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1 Corinthians 7 (Endnotes)

1. This is well known and is why so many people will jump at the chance to live together, but will not get married. For men especially, it is sexual fulfillment without all the “bothersome commitments,” and thus it is generally the less emotionally mature and stable men (and women too) who will not make the commitment to marry. Thus, it is no wonder that if and when they do get married, they carry that same lack of maturity into the marriage and have a much higher divorce rate than couples that did not live together before marriage. Close

2. One of these is Malachi 2:15, which says that one reason God made the man and woman “one” in marriage is “because He was seeking godly offspring.” More and more evidence is surfacing that shows that children are much better off in a two-parent home. Having only a male or female parent in the home is not God’s design. Close

3. For a list of some of the sexual idioms in the Bible, see Appendix A. Close

4. R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of 1 and 2 Corinthians, (Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, MN, 1937), p. 273. Close

5. Aphrodite was the Roman goddess of love. Savas Kasas, Corinth, and its Environs is Antiquity (Filmographik Co., Athens, 1974), p. 68. Close

6. This paper is about sexual fulfillment, and that is also the primary focus of 1 Corinthians 7. However, the concept of the husband and wife not having “authority” (literal Greek) over their own bodies goes much further than sex. Women have a “right” to communication and romance in a marriage even if the man “isn’t romantic.” He can learn. Similarly, the woman can learn to give in ways that will bless the man. Love is about giving, and Christianity is about becoming more like Jesus Christ. Close

7. Living together before marriage is widely practiced today, and is a dismal failure. Cohabitation before marriage has been openly practiced in America for some 30 years now, and it has been studied and surveyed in every conceivable way. The exact figures vary somewhat, which is expected due to the different demographics of the studies. The overall results, however, are the same: most studies show that only 20-25 percent of those who cohabit go on to marry the one they are with at the time. If they do marry, they are almost twice as likely to divorce. Not surprisingly, studies show that when couples living together were interviewed apart, the women usually said they were in love and were going to get married, while the men said they were not. The number one reason men surveyed said they were living with a woman was the availability of sex. Studies done on marital happiness showed that couples who lived together before marriage were less fulfilled in their marriages than couples who did not, so it is not surprising that studies also show that people who cohabited before marriage are more likely to commit adultery after they are married. Women who engaged in sex before marriage are more than twice as likely to commit adultery than those who did not.

Furthermore, surveys indicate that if a couple had sex before marriage, they were 29-47 percent less likely to enjoy sex after marriage than people who abstained until they were married. Studies show that monogamous married women are more orgasmic than single women or married women with multiple partners. This is logical because monogamous married women generally feel safer, and thus more relaxed in sexual intercourse. A University of Chicago study of more than 3,000 people found monogamous married couples reported the highest sexual satisfaction. Rates of domestic violence are double for couples living together without being married, with, of course, the woman being the one hurt most of the time. Also, studies show that women end up paying 70% of the expenses when the couple is not married. Women usually spend their money on the relationship, while men spend their money on themselves and things they want. One sociologist who figured the percentages concluded that three couples out of 100 who cohabitate have a successful marriage. Not good odds. One does not need to have the Bible say that living together before marriage is a bad idea—the statistics are quite clear. Studies and statistical information is readily available in textbooks and professional journals, and on websites such as the one posted by Roland H. Johnson, III, (http://personalwebs.myriad.net/Roland). Close

8. Our modern society is not the only one that has discovered that when men can get sex without commitment, they often will. Prostitution and the use of slaves for sexual purposes made it unnecessary for Greek and Roman men to marry for sexual fulfillment. Women who gave in to men’s advances found out then, as they do now, that men do not feel responsible to marry a woman just because she will have sexual intercourse with them. In the writing of the Greek poet Theocritus (3rd century BC), the woman Simaitha complains: “He made me his victim instead of his wife—dishonored, deflowered.” Peter Bing and Rip Cohen, Games of Venus (Routledge, New York, 1991), p. 151. Close

9. Shmuley Boteach, Kosher Sex (Main Street Books, New York, NY, 1999), pp. 152-154. Close

10. Some people say that marriage is only for Christians because it is in the Bible. That is not the case. We are created by God as male and female, and God brought Adam and Eve together, not as believers, but as human beings. Thus marriage is a creation ordinance, not a Church ordinance. That is why when unbelieving couples get married and follow the commands concerning the sanctity of marriage, they also can have meaningful marriages. Marriage is an institution binding on the human race. Close