READ THIS FIRST INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 ..... World in Revolt -- Why This Book Had to Be Written

CHAPTER 2 ..... Why -- and What Is the Missing Dimension?

CHAPTER 3 ..... How Shame Entered

CHAPTER 4 ..... Why Sex? Its TRUE MEANING

CHAPTER 5 ..... The Divine Purposes of Sex

CHAPTER 6 ..... But Was Sex Really Necessary?

CHAPTER 7 ..... Recapturing the True Values of Sex -- the Commanded Functions

CHAPTER 8 ..... The Biological Differences

CHAPTER 9 ..... How God Designed Sex

CHAPTER 10 ...."Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

CHAPTER 11 .... The God-Ordained Uses of Sex

CHAPTER 12 .... Dating -- and Teenage Morality

CHAPTER 13 .... The Best Age for Marriage

CHAPTER 14 .... Planned Parenthood, Contraceptives and Sexual Dysfunctions

CHAPTER 15 .... Engagement -- and Wedding Night

If EVER the Western world needed a book, it needs this one now! In no area of human life has there been such drastic social change as in that of SEX.

The so-called "New Morality," first unleashed by World War I, intensified by World War II, completely KO'd Western civilization during the decades of the fifties, sixties and seventies.

Prior to the first World War, it was illegal in the United States to publish, sell or distribute a book of instruction on the subject of sex. After World War I an avalanche of books, pamphlets, magazine and newspaper articles, teachings on sex, descended on the public. Yet in all this, the most vitally needed dimension of knowledge was missing.

During the fifties, sixties, seventies and into the eighties, sex has been hurled at the public in every manner -- in movies, in television, in all advertising, in TV commercials.

Everywhere sex came to be freely talked about. Morals relaxed. The "New Morality" became accepted by society. Divorces escalated. Family and home life became almost nonexistent -- yet a solid family structure is the very foundation of a stable and enduring society.

There has floated abroad the delusion that whatever is new and different is "more progressive" and "modern," and therefore better. Far more often it is retrogression!

The purposes and true meaning of both sex and marriage are extremely vital to know. Physical details can be rightly understood only in the light of what has gone before in this volume. This astonishing knowledge especially as presented in the earlier and middle chapters of this book -- is as vital as it is surprising. It is important to read this book in its rightful order, beginning with Chapter 1.

Regardless of how much knowledge the reader may have acquired on the subject, he will find much that is new to him in this book -- and he will come to see this entire subject in an entirely new light.

The impetus which started research and gathering of material for this book, in 1949, was the need to produce our own textbook for the Principles of Living course in Ambassador College. However, the accelerating demand from the constantly enlarging readership of "The Plain Truth", now nearly three million subscribers in all parts of the world, necessitated preparation of a work for the instruction of this vast number of people, in all walks of life, and in all levels of education.

Purposely, therefore, we have avoided the staid, dry, pedantic, professorial language of scholarship which seems typical of the average university-level textbook. Such writing may inflate the intellectual vanity of the author. But it is our purpose to convey knowledge to the reader. The purpose of words is to convey meaning. We have tried to make this text as plain and understandable as it is frank. We have endeavored to make it easy to read.

This work has been produced out of genuine concern and deep compassion for a humanity robbed by false teachings, as well as by ignorance, of the joys, the delights and the rich blessings which have been made possible. But these may be OURS today, if only we will open our minds to receive what has been missing until now.

Read and reread it, from beginning to end, with a clean heart, a right spirit and an understanding mind! -- and you will be richly rewarded.

THE WORLD HAS EMERGED FROM the age of hush! A moral revolution has swept the world!

Few under thirty have any conception of what the previous 4,000-year-long world was like. Few over thirty are aware of the extent to which the "New Morality" has progressed -- in reverse!

Little was known about sex. The subject was never discussed. It was unlawful in the United States to publish, sell or distribute any knowledge about sex or teaching in its use. Certainly young married people sorely needed proper information.

