Premarital Sex - Historical Background

Historical Background

In the English-speaking part of Christendom, sex before marriage became taboo from the implementation of the Hardwicke Marriage Act in 1753. This was in spite of there being "nothing said about premarital sex in the New Testament."

The fact that this is not mentioned may seem strange in light of the fact that passages in the New Testament dealing with sexuality in general are quite extensive. Subjects include: the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15), sexual immorality, divine love (1 Corinthians 13), mutual self-giving (1 Corinthians 7), bodily membership between Christ and between husband and wife (1 Corinthians 6:15-20) and honor versus dishonor of adultery.(Hebrews 13:4) Even with the large number of Bible passages that address issues of sexuality, interpretation of these verses can vary. The issue of premarital sex is a good example of how the same verse can be viewed in different ways. In modern English, fornication typically refers to voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other. Given that modern definition, a verse that condemns fornication (such as 1 Corinthians 6:9 which is often cited by conservative denominations as biblical opposition to pre-marital sex) would appear to be clear. However, in the New Testament, fornication is the word used to translate the Koine Greek word porneia into English. In Ancient Greek, the word porneia meant "illicit sex" or "illegal sex". Early Christians interpreted this word to encompass activities such as incest and bestiality. Modern-day fundamentalists tend to prefer the definition of premarital sex, or will even choose to broaden the term to also include activities such as masturbation and pornography, while progressive and mainstream Christians tend to limit the interpretation of the word to illegal sexual activities such as incest, bestiality and pedophilia.

After World War II, divergence in Christian teaching on sexuality accelerated. Today, most mainstream and progressive Christians around the world affirm that the teachings against premarital sex arose erroneously due to a man-made law (the Hardwicke Act), or that they applied only in some cultural contexts. By contrast, Christian fundamentalist groups, most of which originate from the United States, hold onto the idea that premarital sex is sinful.

In conclusion, Even some Conservative Greek Professors have conceded that fornication is quite a mistranslation. When the assumption that pre-marital sex is taken away from the contexts of porneia, very little remains in the bible to suggest that it was thought in negative connotations, and therefore many believe that it is to be accepted morally. Nowhere in the bible does it explicitly condemn premarital sex, nor does it say that sexual relations are to take place only within marriage, therefore, going on to ban all sex outside of marriage is going somewhat past the scriptures, which paul has lots to discuss about in Galatians.