Sex, heaven, and C.S. Lewis

[Aloysium]

. . . t there simply could not be anything higher than the sexual experience, in this life or in the next. . .

There are ecstatic states of being, of love for God that sex can approach, but even with a total giving and loving surrender to the other in the moment, still cannot be reached.
Sex in marriage aspires to the boundless joy and happiness that is found in union with God.

 

[Della]

Cheesecake, music, and movies are not necessary yet God gave them to us and they bring us much joy, even if there are deepers joys here to be experienced too.

I dont see why God wouldnt just allow it just because. Im sure he allowed Adam and Eve to have senseless sex in the Garden of Eden. And Heaven in the Bible is described as a banquet and feast, why would food be necessary? God put too much thought into the simple joys of this world simply to throw it all away in the end. There could very well be these simple pleasures as well as deeper happiness at the same time, they’re not exactly exclusive.

Also, for people who go their whole lives without sex and die virgins they will never know the pleasures of sex apparently, not even in Heaven. That seems pretty depressing and harsh.

You misunderstand what the pleasures of the body while on earth are meant for. They aren’t meant just for our happiness but for procreation. There will be no more need for procreation in heaven and all our earthly pleasures will be fulfilled in the joy of the Beatific Vision. No one who has been caught up in the Spirit while in prayer longs for the pleasures of the flesh, be it food or sex or even the simple joys of home and friends. Why? Because all those pleasures are subsumed into Christ who will be all in all and all we’ll need or want. There’s nothing harsh or depressing about having given oneself to God alone. Do you think the Blessed Virgin regrets having Jesus but remaining a virgin? Of course not. Hers was a joy that surpassed all earthly joys for those of the divine supercede all others.

But we will be reunited with our bodies at the end of the world. If the flesh already served its purpose, why the need for reunification?

Dont forget that humans are not creatures of pure spirit, we are also corporal. Angels are pure spirit, animals are pure flesh, humans are flesh and spirit!

Yes, we’ll have bodies, but they’ll be like Christ’s body–resurrected and glorified. We won’t want sex or food or any other such thing because we’ll no longer have an need of them.

It only makes sense that what we do here and now will exist later but in a glorified sense.

Only if you think of heaven as a glorified version of earth. It isn’t that. If it were God would have told us so.

Actually, I think the best things in life are the things that cost nothing. The beauty of nature, friendship, familial love, God’s mercy and unconditional love.

I meant that we cannot enjoy any of God’s gifts if we are not willing to give of ourselves–first to him, then to family and friends. Only then can we fully appreciate all the things that God has given us.

 

[Nihilist]

I concur that marriage is dying, but I don’t think that your arguments with sex are valid for the vast majority of the populace in the western world. They have simply taken away the expensive parts and kept the pleasure.

There are lots of younger people who see pornography/‘erotic’ imagery as passe, sexual innuendo as boring and stupid, and the whole thing as overrated.

I think sex has lost its mystique- thanks to its overexposure. Various TV programmes which ‘cheapen’ or overemphasize sex, cause younger people to see at boring, and then even disgusting.

This is not the majority yet- but it will be.

In the 70’s and 80’s sex was ‘great’ in movies, music. In the 90’s it was just taken for granted. In the 00’s it was getting boring. Now it’s dead. Sexual acts are about as fascinating as going to the toilet.

Maybe love will make a comeback…

 

[Della]

There are lots of younger people who see pornography/‘erotic’ imagery as passe, sexual innuendo as boring and stupid, and the whole thing as overrated.

I think sex has lost its mystique- thanks to its overexposure. Various TV programmes which ‘cheapen’ or overemphasize sex, cause younger people to see at boring, and then even disgusting.

This is not the majority yet- but it will be.

In the 70’s and 80’s sex was ‘great’ in movies, music. In the 90’s it was just taken for granted. In the 00’s it was getting boring. Now it’s dead. Sexual acts are about as fascinating as going to the toilet.

Maybe love will make a comeback…

Indeed. People have become jaded. I believe it’s why we are seeing more and more sexual assaults–because just looking isn’t enough any more. Those besotted with sex can no longer get the same thrill. Instead of driving them to chasity, it drives them to overt actions, often criminal actions, especially for those who are prone to violence in the first place.

Love is the only real cure, and I don’t mean just romantic love. Without divine love no love is truly satisfying because other people cannot sate the deepest longings of the human soul. Asking a mere human to do so only sets people up for disappointment because human beings cannot help but fail each other since we are all just poor sinners.