The intersection of pornography and marriage is one of the most
problematic issues among many couples today–including Christian couples.
The pervasive plague of pornography represents one of the greatest
moral challenges faced by the Christian church in the postmodern age.
With eroticism woven into the very heart of the culture, celebrated in
its entertainment, and advertised as a commodity, it is virtually
impossible to escape the pervasive influence of pornography in our
culture and in our lives.
At the same time, the problem of human sinfulness is fundamentally
unchanged from the time of the Fall until the present. There is no
theological basis for assuming that human beings are more lustful, more
defenseless before sexual temptation, or more susceptible to the
corruption of sexual desire than was the case in any previous
generation.
Two distinctions mark the present age from previous eras. First,
pornography has been so mainstreamed through advertising, commercial
images, entertainment, and everyday life, that what would have been
illegal just a few decades ago is now taken as common dress, common
entertainment, and unremarkable sensuality. Second, explicit
eroticism–complete with pornographic images, narrative, and symbolism–is
now celebrated as a cultural good in some sectors of the society.
Pornography, now reported to be the seventh-largest business in America,
claims its own icons and public figures. Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy,
is considered by many Americans to be a model of entrepreneurial
success, sexual pleasure, and a liberated lifestyle. The use of Hugh
Hefner as a spokesman by a family-based hamburger chain in California
indicates something of how pornography itself has been mainstreamed in
the culture. Continue at Al Mohler
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