In our previous meeting we have

established that man is the “image

of God”, taken from the book of
Genesis. We pointed out that this
is the foundation of human dignity.
Now we will focus our inquiry into
the meaning and purpose of
human sexuality.
.We will begin with the sources of
divine revelation. Therefore, our
investigation looks first and foremost
to the revealed Word of God in the
Sacred Scripture.
The very first references to human sexuality are inextricably
intertwined with the revelation of God as Creator, who created the
human person in His own image. The immediate reference to the
fact that every person, male or female, is created in the image of
God as a sexual person, reveals not merely something about
differing personal functions. More importantly, it clearly and
unequivocally states something quite basic about the essential
meaning of each and every person as such, whether male or
female: each one, though in differing ways, is created in a very
special and personal relationship with God the Creator, in whose
very own image he or she is made.
To , develop this further, we will reflect on the
two creation accounts in Genesis, each of which
presents us with some very specific revealed
information about ourselves which will
contribute to the formation of a total faith
perspective in our inquiry into the ultimate
meaning and purpose of human sexuality
It is to be noted that there are two distinct accounts of
creation in the Book of Genesis, as pointed out by Scripture
scholars, coming from two different traditions----Chapter 1
and Chapter 2
• Each of these two traditions has its
own theology, anthropology, and
attitude toward sex.
The Book of Genesis
1.Genesis: Chapter One
In verses 26-30 , there are two fundamental
characteristics of human sexuality that we can
derive from this account
a.That human sexuality is personal

b. That human sexuality is procreative

A.Human Sexuality is essentially personal. Gen
1: 26-27
This means that the sexual denomination
of male or female is not a quality that
pertains merely to one part or aspect of
the individual person, but that it is
something that is said of the whole
person.
Nor does it have a meaning and
purpose which is limited to any one
particular biological function or
anatomical structure of the person.
The whole person is male or the
whole person is female.
• Human sexuality is essentially procreative. Gen.
1: 28
In verse 26, when God is contemplating the creation of
man in his own image, he already predetermines the
dominion they will exercise over the rest of creation.
After they have been created, the text continues,
addressing them directly. “God blessed them, saying:
‘Be fertile and multiply; Fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the
air, and all living things that move on the earth.”
• This command is quite different from that given in verse
22 to the sea monsters, swimming creatures and winged
birds whom God also blessed, saying: “Be fertile, multiply,
and fill the water of the seas, and let the birds multiply on
the earth.” The sea monsters and the birds were given a
mandate to be reproductive, but certainly not to be
procreative in the very special manner of the man and
woman in verses 26 and 28.
 What is the difference?
Procreativity refers not merely to the fact that the
man and woman can reproduce, or generate new life.
It says much more not only about their total
relationship to each other, but it speaks of their
relationship to the whole world as well.
•It is a revelation that God is sharing with them not only
his creative power of bringing new life into being—that
is, of persons who are conceived in love in the image of
those who are their parents, --but that He also shares
with them his dominion, or responsibility, as the Lord of
creation
As such, the procreativity of each person, man or
woman, says something abut his/her total relationship
to other persons, and to his/her responsibility in and for
the world in which we live.
Human sexuality is and must always be procreative
in this sense, even when it is not and cannot be
procreative in the much more restricted sense of
being merely reproductive or generative ( such as
that of a celibate, or in a sterile marriage).
•Even the great sea monsters and the winged birds, as
well as bees, being sexual creature, can do that, namely,
reproduce. Our sexuality is so much more. And it
demands so much more of us! It’s a great responsibility
for life: in its beginning, in its being sustained, and in its
being directed towards its ultimate goals.
• Genesis: Chapter Two
Just as we identified two essential characteristics of
human sexuality in the First Chapter, we shall now
describe two others derived from the Second Chapter
of Genesis.
a.Human sexuality is essentially relational and
complementary. Gen 2: 18-23.

b. Human sexuality is essentially unitive.

Gen 2: 24
Human sexuality is essentially relational and
complementary
In this story of creation, God sees Adam, the man
whom he has formed out of the clay of the ground
struggling with loneliness. Despite the fact that he had
been given all of the delights of the garden in Eden,
and not only the companionship with but also
dominion over all of the animals and birds “…none
proved to be suitable partner for the man.”
• It was because of this loneliness that God then
gave him a companion that was suitable for him,
and caused him to exclaim in joy: “This one, at
last, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called woman for out of him this
one has been taken.”
• The birds and the beasts are not sufficient for man to
help him to overcome loneliness. Something is lacking.

So, God creates woman—who is like man, and

suitable for him, yet different from him—totally
different. In a word, she is personally, or sexually,
different.
• And it is precisely in her being like him, yet
unlike him, that he finds fulfillment, and
eventually will come to understand his own
self. In his relations with her, the man will
come to know not only the woman, but
himself as well.
For this reason, human sexuality is said to be essentially
relational.
Furthermore, since it is in their total relationship that
the full meaning of each one’s own self and of the
other will be discovered, each contributes to complete
the meaning of the other, in both his/her perception
and experience of self, as well as in his/her perception
and experience of the other.
• For this reason we say that human sexuality is
essentially complementary. This notion of
complementarity must be understood in its total
mutuality—that is, each conveys a notion of
completion to the other for a full understanding of
human person.
• So it should not be taken to mean that the woman merely
completes the more basic identity of the man as person.

“Man finds companionship in nature, but a more perfect

companion comes when woman is created. Sexuality is not
associated primarily here with propagation. It is a gift for man
so that man might live in fellowship and not be lonely”

--Donald Goergen OP (The Sexual Celibate)

•“Sexuality is nothing but the ultimate
realization of our belonging to one another”
• --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
b. Sexuality is essentially unitive. Gen 2:24.

This further characterization is seen in the way in

which the former traits are experienced and
expressed: “That is why a man leaves his father and
mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them
become one body. “ this unity which is achieved in the
fullest form of sexual expression is not merely a
physical genital union, but rather that union signifies.
•It is a union that transcends the physical, and
establishes an intimate fellowship and
companionship whereby one’s own identity as
a man is discovered and expressed in his union
with the woman, and vice versa
Furthermore, in the fullest meaning of the word, sexual
intercourse is not merely an occasional physical union
of a man and a woman, even when they so come
together as an expression of their purest love.

It is, rather, the unity of their permanent, on-going,

total relationship precisely in their man and
woman as a couple-----in a way that solves the
problem of being alone.
• In summation, we can say that since these
four characteristics are essential elements in
a proper understanding of human sexuality,
then they must always pertain to everyone’s
well-ordered sexuality.