Lesson video

Hello there, my young scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marx, and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

Today we're gonna be doing that Christian attitudes to adultery and cohabitation, and we are thinking about how there can be differences between different Christian denominations as well as within them.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of the lesson today, you'll be able to explain Christian attitudes to adultery and cohabitation.

So let's start with our key terms. Adultery, voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who's not their spouse, also known as sex outside of marriage.

Cohabitation, living together as partners and having a sexual relationship without being married.

Marriage, the legally and religiously recognised union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.

And vows, a promise made during a marriage ceremony.

So look out for those in today's lesson.

Today's lesson will have two sections.

Christian attitudes to cohabitation and Christian attitudes to adultery.

So let's start with our first section, Christian attitudes to cohabitation.

The word, cohabitation, comes from ancient Greek, and we can break it down to kind of understand it more fully.

Cohabitation, co-, meaning together, and habit, meaning to live.

So living together is cohabitation.

It's when a couple live together and have sexual relationships, but they haven't had a civil or religious marriage or a civil partnership.

So there's no legal or religiously binding ceremony that's happened or paperwork that shows that they are connected to each other in that way other than the fact that they live together and they're having sexual relations.

Why might a couple choose to cohabit rather than marry though? Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, Sam and Izzy are discussing this question, why a couple may choose to cohabit.

Izzy says, "I think some couples don't feel the need to marry each other to show commitment.

They might have other private ways that they show their commitment." And Sam says, "I think buying a house together shows that kind of commitment." Izzy says, "Well, that's a good point, Sam.

I also think some couples choose to cohabit before marrying and see if they're compatible and then save up the money needed for a marriage ceremony.

Some may never marry, but others do." So some couples may have ways, or said that cohabiting doesn't have any kind of paperwork to prove that that couple are united, but they may have bought a house together, and there's a lot of paperwork involved with that and they would be connected without having a marriage ceremony.

And sometimes couples might cohabit before they're marrying, they're saving up their money, they try to see if they get on before they then marry in the future.

Time for a quick check.

Is this true or false? Cohabitation means when a couple lives together and has sexual relations.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

That is true.

So if we try to think about Christian attitudes to cohabitation, the word, cohabitation, doesn't actually appear in the Bible.

So for Christian, they can't necessarily flick through the Bible and say, "Oh, what did Jesus say about cohabiting?" 'cause the word isn't there itself.

There are terms which talk about sexual immorality, which has meant that some Christians have interpreted that to mean sex before marriage is wrong.

So, obviously, if people are cohabiting, that's sex before marriage 'cause they're not married.

So some Christians take that phrase, sexual immorality, that's used within the Bible and say, "Well, that must be referring to sexual marriage and any of the actions that are sexual acts not within your marriage partner." But the turn itself doesn't appear exactly in that way.

That's an interpretation of the phrase, sexual immorality.

However, some Christians don't see a committed, long-term relationship between two people who live together as sexually immoral.

So when something's immoral, it's seen as kind of wrong and ethically wrong and going against God's laws.

Some Christians don't necessarily see cohabitation as sexually immoral.

We have different interpretations of the Bible text and different interpretations of the Christian traditions that have been passed down.

Now, so Paul, who was an early Christian writer who wrote much of the New Testament, many of the letters that were in the New Testament were written by him, and he does write about sexual immorality, and it's often passages like this from him, which are used to say that cohabitation is wrong.

So let's have a look at the passage.

It says in his letters to Corinthians, "But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife and each woman with her own husband." So this seems to be suggesting that sexual immorality could be prevented by people having sex with their married partner.

What could it suggest about cohabitation then? Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, we have this phrase, sexual immorality, and then the idea of wife and a husband.

So it could be interpreted to mean that couples should wait until they're married to have sex and that cohabitation would therefore be immoral.

This is one interpretation of this text, isn't it? That to prevent sexual immorality, you should have sex when you're married with your wife and husband.

Therefore, cohabitation would be wrong.

But it could be interpreted to mean, once you are married, you shouldn't have sex with anybody else.

You should be having sex with your own wife and husband.

So it could be more that this sexual immorality is adultery rather than cohabitation, couldn't it? It depends on how a Christian chooses to interpret this text.

Other passages in the Bible really stress the importance of love, and we've got here in the New Testament, a letter written by John.

And it says, "Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not know love does not know God, because God is love." So what does this seem to suggest about love and perhaps cohabitation then? So pause the video and have another think, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, it could suggest that God is love, and that a loving, committed relationship between two people isn't therefore immoral.

If they're cohabiting and they're committed and they're loving to each other because God is love and there is love there within that couple.

But again, you have different interpretations of this text, and other Christians will say, "Yes, but that should only be once the couple is married." So here we've got our denominations tree.

I've already said that there's different views within and between Christian denominations on the issues of cohabitation and adultery.