After World War I the legal dam was removed. The floodgates against published sex information opened. An avalanche of books, magazine and newspaper articles flooded over the United States like a tidal wave. One can hardly pick up a magazine on a newsstand that does not feature at least one article on sex.

The medical doctors, the gynecologists, the psycho-analysts, the "sexologists," ground out "authoritative" books conveying information and teaching on the subject of sex.

Yet in all this dissemination the MOST ESSENTIAL DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE WAS MISSING!

It has remained for this present volume to reveal that all-important dimension, its real meaning and purposes.

This missing dimension in knowledge has not been revealed by religion, by the medical fraternity, by the "authorities" on the subject nor by higher education. You will find it only in this book. Do NOT GLANCE OVER and past that portion of this book. It is a million times more valuable than the technical-physical knowledge. The latter, without the former can be, ultimately, disastrously fatal! For this is, in true fact, the most important and necessary book ever published on sex!

Today we live in a different world. Sex is everywhere discussed, and almost as promiscuously indulged. But the new "freedom" is by no means limited to the sexual response! The modern plunge has dived much deeper than even a modern society is aware!

First, take a swift overview of "progress" after a year in the eighties! Then a surprised (to those of thirty and below) glance back into the pre-World War years as it had been for some 4,000 years! Our camera zooms now into the Western world before and after -- two divergent human societies!

The contrast ought to arouse the reader to sober thought! -- but will it? Or have we become too lukewarm to be concerned? Our own future and eternity hangs in the balance!

Today's condition and trend is so frightening in what it portends, it ought to shock every individual out of complacency into desperate action to reverse the ominous tide!

But the FACTS OF LIFE as we speed through the eighties have not hit us SUDDENLY in a twenty-four-hour day or a single week! The deadly contrast is not so apparent -- because it came on us gradually over a period of six decades -- two full generations.

The "New Morality" world was spawned after the turn of the century. It developed from the embryo stage during World War I. It surged, mostly among teens unnoticed by their parents on past World War II. The emergence of television after that war gave the trend great impetus. Acceleration sped the downward plunge. The "New Morality" really surfaced during the sixties, blossomed into full bloom in the seventies.

Where are we NOW -- after a year into the eighties?

In the United States ONE MILLION TEENAGE GIRLS, UNMARRIED, GET PREGNANT EVERY YEAR! Conditions in England, Sweden and Western Europe rival this.

Two Johns Hopkins University professors, Melvin Zelnik and John F. Kantner, in a very recent study, report that 50 percent of the nation's teenage girls -- age 14 to 19 -- have had premarital sex. The survey showed the percentage has significantly increased since 1971!

Today, with the avalanche of sex literature and sex education published since World War I and with sex everywhere freely discussed, the teens are indeed "wise" in sexual discussion and sexual experience, but still woefully IGNORANT in sex knowledge.

Syracuse University Professor Sol Gordon says fewer than 10 percent of all teenagers have been given any school sex education. And of course they receive little or none from their parents. The gutter-knowledge acquired from their peers is woefully inadequate. Yet they are "wise in their own conceits." Like the boy whose father in agitated embarrassment said, "Johnnie, I think it's time we had a talk about sex." "Fine, Dad," came the answer. "What'd you like to know?"

Sex ignorance is testified by the fact of 250,000 reported adolescent gonorrhea cases annually.

Not long ago a third of marriages in the United States resulted in divorce. Today the divorce rate has swelled to one half of all marriages!

The foundational bulwark of any healthy, stable and permanent society is the FAMILY UNIT.

Before World War I it was a rare married woman who worked away from home. I remember, during World War I, my own surprise at seeing women employed for the first time as elevator operators in the Marshall Field store in Chicago! Such jobs never had been for women!

Today only 13 percent of U.S. families include a working father, home-making mother and one or more children! What would an Abraham Lincoln think of that! Or even a Theodore Roosevelt! Or a Woodrow Wilson! Would they not turn over in their graves -- if they knew?

Over two-and-one-half million American men and women avoid marriage altogether -- yet live together, either as unmarried heterosexuals or as homosexuals.

