Saint Augustine in the Greek Orthodox Tradition
Rev. Dr. George C. Papademetriou
source
"P. Papademetriou: Saint Augustin d'Hippone, Orthodoxie et Consensus Patrum" Le professeur émérite du Holy Cross Seminary (Boston) donne un aperçu patristique et théologique de la place du grand évêque d'Hippone dans l'Église
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Some questions on sexual morality
If sex is purely for the sake of pleasure, on what basis can we argue that it should be exclusive? Why shouldn't I be able to have sex with as many people as I want, so long as I "love" them? And what reason would you have to say that I shouldn't, even if I am in a "relationship" with you? Why should you prevent me from loving others? After all, are we not supposed to love?
As for the permissibility of married couples to use condoms in order to prevent the transmission of AIDS or some other STD (when one is infected), is this really what love requires? If I know that I have an STD that can be spread to a partner, should I get married to someone else? If I had the plague, would I say it's ok for me to get close to someone else, if I had a 99% effective means of preventing that person from getting the plague? Or would I play it safe, out of love, and stay away from that person as much as possible? Really, which makes more sense in the context of love?
Do some STDS inhibit procreation? I suppose even if they did, it would be ok to have sex, as long as that inhibition falls outside our intention. But is it right to jeopardize someone else's health? Or would it be better to abstain?
As for the permissibility of married couples to use condoms in order to prevent the transmission of AIDS or some other STD (when one is infected), is this really what love requires? If I know that I have an STD that can be spread to a partner, should I get married to someone else? If I had the plague, would I say it's ok for me to get close to someone else, if I had a 99% effective means of preventing that person from getting the plague? Or would I play it safe, out of love, and stay away from that person as much as possible? Really, which makes more sense in the context of love?
Do some STDS inhibit procreation? I suppose even if they did, it would be ok to have sex, as long as that inhibition falls outside our intention. But is it right to jeopardize someone else's health? Or would it be better to abstain?
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