And here we've got the denominations tree, which shows that the different Christian denominations are kind of branched out from the type of Jesus and the disciples, and the kind of the gathering of the books that are within the Bible.

Then we have different traditions that have spread out.

So there's gonna be different views within those traditions and between those traditions On the issue of cohabitation.

And the three we are going to think about now are Roman Catholic, Anglican, also called Church of England, and Methodist.

So these three different denominations, what their perspectives are and attitudes are towards cohabitation.

Since the time of the Bible being compiled, different branches of Christianity have developed.

Some of these branches have developed, different teaches about her cohabitation.

Some Christians within these branches might have different attitudes towards cohabitation because if you remember that word, cohabitation, isn't in the Bible.

So it's the way that it's been interpreted to relate to those passages about sexual immorality.

So let's see what an Anglican, Fiona, what her view is.

But remember, within the Anglican Church, you're gonna have different views too.

Aisha's asking Fiona.

"Fiona, as an Anglican, what's your view on cohabitation?" And Fiona says, "I think couples should wait until they're married before they have sex.

This means they would've made solemn promises, vows, to each other in the wedding ceremony, which will mean they can trust one another completely.

Being married can give them both protections as a marriage in my church is a legal agreement, as well as a religious one." So for Fiona here, it's about that promise and that trust that a couple have made to each other and the protections that they have.

Alex is asking Fergus, who's another Anglican Christian, "What's your view on cohabitation?" Let's see if it's the same as Fiona's.

And Fergus says, "I'm a liberal Anglican, and I believe that if a couple are committed and loving towards each other, it's not sexually immoral for them to live together.

The church I attend is welcoming to all couples and will encourage the couple to marry.

I do not agree with sexual promiscuity, which is when someone has sex with multiple partners and no commitment, but I don't think cohabitation is immoral." So here we've got two different views within the Anglican denomination within the Church of England, showing that diversity.

So now, let's think about the second view we were going to consider, the Roman Catholic position.

And Aisha's asking Danielle.

"Danielle, as a Roman Catholic, what's your view on cohabitation?" And Danielle says, "The Roman Catholic Church has many clear teachings about the purpose of sexual relations, and these state that sex should always have the possibility of procreation.

I believe that marriage is the best place to bring up children as it's a stable committed relationship.

This means that I believe sex before marriage and cohabitation is wrong." So for Danielle, sex can only happen within marriage, and also that idea of procreation and having that stable place for children to be brought up.

So for her, cohabitation would be wrong.

Alex is asking Ji-eun, who is a Methodist minister, "What's your church's attitude to cohabitation?" As she says, "The Methodist Church came to an agreement in 2021 after long discussions and prayer that couples who are in loving, committed relationships are not being sexually immoral but showing an expression of God's love.

As long as the couple have freely entered this relationship and are committed to each other, this can be life-enhancing and should be celebrated." So we've got different perspectives here across the different denominations about cohabitation.

So time for a quick check.

All Christians believe cohabitation is morally wrong.

Is that true or false? Pause a video and have a go, and see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

It's false, isn't it? But why? Well some Christians, for example, Liberal Anglican or Methodist, may accept cohabitation as it's a stable committed relationship.

Well done.

Let's do a practise task to see what we've learned.

Alex has written part of an answer responding to the task, explained different Christian attitudes towards cohabitation, and we're gonna add to his answer.

And Alex's task is to explain different Christian attitudes, and he's given one here, and then we are going to write the second one.

Some Christians do not accept cohabitation.

This is because they believe that sex should only take part within a marriage.

Some Anglican Christians and many Roman Catholic Christians will have this attitude.

These Christians may use passages from the Bible, like Paul's letter to the Corinthians, that states each man should have sexual relations with his own wife to show that sex should only take place in a marriage and not when cohabiting.

So over to you then.

You're going to add to Alex's answer to include another paragraph, explaining a different Christian attitude.

'Cause remember, the question was attitudes to cohabitation, and you could use point, source, and develop.

Other Christians accept cohabitation because, this is supported by, or in the Bible, it says, or Jesus said, and this shows an attitude towards cohabitation because.

So pause the video and have a go.

We'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some great thinking there.

I asked you to add to Alex's answer to include another paragraph, explaining a different Christian attitude to cohabitation.

And your answer may include, "Other Christians may accept cohabitation and cohabiting couples because there isn't a clear teaching against cohabitation in the Bible.

Liberal Anglican and Methodist Christians may take this view as those churches have stated, 'if the couple intends to marry or has a commitment that's life-enhancing, although informal, they can cohabit.

' The Bible states that God is love, and so those Christians may take the attitude of the cohabitation is an expression of love and not sexual immorality.

This shows an attitude of acceptance for cohabitation because the church is welcome those couples in." Well done.