By 1990 a virgin standing at the marriage altar will be a phenomenon. Many ask today, why marriage at all, anyway? Some "experts" say marriage will soon be a thing of the past. There is today a definite conspiracy, active on television, in newspapers and in universities, to do away with the institution of marriage.

Though most people in the eighties will marry at least once, there will be a broad variety of options. This will include living alone by choice -- though by no means will it preclude sex. It will include single parentage by women, unmarried twosomes -- both homosexual and heterosexual. It will include communal living and unrelated families. The number of unmarried couples living together doubled in the seventies!

Today "authorities" say "change in partnership may be seen as predictable, understandable, even desirable. We'll back away from the notion of lifelong marriage."

Loosening attitudes toward sex, shout the "expert" conspirators, will help propel these changes. With legalized abortion, and improved contraception, coming on the eighties horizon are an anti-pregnancy vaccine, birth control implants under the skin, and a birth control pill for men! Sex will be equated with fun, pleasure, enjoyment -- not babies!

Since it is a basic truism that a solid family structure is the foundational bulwark of any stable and permanent society, this fact means only one thing -- CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT IS ON THE WAY DOWN -- AND OUT -- unless that great "Unseen Strong Hand from Someplace" soon intervenes and saves today's sick society.

But before we leave the world scene of the eighties, bear in mind the present WORLD IN REVOLT is in rebellion against much more than pre-20th century sex repression. And the modern downward spiral of humanity involves a much wider area than sex alone.

Today the family structure of Western life is endangered by much more than illicit and promiscuous sex.

Along with the modern sex rampage of adolescents has come other addictions that titillate, arouse, stimulate and please the physical senses.

Accompanying sexual indulgence has come, in teen life, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, modern X-rated movies, gangsterism, violence.

They look for every pleasing, stimulating sensation. Some appeal to the sense of feel. Some to sight. Some to hearing -- like rock and disco music with the sensual beat and the rhythm. Some to the sense of smell. People smell tobacco smoke. Cigarette ads speak only of "taste." But you cannot taste smoke! Believe it or not, you cannot taste smoke! But as the smell of tobacco smoke becomes addictive in the nostril, and affects body and mind in the lungs, so "pot" (marijuana), opium and other smoke affects the MIND, and stimulates. One gets "high" -- experiences new sensations. Heroin and other hard drugs even more so. Nearly all who become hooked on the hard drugs started on marijuana.

The movies bring "pleasures" through the sense of sight and of sound. Kids spend hours a day before the "one-eyed monster." It provides a ready-made daydream. And misuse not only dulls the mind, television has been a prime medium by which the anti-family conspiracy has injected its deadly poison into juvenile and adult minds.

Make no mistake. Television is an industry devoted to ENTERTAINMENT -- pure and simple! Of course one finds occasionally on TV a truly educational and/or worthwhile program or documentary. But TV is a BUSINESS for PROFIT in America. It provides ENTERTAINMENT so that people have "commercials" selling goods and services thrust before them. The entertainers -- even news announcers who are themselves primarily entertainers -- say before a "commercial break," "Stay tuned," or "We'll be right back -- don't go away." The viewer is literally forced to allow the commercial huckster to inject his sales pitch into the mind.

Another modern evil -- seldom recognized as such -- is the working wife and mother.

Family life has undergone a RADICAL REVOLUTION! Teens have sex games at home in bed while Dad and Mom are at work. Children do not eat with parents. They seldom go to movies with parents. Parents have their lives, associates and friends apart from the children. Parents never think of teaching children, being with children, maintaining a FAMILY RELATIONSHIP! Parental responsibility is totally neglected. In due time parents are going to be brought to account for this neglect of basic responsibility.

The young people of today have little awareness of the sex and family conditions in pre-war years. In fact, until 1914 there had been little basic change for some 4,000 years! The prior to 1914 years were as different from today's world as day is from night!

Parents then, even as now, taught their children nothing about sex. They themselves knew nothing! Their parents never had taught them! Besides, it would have been too embarrassing! The commonly accepted dictum was, "Keep our children innocent through ignorance until marriage -- then instinct will teach them."

