[Coach]

Zelda,
I don't think there's any man who has had an impact on Christianity that even comes close to the influence St. Paul has. If I'm not mistaken, (among other things) he even encourages celibacy as being more noble than the institution of marriage...

Corinthians 1 - Chapter 7
1. Now in regard to the matters about which you wrote: "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman,"

32. I should like you to be free of anxieties."An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord.

33. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife'

34. and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

35. I am telling you this for your own benefit, not to impose a restraint upon you, but for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.


He knew that even if sex was totally forbidden, people would still have it so the best way wasto make celibacy more attractive. I understand this as him saying that sex (with a husband/wife) is BAD and that humans should avoid it if they want to serve the Lord. Why would the Lord create us with hormones and (make us) have to copulate in order to procreate if this was the case? Is every parent risking the Lord's grace?

St Augustine also took it a step further and connected sex with guilt, all this from the view and intepretation of the "original sin" that has been passed down to all generations.