Sex In The Bible Essays (1554 words) - Religion,

Sex In The Bible For my book report I chose the topic of sex in the Bible. I thought that it would be a very interesting topic because in many churches discussion of sex and sexuality is taboo. I thought that by reading this book I could become more informed of what the Bible truly says on the subject. I also chose this topic because I felt that it would be easier reading a book about the bible on a topic I was interested in. Most subjects pertaining to the Bible are not interesting to the average teenager, and I felt this book would be fun to read. The name of the book was Sex in the Bible by Michael R. Cosby. Cosby discusses five parts of the bible in which sexual relations are discussed. First he discuses the laws that apply to sex in the Hebrew culture according to the book of Dueteronomy. Secondly he discuses the wisdom advice of the book of proverbs. Cosby then discuses the actual act of sex in the book of songs. Next he writes about the topic of sex and sexuality in the synoptic gospels. Finally he discusses sex in the books of Corinthians and Paul's letters to the Romans. Cosby's goal is to interpret the true beliefs of the early Jews and Christians. The book of Deuteronomy is a book of laws directed for the Hebrew. They are laws given to them by their god Yahweh. The book of Deuteronomy has several rules and laws pertaining to sex. The book was written within a society that was very male oriented. Thus the book makes the assumption that the wife is property of the husband. This did not give the husband the right to treat his wife as a slave, however only he had the option of divorce, and he only had the option of verifying his wife's virginity. The basic two principles behind the laws of sex in Dueteronomy are that: sex was to be only had in the confides of marriage, and that the women must be a virgin going into the marriage. Pertaining to the act of premarital sex, either by free will or by force, the punishment is death by stoning. If it turns out that the women was raped, then that man which committed the crime will be forced to marry the women, and is forbidden to divorce her ever. As far as a women not being pure when she is married, Dueteronomy says that the husband has the right to bring this claim to his new wife's father. If the accusation is true than the women will be stoned to death in front of her father's house. Having an impure daughter was an ultimate disgrace to a father, in that it was his resposibility to prevent that. If the claims turned out to be false then the husband was beat in public and charged one hundred coins to be given to the bride's father. There are also several other topics involving sex that are mentioned Deuteronomy. The act of polygamy is considered an acceptable practice, and in many cases expected. Under Hebrew law if a man died his brother was obligated to take his brother's widowed wife's hand in marriage. If the brother were already married then it would be expected of him to now have two wives. There are two other laws mentioned in Deuteronomy that are seen as sins to Yahweh, but are not punishable by death. Those two acts would be prostitution, and transvestitism (or the act of men dressing like women and vice versa). These acts, although not punishable by death, were seen as sins by God, and anyone who partook in the act of prostitution or transvestitism would be accursed. Moving on, Cosby goes to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs, unlike Dueteronomy, does not dive laws about sex, but rather advice about it. Proverbs is not based on a covenant motif but rather on accumulated wisdom that has resulted from many years of observation. It is similar to Deuteronomy in that it addresses a great number of different aspects of life, but the way it is presented is much different. There is no emphasis on the Hebrew people's covenant with God. In fact proverbs is not specifically written for the Hebrew people, but rather as advice for the people of all nations. The main emphasis in Proverbs is to explain why it is better to stay away from women of poor morals. Proverbs says that there