But instinct did not teach them. Humans, unlike animals, do not come equipped with instinct. Blindly, with a smattering of gutter-acquired misknowledge, the newly married blundered their way into disillusionments, shattered dreams, bitter resentments and frustrations -- and, too often the divorce courts, although divorces were still a rarity.

True, a very large percentage of girls were kept "pure." The girl, up until 1914, who lost her virginity unmarried had also "lost her honor." Of course a double standard had developed. Every man wanted a virgin for a wife, but a majority were less careful about male virtue. Yet the girl who had "gone the limit" was "damaged goods."

Those under thirty today know little about prevailing attitudes and sexual behavior prior to the two world wars. Contrariwise, if a girl who died at age 22 prior to 1917 were resurrected suddenly back to life today, she would be appalled! -- horrified! -- at the prevailing attitude and behavior of 22-year-old girls today!

Just what are the generally unrealized FACTS? What was the real origin of the then traditional Christian morality?

And conversely, what triggered the moral revolution -- the so-called "New Morality"? How did TODAY'S moderns come to accept present attitudes and behavior patterns? What has finally, after thousands of years of the "sex-is-shameful" repression, plunged the world into prevalent sexual "freedoms"?

And what, after all, is the PLAIN TRUTH? What, after all, are the TRUE VALUES? Was the pre-World War concept better for humanity? Is the present "New Morality" really advancement -- really better for those who are swept along with it?

People who lived prior to the 20th century would be aghast if they could see life as it is lived today.

Up until World War I people believed in marriage and family life. My own family was typical. I had never known of a divorce or a broken home and family in any of my relatives or ancestors. Marriage was "until death do us part." Any other status or life-style would have been strange and shocking.

But what brought this drastic change?

WHY WORLD ACCEPTANCE OF "the New Morality"? What, until 1914, had been the Western world's standard of morality? Was it good or bad? Has a whole world in revolt brought anything better? What have been the FACTS? What have been the CAUSES?

It is not only a moral revolution. A revolution in government, in economics, in science and technology, in education, in labor standards and in social values, even in religion, has shaken the whole world!

WHY?

WHY has the whole world suddenly aroused to violent action? And especially in the area of morals?

We will give specific causes a little later. The "authorities" -- the psychoanalysts and the medical doctors -- decided moral standards were in need of revision. And they have been revised, radically, under the catch-phrase "the New Morality"!

Yet few realize the facts of the true origin of the "sex-is-shameful" attitude, or of the impetus behind the moral revolution. The facts are stranger than fiction!

The world, since the first World War, as mentioned above, has been deluged with books, pamphlets and articles in magazines and newspapers about sex. Still, the most necessary dimension in knowledge of the subject has been missing -- unpublished until this book!

Today protest fills the air. Revolt is everywhere, against almost everything! And in no grievance is revolt so widespread as that against the repressive moral codes of traditional Christianity. The revolters reject the authority of the church. They have embraced what they term "the New Morality."

Just what are the generally unknown FACTS? What was the real origin of the traditional Christian morality? Did it come from Christ -- from the original apostles -- from the Bible?

And what triggered the moral revolution, and finally plunged the world into the sexual "freedoms" of today?

Christianity, following its first generation, absorbed the pagan dualism of Greece, and pasted the label "sinful" on sex. Through the centuries since, the moral standards of the Western world were regulated by the Roman Catholic Church.

Does that mean, then, that Christ introduced and taught this attitude that sex of itself is shameful and evil? Emphatically it does not! Jesus never represented sex as anything other than that which our Maker created, and all that He had created God pronounced "very good." Jesus taught against wrong uses of sex. He forgave a repentant woman caught in the act of adultery, with the admonition, "Go, and sin no more."

The original apostles never deviated from this teaching. The biblical teaching throughout is the same.

What, then, was the real source of this attitude of shame? It flowed on the tide of the Babylonian Mystery religion into the Roman world. And how did this concept come to be accepted as Christian? The facts, I repeat, are stranger than fiction.