So onto our second section then, Christian attitudes to adultery.

Sexual relationships outside of marriage refers to when someone's already married having sex with someone who's not their marriage partner.

So in the marriage, they've made a vow to be committed to one another, and they've sort of broken that vow by having sex with someone who's not their marriage partner.

It could also be called having an affair, cheating, or adultery.

So the term we are using is adultery.

It's not illegal to commit adultery in the U.

K.

, but it is illegal in some countries such as Pakistan, Somalia, and in some states in the United States of America.

Many countries that prohibit adultery have the state religion of Islam, where adultery is forbidden.

Now, in Christianity, there's also clear teachings that adultery is wrong.

Why might many Christians view adultery as wrong though? Pause video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

While committing adultery goes against the vows during marriage, so you've made a promise to that other person, you're basically breaking that promise or you're breaking that vow.

Committing adultery often involves lying, deceit, and it can break trust within that relationship.

Committing adultery could pit people's health at risk through the spread of STIs or STDs.

So someone who's in a married couple might contract a sexually transmitted infection and then pass it onto their marriage partner and they wouldn't have any idea where it's come from or what it is.

So it can lead to the spread of that.

And committing adultery goes directly against God's commands.

If they take Commandments, it says, "You shall not commit adultery." So these are some of the reasons why Christians may view adultery as wrong.

Let's do a quick check before we move on.

Committing adultery is illegal in the U.

K.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see you done in a moment.

Well done.

It is false, isn't it? Because it's not illegal in the U.

K.

, but it is illegal in some countries, for example, in Somalia and Pakistan.

So I said earlier that committing adultery goes against one of God's commands, and we can see that in the 10 Commandments, which is in Exodus.

So this is in the Torah and it's very important within Judaism too.

"You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make yourself an image in the form of anything.

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

Remember the Sabbath day by keep it holy.

Honour your mother and father.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.

And you shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbour." So here we have this phrase in verse 14, "You shall not commit adultery." Where do the 10 Commandments prohibit adultery then? Have another reread.

Pause the video, and you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Here we've got in verse 14, "You shall not commit adultery." You could also maybe link it to giving false testimony or lying.

You could also link it to coveting things and wanting someone else if you're looking lustfully at your neighbor's wife or husband, for example.

But we have this very clear verse 14 that instructs people not to commit adultery.

And then Jesus builds on that commandment.

So I said, that's in the Old Testaments, in the Torah.

And Jesus was Jewish and He knew these scriptures very well and there's people he was speaking to knew these scriptures very well.

So He's building on this when He says this in Matthew 5.

"You have heard it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.

'" Here, He's referencing what we just read in the 10 Commandments.

"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." So looking at her, wanting her, and seeing her just as that object to commit adultery with.

"If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.

It's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown in hell." So some quite strong imagery here that Jesus is using in the Book of Matthew.

What does this show about Jesus's attitude to adultery? So have a think about that, and you can reread the passage, pause the video, and talk to the person next to you or you can talk to me.

Well, here we have this kind of strong language about not even looking at somebody lustfully.

And if you are just even looking, it's causing you to sin, you should gouge your eye out, because otherwise, your whole body be thrown into hell.

So would there be this like damnation and this punishment for looking lustfully and possibly committing adultery with another person.

I've got here, Jesus uses strong language about adultery and looking at another woman lustfully.

He says to gouge your eye out rather than your whole body go to hell.

So quite strong ideas here from Jesus about the idea of adultery.

Let's do a quick check.

Which source of authority to Jesus quote when He said people should not commit adultery? What was the source of authority for Jesus there? Pause video and have a think, and we'll see what you done in a moment.

Well done.

The 10 Commandments which was found in the Torah or in Exodus in the Old Testament.

Well done.

So now we can think about, well, how did Jesus respond to the issue of adultery when he was faced with this then? So we've got that strong teaching He gives about adultery, but how does He respond when He is actually faced with someone who's committed adultery? Whilst Jesus had clear teachings against the practise of adultery, there's an important story in His life that shows His attitude towards those who may have committed adultery.

The context of this story is that Jesus was spreading a message of love and acceptance and forgiveness, but also saying He hadn't come to abolish or get rid of the laws in the Old Testament, but to fulfil them.

Some religious leaders used the example of woman caught in adultery to try and trap Him and show Him that His message was not correct.

And this story is recorded in the gospel of John 8.

And it goes like this.

"At dawn, He, Jesus, appeared again in the temple courts where all the people gathered around Him and He sat down to teach them.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, 'Teacher, this woman,'" And notice, say that it's a woman, it's not the man, or whoever she's committing adultery with as well.

"Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

In the law of Moses commanded us to stone such women.

Now, what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing Him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

And when they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who's without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again, He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who've heard began to go away one at a time.

