" — captures his tortured relationship with sexual desire. After his conversion, he became celibate and projected his personal struggles onto universal human nature.
Augustine developed the concept of concupiscence — disordered desire that resulted from Adam's fall. He argued that:
This represented a dramatic departure from earlier Christian and Jewish tradition. Augustine made involuntary arousal itself evidence of sin — meaning that all humans (except Christ and Mary) are born tainted by sexual transmission.
Augustine's views were contested in his own time. Pelagius and especially Julian of Eclanum challenged him vigorously. Julian accused Augustine of still being a Manichaean, smuggling in the idea that the flesh is evil:
"You ask me why I would not consent to the idea that there is a sin that is part of human nature... I answer: because it would mean that marriage, which cannot exist without the body, is the work of the devil."
Julian argued that sexual desire was natural and good, created by God, not corrupted by the Fall. He lost the controversy — Augustine's views prevailed in the Western Church. But Julian's objections anticipate modern sex-positive theology.
Despite his pessimism, Augustine did affirm marriage as good. He identified three goods of marriage: proles (offspring), fides (fidelity), and sacramentum (the permanent bond). But these goods were achieved despite the disordered pleasure involved, not through it.
Systematizing Augustine
Medieval theologians largely accepted Augustine's framework while developing it further. The period saw both the rigidification of sexual restriction and the emergence of erotic mysticism as a counterpoint.
Aquinas brought Aristotelian philosophy into Christian theology, including sexual ethics. He affirmed the goodness of marriage and procreation more robustly than Augustine but maintained that:
Aquinas's natural law framework became Roman Catholic orthodoxy. It allows for some affirmation of marital pleasure while still restricting it to procreative-type acts.
Medieval penitential manuals catalogued sins and assigned penances. They reveal obsessive concern with sexual acts, specifying penances for various "deviations":
These manuals show how Augustine's theology translated into surveillance of married couples' bedrooms. But they also reveal that people were engaging in varied sexual practices — the prohibitions testify to widespread "violations."
Paradoxically, the medieval period also saw the flowering of erotic mysticism. Figures like Bernard of Clairvaux used the Song of Songs to describe union with God in intensely sensual terms. See the Medieval Mystics page.
Rehabilitating marriage
The Reformation brought significant changes to Christian sexual ethics. Protestant reformers rejected mandatory clerical celibacy and elevated marriage as the ordinary Christian calling.
Luther was an Augustinian monk who came to reject the superiority of celibacy. He married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, and had six children. His views on sexuality were more positive than Augustine's:
"The longing of a man for a woman is God's creation — that is to say, when nature's sound and not corrupted, as it was in Adam and Eve."
Calvin went further than Luther in some respects. He emphasized that marriage existed for companionship, not just procreation or avoiding sin:
"The companionship of marriage has been ordained as a necessary remedy to preserve us from unchastity... but also that a man should 'cleave to his wife' for their mutual society and solace."
Calvin recognized that God gave Eve to Adam for companionship before the Fall — marriage wasn't merely a post-Fall remedy for lust but part of creation's original goodness.
Despite their reputation for prudery, the Puritans actually held relatively positive views of marital sexuality. They emphasized:
Puritan marriage manuals encouraged affectionate, pleasurable sexual relations. They moved beyond procreation-only ethics while maintaining the marriage boundary.
Key moments in Christian sexual theology
Establishes mutual sexual obligation and authority between spouses.
Paedagogus combines Stoic ethics with Christian teaching — moderation, not rejection.
Former libertine becomes celibate; begins developing doctrine of concupiscence.
Condemns Pelagianism; Augustine's view of original sin becomes Western orthodoxy.
Codifies Church law on marriage and sexuality, systematizing Augustine's restrictions.
Natural law framework for sexual ethics — procreation as the "natural" purpose.
Former monk weds former nun; marriage elevated as holy calling for clergy and laity.
Catholic counter-reformation reaffirms celibacy's superiority and Augustinian framework.
Catholic Church affirms conjugal love's intrinsic value, not just procreation.
Reclaiming sex-positive Christianity
The 20th and 21st centuries have seen growing movements to recover a more positive Christian sexual ethic. Key developments include:
Historians and theologians have questioned Augustine's influence, recovered pre-Augustinian diversity, and highlighted how cultural context shaped "traditional" sexual ethics.
The Catholic Church officially affirmed that conjugal love has value in itself, not merely as means to procreation. A significant shift from Augustine.
Many Protestant writers now affirm marital pleasure robustly, encouraging sexual creativity and viewing intimacy as a spiritual practice.
Growing communities of Christians who integrate faith with BDSM and kink, developing theological frameworks for consensual power exchange.
"Understanding history is essential for sex-positive Christians. What is often presented as 'the biblical view' of sexuality is actually Augustine's view, filtered through medieval elaboration. The biblical texts themselves — and the Jewish tradition that first interpreted them — are far more celebratory of pleasure than most Christians realize."