Traditional Christian sexual ethics are sometimes perceived as completely unnecessary today, and even harmful. Yet there may be plenty of modern research to back old-fashioned values similar to chastity and restraint, showing that these principles result in more flourishing for people, for families, and for society.
It might surprise some that such research exists, on account of the educational climate that is commonly perceived to be hostile to Christian and conservative points of view, and the extraordinary left-liberal bias in academia. This must influence what topics are investigated, in addition to the conclusions.
Yet even on this relatively hostile context, there may be plenty of research supporting the normal position of reserving sex for marriage, staying in marriage, and staying together.
Some care is required in trumpeting the info. A challenge when considering any social science research is that conflicting results all the time exist, depending on what kind of study is completed, as may be summarised by the old saying: “there are lies, rattling lies and statistics.” Different sorts of statistical tests can produce different results, even from the identical set of knowledge.
Also, people usually are not test tubes, so we cannot isolate one factor and manipulate it, keeping all others the identical, as we might do in a laboratory when conducting a scientific experiment that proves conclusively what causes what. Humans and their behaviours may be measured and analysed fastidiously for cause and effect – but conclusions are all the time debatable and subjective to some extent, as psychology and sociology usually are not exact sciences.
Nevertheless, there may be plenty of interesting research on the market about subjects that Christians care about.
Sex before marriage
Premarital sex is now considered to be the norm, and studies show that almost all of the population practise it. Yet, studies have also consistently shown that it has negative effects. For example, it’s related to depressive symptoms in young people, in addition to other psychiatric difficulties and substance use, a lot that some academics say “delaying sexual behaviour into young maturity can have some advantages for mental health.”
But the associated problems are long-lasting. Research has shown consistently that individuals who have sex before marriage usually tend to divorce – even when there was just one partner, the eventual spouse, and even when aspects similar to religious commitment and family background are taken into consideration.
This effect increases the more premarital sex someone has, that may be classed in three groups: “The lowest risk for those with no premarital, non-spousal partners, a modest increase for those with some, and a pointy increase for those with many,” states research by sociologist Jesse Smith published in 2023. “These results are more consistent with the notion that the effect of premarital sex on divorce becomes stronger, not weaker, as sexual partners accumulate.”
This study explored most of the hypothesised reasons for this considerable effect, similar to commitment to religion, having traditional views, and difficult early family years, but these weren’t the predominant cause.
This increased risk for divorce is especially necessary when considering the negative effects that follow on from divorce, and the positive advantages of staying married:
Marriage
Married people live longer: A 2023 study by Anne Balter in Denmark compared the life expectancy of people who find themselves married, in comparison with those that are never married, those that live with someone, divorced people or widows. In just about all cases, those that are married live longer than the opposite groups. The lowest life expectancy was for individuals who were divorced or never married.
Married people say they’re less depressed: A big study of over 100,000 people world wide found that married people showed less depressive symptoms than individuals who usually are not married. This effect was particularly strong on singles living in Western countries. There can also be some evidence of higher self-esteem.
Marriage is more stable: According to research by the Marriage Foundation, parents who live together single usually tend to split up in the event that they usually are not married. On average, there was a survival rate of 93% for married parents and 75% for cohabiting parents over five years.
Children of married persons are happier: this can be a sensitive subject, because people who find themselves divorced often feel deep guilt about its effects on the kids. But research does validate these concerns. “Parental divorce has persistent, and mostly negative effects on children,” concludes recent research by Wolfgang Frimmel. When followed over time, the experience affects the long run educational and workplace achievement of youngsters of divorced parents, and even their life expectancy.
“Everybody wants reliable love,” says a research paper from the Marriage Foundation. “Adults want it. Children want it. So it’s in everybody’s interests to search out out what gives us our greatest likelihood of achieving this.”
Pornography
“Decades of studies from respected academic institutions have demonstrated significant impacts of porn consumption for people, relationships, and society,” states the web site of Fight the New Drug, which educates about its harmful effects.
A study by Mark H Butler in 2017 found that the more porn is used, the more likely an individual is to feel lonely, with some signs that they cause the opposite – i.e. if an individual is lonely they use more porn, and in the event that they use more porn it results in more loneliness.
There is plenty of evidence that men who use porn have lower quality physical relationships with their partners. It just isn’t simply because people who find themselves unhappy use more porn – when tested at different points over time, a person’s use of porn at one time limit is a strong predictor of the standard of the wedding several years later. Studies of the brain show that web porn use can change into like a drug addiction, making it difficult to stop.
Whole books have been written about these necessary topics, the above being only a small number of the relevant research and evidence that supports traditional Christian ethics.
Heather Tomlinson is a contract Christian author. Find more of her work at https://heathertomlinson.substack.com or via X (twitter) @heathertomli
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