Emphatically it was not the teaching of Hebraism, nor of Jesus, nor of the original Church of God. It reached the Roman world by way of Greece, but it flowed, at an earlier date, into Greece from Egypt. Yet it stems from a still earlier source, to be revealed in the following chapter.

In the first and second centuries the Roman world was dotted by pagan schools, on the curricular model established by the Grecian Plato. Plato had received this dualistic attitude toward sex from his teacher, the philosopher Socrates, himself a sex pervert. This dualistic teaching had become the basic hypothesis of all Grecian thought, writing and religion. Sex was regarded as low and degrading, an act in which man descended to the level of the beast.

This was the underlying attitude in the teaching of the pagan schools throughout the Roman Empire. There were no Christian schools. To establish such schools would have been impossible. Textbooks had to be written laboriously, by hand, one at a time. The printing press was not to be invented for centuries. All textbooks were pagan.

Second- and third-generation Christians were reared and educated from childhood in these pagan schools. By the beginning of the 6th century this dualistic concept toward sex was firmly rooted in western Christianity. It is still the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Protestants in general have passively followed Catholic teaching on sex, but have tended to be more lax in behavior.

But what were the real fruits of that dualistic concept of virtue? Some 90 percent of marriages were rendered unhappy -- many utterly miserable and unbearable -- because of false attitudes and sex ignorance. Many a wife was virtually raped on her wedding night. The stupid husband didn't mean to injure his wife. He was just plain IGNORANT! He needed instruction that had been denied him.

Many wives called their husbands "BRUTES." They simply were ignorant of the fact that brutes, guided by instinct, are not guilty of such things. Husbands said their wives were "frigid" and too often began to visit prostitutes.

What price IGNORANCE!

Then came World War I. It brought tremendous changes in thinking, in behavior patterns, in social customs and in the double standard. Women won the vote in America. Wives began entering employment and becoming financially independent.

Previously, about 1904, a startling conclusion had been reached by Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis. This revolutionary opinion had resulted from his clinical experience and researches. Freud had decided that sexual repression, the attitude of shame, and ignorances about sex were the CAUSES of neuroses and many mental disorders.

He and his followers in the newly appearing profession of psychiatry urged knowledge dissemination and sexual freedom as the panacea. If repression and self-denial caused the neurotic disquiet, why not reverse the interpretation of morality? Emancipate the people from restraints. Put a new definition on sex. Define it as GOOD, not degrading, shameful and EVIL -- any use of sex, in or out of marriage.

In the wake of World War I the agitation resulting from Freud's revolutionary conclusions finally brought about the toppling of the legal barriers. And the moral barriers began breaking down simultaneously.

With the removal of legal restraints against sex instruction, medical doctors and psychoanalysts began grinding out volume after volume imparting heretofore banned instruction about sex.

Previously, the publication of knowledge in other fields had been accelerating. But in the delicate area of knowledge about sex the medical and associated professions had held a monopoly. Now sex information was hurled at the public from all directions. Even today almost every magazine one might pick up off a newsstand will contain at least one article on the subject of sex, as noted earlier. Even the most conservative magazines. Besides there are magazines devoted wholly to sex and I do not mean pornographic magazines.

Yet something has been criminally wrong with this avalanche of sex literature. There has been missing the most vital dimension.

The world began throwing off the restraints. The revolt was on, against prudery, repression and ignorance. The new sensual knowledge -- with its most-needed dimension missing -- quickly began to be gulped in by curiosity-hungry minds.

World War II shot morals into the gutter. And now they have plunged all the way into the cesspool.

Permissiveness is the current fad.

Today, it is actually becoming popular in more and more colleges and universities to allow students to visit the dorm rooms of those of opposite sex at any or all hours around the clock -- and sleep with them if desired. Many have introduced the system of "co-ed dorms" -- both men's rooms and girls' in opposite wings on the same floor, no restrictions whatsoever.

Today pornography is rampant on many school and college grounds, and smut has become a multimillion-dollar industry in country after country.

