[asa] Theological extrapolations 2: sex

[Sorry; size constraints required breaking this up into small pieces, so there are now 6 parts altogether.]

[Continued from Theological extrapolations 1: on revelation.]

                                                          Sex

    We are both god and animal, and sometimes the animal obscures the god, leaving us
confused. Nowhere is this confusion more likely than in sexual intercourse (sex). I
believe my spiritual experiences have given me insights to recognize features of divine
sex and to discern spiritual meanings of human sex. These insights are outlined below.
    Human sexual activity is limitless in variety. The spiritual meanings I describe here
can't possibly apply to it all but only to a limited range. I see that range as comprising--
in addition to purely spiritual sex--sex primarily of young committed couples, sex of a
sort implicitly enshrined in Solomon's Song of Songs. This range of sex is what I refer
to below as "sex in pure form." The reader should therefore expect that I'll omit or
downplay certain well-known ingredients of human physical sexual activities that lie
outside this range or that otherwise obscure spiritual meanings.
    An objective here is to show how divine sex has much in common with an important
range of human sex and is to be thought of as true sex, not just figure of speech. A
second objective is to make God's sexuality more plausible by arguing that sex is not
necessarily the kind of activity that first comes to mind at mention of the word but
something more godly.

    1. All mature persons are sexual and can engage in some form of sexual intercourse
        with other mature persons.
        a. A person is mature when he or she has established an independent identity.
        b. (Humans in establishing such identity commonly go through a phase where they
            distance themselves from their parents.)
        c. Identities of angels and young children have been conferred, not earned; their
            identities in a crucial sense are not independent, so such persons are not suited
            for sex.
    2. Sexual intercourse (sex) among persons is spiritual at its most elemental level and
        can proceed without physical contact.
        a. God and demons are mature spiritual persons who can have sex with human
             lovers without making physical contact.
        b. Whenever true intimacy occurs in sex, it is spiritual not physical.
    3. Sex in pure form involves transferring or changing personal identities.
        a. A male is a person who offers his identity to a female through sex.
        b. A female is a person who in sex surrenders herself to the male and redefines
             herself in him.
        c. (Intimate relations with parents help a child define itself; intimate relations with
            a male help a female redefine herself. The defining and redefining often are not
            deliberate but occur as byproducts of intimate interaction.)
        d. God is always male; other persons may be male under one set of circumstances
            and female under another.
        e. Ultimately the human male is not worthy of having another person define herself
             in him, so human marriages often result in a degree of disillusionment and are
            always temporary.
    4. What if a female is unfaithful, has sex with more than one male? Does her identity
        change every time she takes a new lover?
        a. The female herself ultimately chooses whether or not to redefine herself in a
             given lover.
        b. (The wives of God in OT times [see Jeremiah 3] oscillated between God and
            demons ["idols" or "foreign gods"].)
        c. An unfaithful female may retain identity acquired from her husband if despite her
             behavior she remains committed to him and not to other lovers. (Think of OT
             nation Judah.)
        d. (The pleasure of sex as an act of rebellion can be so intense it's humanly
             impossible to resist [see Jeremiah 2:20-25, Ezekiel 16:30-34].)
    5. Sexual attraction in a committed relationship depends on several things including
        the difference in identity of the two partners.
        a. Their similarities may bring lovers together, but their differences give rise to the
             sexual attraction.
            i. In sexual intimacy the male explores the differences and subjects them to his
                 influence, while the female strives to get all of herself into contact with his
                 identity.
            ii. If lovers were nearly identical at the start, the male would have little reason to
                 explore and the female little reason to immerse herself in his identity.
        b. Sex is a means to an end: the redefining. Over time excitement and attraction
             taper off as the female takes her new identity.
        c. Intimacy persists over time but becomes more cerebral. Surrender of self loses
             relevance and fades away as the redefining goes to completion.
        d. Sex comes to an end but relationship endures.
        e. (Man/woman sex after many years of marriage serves purposes different from
            those of spiritual sex. Few older people are good candidates either for religious
            conversion or for redefining themselves.)
 
 
      [Continued as Theological extrapolations 2a: sex (cont'd).]
 
 
 

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Received on Wed Feb 28 18:51:35 2007