Compare and Contrast

Because the phenomena I chose was sex, I thought theology would be another appropriate context from which to view this subject. One book I found was An Introduction to Moral Theology, by William E. May. This book touches upon what the church’s values are as well as the reasons behind those chosen values. Specifically on sex, the book highlights the values of waiting until marriage to engage in sexual intercourse and remaining engaged only with your spouse. A second book, Sex and the marriage covenant, by John F. Kippley, supports the previous idea of marriage and sex and it goes further to say that sexual intercourse is a sacred part of the marriage covenant and because of this its morality is constantly being evaluated. The third reference I found was Catholic Moral Theology in the United States, by Charles E. Curran. This book, like the others, presents the same notion but supports it with his analysis of the history of Catholicism.

These portrayals of sex are completely different than the ones found in the media. Rather than emphasizing the casual and everyday use of sex, they not only promote, but enforce the value of having sexual intercourse remain sacred. The theology discipline does not play to popularity as the media does, and therefore uses the history and morality of the church to advocate for sacredness of sex within the marriage covenant. Because theology deals with values rather than popularity to get across ideals, it takes into account the physical and emotional and spiritual aspects of sex. Another large difference is that theology discussed the repercussion of a sexual act. The consequences in the theology discipline cover not only pregnancy, but alienating possible mates, a current spouse, or even God himself.