Today we have "progressed" completely past "topless" bars and restaurants. When they became no longer shocking, "bottomless" followed, and finally, the supreme jolt as a shocker -- and in several places -- to entertain a lust-gripped audience, actual live sexual intercourse performed in the nude on stage. Not simulated. "For REAL!"

Along with this trend had come the hippies, "rock-festival" orgies attended by thousands, fast-growing drug addiction, hundreds of thousands literally "blowing their minds!"

I mentioned, above, that the revolters have rejected the authority of the church. But where is the authority for a right moral code?

After all, what is right? -- and what is wrong? What is really best for each individual? It is generally assumed that every sane person "knows the difference between right and wrong."

But DO THEY?

Many Roman Catholics still think any use of sex outside of marriage is sin -- and therefore wrong. Perhaps a few non-Catholics still believe the same thing. On the other hand, millions now believe in the "New Morality." They believe in complete sexual freedom. They believe denial and repression is wrong.

And even a very large segment of Catholics are relaxing their attitudes!

There are other views in between.

What is the truth?

The TRUTH is that the most tragically needed dimension in sex knowledge has been MISSING!

In the modern rebellion against just about everything -- including puritanical taboos -- the world is tending to reject any and all authority, and is turning more and more to impulse and unbridled desire.

Now some psychiatrists are questioning the institution of marriage! Who started the marriage custom, anyway? And WHEN? If man is merely the highest evolvement of the animal kingdom, WHEN, in the evolutionary development from lower animal into man, did marriage with home and family life start -- and WHY? Animals do not marry. They have no "home life." Yet all animals reproduce. Marriage is not necessary for reproduction.

Do we really need any AUTHORITY for what is right or wrong about sex -- about marriage? Is sexual freedom by mutual consent really harmful to anybody? Is the game, becoming prevalent, of husband-and-wife-swapping wrong -- is it harming the participants -- or is it beneficial?

Let's see what MODERN SCIENCE -- and the SCIENTIFIC METHOD has contributed.

Vital NEW KNOWLEDGE awaits the reader.

WHAT AN AGE! -- THIS AGE OF the knowledge explosion! Few realize how recently it has developed. Its rapid acceleration has come only in this present century.

The dissemination of knowledge about sex has occurred only since World War I. Medieval ignorance, coupled with the "sex-is-shameful" attitude and church repression, caused frustration and miserably unhappy marriages. But the modern diffusion of biological sex knowledge and the permissive sexual freedoms of the "New Morality" have plunged the Western world from the frying pan into the fire.

And WHY? Because the most vital dimension in knowledge about sex and marriage has been missing.

But this vital dimension is missing not only from knowledge about sex and marriage. It is missing from knowledge in general!

To understand, we need to realize the impetus behind the general knowledge explosion, and HOW the most vital dimension came to be missing.

The dramatic rise in the world's total fund of knowledge began, roughly, 170 years ago, with the advent of modern science. The new knowledge in the fields of science and technology developed slowly at first. Knowledge production gained momentum gradually, and then, finally, came the knowledge explosion.

Even when I was a boy, we used kerosene lamps, horse-and-buggy transportation and the little "dinky" trolley cars which had just replaced the horse-drawn street cars. Radio, television, airplanes were unheard of.

It's hard to realize, now, that this world went along on virtually an even keel -- with no material progress to speak of -- for thousands of years. It was primarily an agricultural world, using primitive farming methods. The cast-iron plow was not invented until 1797 -- the disc plow not until 1896, when I was a growing boy. The first harvester came in 1836.

Think of it! Through those long millennia the world was virtually without transportation or means of communication! Transportation was by foot, mule-back, camel, elephant or horse-drawn. By sea it was slow-moving sailboat. The first steamboat (Fulton) was 1803. The telephone was not invented until 1876, wireless in 1896.

In my lifetime we have whipped past the machine age, the automobile age, the jet age, the nuclear age and the space age. What stimulated this accelerating materialistic development?

It occurred simultaneously with the sudden spurt to national wealth and power of two nations -- Britain and the United States -- beginning in 1800. With this suddenly acquired material wealth, our people became materialistically minded.