The older ones first until only Jesus was left with the woman who was still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, Sir," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you.

Go now and leave your life of sin." So what can that story show us about Christian views towards adultery? What did Jesus do when he was faced with a woman who was caught in adultery there? He's obviously said, you know, "Gouge your eye out rather than be thrown into hell," earlier on, we saw in the lesson, but what does he actually do when a woman is brought to him who's caught in adultery? Well, Christians may learn that Jesus doesn't condone adultery.

He doesn't say to us, "It's okay, don't worry.

It's fine what you've done." He doesn't sort of accept it and say that it's a good thing.

And then He doesn't use the death penalties.

So at that point, the death penalty could be used against adultery, as it can be in certain parts of the world today, still today in certain countries, but He doesn't actually use it.

So sometimes this passage is used to say He doesn't support the death penalty.

He doesn't even sort of say, "No, we're not gonna do the death penalty though," does He? But He doesn't use it in this instance.

He also allows the crowd to work it out for themselves.

So He poses a question to them and allows them to think.

Some people have even said, if you've ever heard the phrase, draw a line in the sand, that could be connected to this story, some people have said He might have even been writing the 10 Commandments or the Golden Rule in the sand.

He was writing something in the sand that made everybody think, and He allows them to work out for themselves that they can't throw the first stone because they have also sinned.

And the older members of the crowd realised this first, and they realised that they're not really in a position to be able to stone her to death for a sin because they've also sinned.

So for the older members of the crowd, they realise this first, perhaps they're reflecting on the life that they've lived and they realise that they aren't in a position to throw that first stone.

And then Jesus doesn't condemn her.

So He is not condoning it, He is not allowing it, but He also doesn't condemn her, but He does say it's a life of sin.

So He says to her, "Look, I'm not gonna condemn you.

I'm not gonna punish you.

I'm not gonna throw any stones." Christians would believe that He could throw the stone 'cause He's never sinned.

He says, "I'm not going to do that.

But now, take this moment and go away and live a life without sin." So let's see how this story could influence a Christian's attitude today then.

Aisha's asking Fiona, "What is the story of the woman caught in adultery show you about Jesus's attitude, Fiona?" And Fiona says, "I think adultery is wrong, as you're breaking a promise to your spouse as well as to God if you had a Christian marriage, but Jesus shows me in this story not to be judgmental as I've also made mistakes and sins in my own life.

I might think that adultery is wrong, but this doesn't mean I won't still show love and compassion to those who commit adultery.

We've all sinned and can be forgiven." Thank you, Fiona.

And Alex is asking Ji-eun, who's a Methodist minister, "What does your church do to support those who may have committed adultery?" And she says, "Whilst I believe adultery is a sin and goes against the marriage vows, I do not believe someone who commits adultery is unforgivable.

The story of John 8 shows me this.

So, in my church, we offer not only pre-marriage counselling, but marriage and relationship counselling for couples experiencing all kinds of issues, and adultery is one." Thank you.

Let's do a quick check.

Jesus condemned a woman to death for committing adultery as told in John 8.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see you done in a moment.

Well done.

It's false, isn't it? Because Moses' law was that she should be stoned to death, but Jesus' dead didn't condemn her, but told her to leave her life of sin.

Well done.

Let's do another practise task to see what we've learned.

Aisha has begun to answer the task, describe Christian attitudes to adultery, but she's made some mistakes.

You're going to rewrite her explanations so that it's correct.

And Aisha says, "Most Christians have the attitude that adultery is right.

This is because it keeps the vows made during a marriage ceremony and can break the trust of a couple.

It also goes against the Five Commandments.

Moses showed Christians, however, that we're all sinners and we don't have the right to judge others.

Therefore, many Christians will try to support and help those who commit adultery rather than condone them." So pause the video, reread Aisha's answer, spot the mistakes and rewrite it so it's correct, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some good thinking there.

I asked you to rewrite Asher's answer so that it was correct.

And you could have said, "Most Christians have the attitude that adultery is wrong.

This is because it breaks the vows made during a marriage ceremony and can break the trust of a couple.

It also goes against the 10 Commandments.

Jesus showed Christians, however, that we're all sinners and do not have the right to judge others.

Therefore, many Christians will try to support those who commit adultery rather than condemn them." Well done, Aisha.

So let's summarise everything we've learned then.

Cohabitation is a form of sex before marriage.

Some Christians do not accept cohabitation and believe that sex should only happen within a marriage.

Some Christians do accept cohabitation as a form of commitment, especially if the couple intend to marry.

There are clear teachings in the Bible against committing adultery.

Jesus was brought a woman caught in adultery but didn't condemn her, but told her to leave her life of sin.

And most Christians do not accept adultery, but do want to support those who've committed adultery as all have sinned.

So well done for your hard work today, and I hope to see you soon.

Bye-bye.