Sexual Education in Medieval Christianity

The Western Medieval Christian Church officially adopted an attitude toward sex, which reflected the intellectual hostility to bodily pleasures developed neo-Pythagoreans and neo-Platonists. (185) “Sex Education in Medieval Christianity” is an article written by Vern L. Bullough and was published in The Journal of Sex Research in August of 1977. The article is about the perception of sex by the church in the middle ages and the standards it set for intercourse, masturbation, homosexuality, and prostitution.
Institutionalized Christianity took certain attitudes during its development against sexuality that was contrary to the dominant view during the classical period, and the migrating Germans as well. The western Christian attitude received its basic levels of sexuality from St. Augustine. He was convinced that the world could accomplish more if it didn’t crave as many lustful desires. Augustine was very influenced by the bible and the story of Adam and Eve. The idea of “original sin” and its dualistic interpretation of what good and evil was consumed St. Augustine.
The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden proved that humans were driven by passion and had a hard time managing impulses and sin. Once, however, Adam and Eve had fallen from Paradise, they became conscious of the new impulse generated by their act of rebellion, and this drove them to an insatiable quest for sexual satisfaction. (186)
Innocence was then lost and humans were driven by lust. Coitus, which translates into the act of making love, was only deemed appropriate for child bearing, or procreation. St. Augustine had a hard time defining sex and the necessity of child bearing unless it was through marriage. Even then, Augustine thought that marriage somewhat instigated the evil of lust. It was marriage and marriage alone which transformed coitus from a mere satisfaction of lust to a necessary duty and, when sexual intercourse was employed for human generation, it lost some of its inherent sinfulness. (186)
St. Augustine thought that sex itself was an animal behavior but through marriage the act of procreation was justified. Sexual education took on a whole new meaning in medieval Christianity, and the church regarded sex as a sin, a sin that they would try to eliminate.
Penance, a catholic way of repentance was given to sexual sinners as a type of healing as a “medicine for the soul” (187) and was ordered by priests as a way to develop healthier Christians. The Synod of the Grove of Victory, for example, lists a three-year penance for an adulterer, a three-year pilgrimage for incest with one's mother, two-and-a-half years penance for those who engage in bestiality, a four-year penance for coitus in anal, three years for coitus in femoribus, and, for those who have orgasms in their hand, two years penance are required. (188)
Sexual desires were conceived as negative thoughts and were reinforced through implied punishment for deeds that had been done. Women would eventually be the targets of negative stereotypes in sexual education, since women were the ones creating lust from men. Although technically Christianity insisted that women were equal to men, deriving from the fact that Eve was made of Adams rib, implying a side-by-side connection. Medieval society adopted the view that women were subordinate to men. (188) Even though both possess sexual desires, it was thought that women being the lesser of the two really were the reason why men went astray. The influence of such ideas is emphasized by St. Jerome, who wrote that as "long as woman is for birth and children, she is different from man as body is from soul. But when she wishes to serve Christ more than the world, then she will cease to be a woman and will be called man" (189)
The church would try and scare people out of sex, sending the message that sex, even in marriage, left much to be desired. (191) Succumbing to sexual desires meant that the flesh was weak, and submitting to temptation. Celibacy would be the clear message from the medieval church, basically leaving the enjoyment of sex to the sinners. For those who failed to follow these teachings, there was a fall back position of ultimate salvation for the repentant sinner. In the process, a sexual conscience developed that we are only beginning to challenge today. (195)
The strengths of Bullough throughout this article were his use of many different sources throughout the entirety of the middle ages. From St. Augustine to Pope Gregory IX, “Sex Education in Medieval Christianity” references a good number of sexual ideological events that is essential to the understanding of sex and sexual encounters of the time period. The argument that the church was against sexual activity is clearly defined and this article clearly utilizes its evidence very well. It would be good to have a few more entries of some of the saints and actual church writings that encourage sexuality, although it can be argued that the church would do anything to submit any systematic demise of itself through contradictory evidence. This would mean that the church would possess a hypocritical stance of sexuality and would raise a question of validity and the idea that the church is not godly, and essentially not good. This piece of literature would be good for anyone interested sexuality in the middle ages and the Christian church, because it clearly is a platform to research sex and human sexuality during this time period.

Works Cited

Bullough, Vern L.. "Sex Education in Medieval Christianity." The Journal of
Sex Research 13 (1977): 185-196.