Modern scientists assured the world that man had progressed to the point where he could safely dispense with the superstitious crutch of religion and belief in God. Now humanity could rely on the new messiah -- modern science.

"Given sufficient knowledge," said the scientists, "and we shall solve all of humanity's problems and cure all the world's ills." The tools of modern science were merely a stepped-up use of those man had employed since the dawn of history -- observation, experimentation and human reason.

So knowledge production has increased at a fast-accelerating pace. And this includes the area of sex!

Paradoxically, humanity's problems, troubles and evils have been increasing at an equal acceleration! In the decade from 1960 to 1970 man's total fund of knowledge DOUBLED! But, incredibly, in that same ten short years the world's TROUBLES and EVILS doubled also! The decade of the seventies produced a like "advancement."

What's wrong with the dictum that knowledge is the sole need for solutions? Increasing evils have come with increasing knowledge! That's the hard, cold fact that must be faced!

Is it wrong to possess or gain KNOWLEDGE? Most certainly not! Am I discouraging the acquisition of knowledge? BY NO MEANS!

On the other hand, we are face-to-face with the FACT that evils have escalated along with the production of knowledge. That does not necessarily mean that the knowledge produced caused the evils. It does mean that the knowledge produced did not cure existing evils or prevent new evils.

There has to be a knowledge-gap -- a missing dimension -- somewhere! It's high time we learn what it is!

For every effect, there has to be a CAUSE!

There has to be a CAUSE FOR ALL THE WORLD'S EVILS! THERE HAS TO BE A CAUSE for the worsening moral problem! There can be TWO KINDS of knowledge -- true and false.

In this feverish development of knowledge production, scholars in universities have been placing emphasis on academic freedom. Academic freedom is defined as the independent judgment allowed teachers, scholars, scientists, students, in the pursuit of knowledge.

Science as a whole, and higher education, have exercised the academic freedom to postulate a creation without a Creator. They have engaged in the activity of knowledge production with total rejection of any possibility of the miraculous, the supernatural, the existence of God -- or anything outside the realm of the material. In the realm of knowledge of the spiritual they know nothing. They have rejected utterly revelation as a source of basic knowledge!

When I engaged in research on the theory of evolution, I studied Darwin, Haeckel, Huxley, Vogt, More, Chamberlain and other exponents of the theory. I also looked at the other side of the question. But I would venture to say that most of those whose higher education has been acquired during the past half century have been taught and have accepted without question the evolutionary theory, not having examined with any seriousness the biblical evidences of special creation. To go along with the evolutionary concept has become the scholarly "IN" thing. In most institutions of higher learning, the world's "Best Seller" has been dismissed without a hearing.

Is it not human to err?

Could it be possible for the most highly educated minds to have been intellectually misled or deceived? Could they, viewing only one side of the question, be infallible, entirely above making mistakes?

For many years now, I have observed that errors almost always come from a false basic premise, carelessly assumed as self-evident, and taken for granted without question, then building on that false basic hypothesis. The basic premise for knowledge production in our time has been the evolutionary concept. It has been the eyeglasses through which all questions have been viewed. Yet it remains unproved, and by its very nature it is a theory not subject to proof. It is a FAITH. And to question it is -- to those who embrace this faith -- academic heresy!

Do we, then, DARE question the theories so generally accepted by advanced scholarship? Is it heretical to question their assumed conclusions and ask for PROOF? Is it academic heresy to look at the other side of the coin?

Suppose, now, WE appropriate the academic freedom to carefully examine that which has been dismissed without examination.

It might prove exciting and enlightening, at this point, to allow ourselves the latitude of academic freedom unprejudicially to examine the biblical narrative of the forbidden fruit. That bit of revelation purports to describe the crucial initial event in human experience that changed the entire course of history.

The first three chapters of the Bible do have something to say about sex and marriage. And, after all, the man and the woman there described were naked, were they not?

Evidently few, if any -- whether scientist, scholar or theologian -- have viewed this account with any remote conception that it might explain the origin of the scientific method of KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION. Or, that it might reveal the very source of the fatal missing dimension! Certainly almost no one -- theologians included -- has ever UNDERSTOOD what this account really does SAY!

I think we must begin our view of the forbidden fruit narrative at the beginning, the very first verse in the Bible.

So we begin, "In the beginning GOD ..." That statement definitely puts God in existence before all else. No postulate -- no guess -- no "perhaps" -- just the simple positive statement, "... created the heaven and the earth."

Whether fact or fiction -- truth or error -- that is what is written, purporting to be the revealed Word of God.

Something tremendous is indicated to have occurred between what is stated to have been the original creation of the earth (verse 1) and the statement in verse 2: "And the earth was [became] without form, and void" (Hebrew, tohu and bohu) meaning ruin, confusion, emptiness (see any Hebrew-English lexicon). What occurred between events and conditions described in those two verses is revealed in many other biblical passages. And this allows for any duration of time between the two verses. So far as biblical statements are concerned, the original creation could have occurred millions of years prior to the state described in the second verse.

Coming to the 26th verse, chapter 1, it is stated, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Other biblical passages state that man is in the same form and shape as God -- but with this difference: that God is composed of SPIRIT, and man of physical matter.

Now verse 27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Here is a dogmatic statement that God designed and created SEX!

And next, chapter 2, verse 7: "And the Eternal God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The flat statement is here recorded that what was made from material substance (dust of the ground) BECAME a soul -- a plain emphatic statement that the "soul" was made from matter, NOT spirit.

Next comes the statement that God planted a garden, or park, in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

Note well these facts: The plain statement is that the man and woman were created as the final act of creation on the sixth day of the week described in the first chapter of Genesis. They had been created, even as we have been born, with human minds as yet unfilled with knowledge. But they were created as adults, with adult-capacity minds, capable of receiving and reasoning from knowledge.

So their Creator began immediately to instruct them in necessary basic knowledge. And this, it is made plain, included instruction in SEX and MARRIAGE.

God had said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (1:28). Again, "and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (2:25).

Mark, please, the plain statement that the attitude of shame was not imparted by God. At the conclusion of God's initial instruction -- which included instruction about sex and reproduction -- there was no sense of indecency or shame about that which God had designed and created.

At this point we must bear in mind that the narrative here is exceedingly brief. It touches only on the high spots. There is every indication that God gave Adam and Eve considerable basic instruction -- sufficient for their needs for the moment. Only the high-point portions of this instruction are summarized.

But sufficient is recorded to show that they were fully instructed in THE WAY to live that would CAUSE every GOOD effect -- peace, happiness, prosperity, comforts, interesting life, abundant well-being.

Notice, now, how much is summarized and condensed into few words:

"And out of the ground made the Eternal God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil .... And the Eternal God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:9,16-17).

God told Adam that he was mortal and could die. He told him that he had been formed of matter from the earth (verse 7) and also "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (chapter 3, verse 19).

Notice what is symbolized and revealed here. The tree of LIFE symbolized eternal life. They did not, as yet, possess immortal life. This was freely offered to Adam and Eve as God's GIFT.

But they were required to make a choice.

Also in the garden was another symbolic tree -- the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil." To make the wrong choice of taking of that forbidden tree would impose the penalty of DEATH. "Thou shalt SURELY die," said God -- IF they chose to disobey and take of that tree.

In other words, as we read in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is DEATH; but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE ...." This clearly shows that God revealed the Gospel to them. And what is the Bible definition of SIN? "Sin is," it is written in I John 3:4, "the transgression of the law."

Actually, there exist, overall, only TWO BASIC WAYS of life -- two divergent philosophies. They travel in opposite directions. I state them very simply: One is the way of GIVE -- the other of GET.

More specifically, the one is the way of love, humility and of outgoing concern for others equal to self-concern. It is the way of cooperation, serving, helping, sharing; of consideration, patience and kindness. More important, it is also THE WAY of obedience to, reliance on, and worship solely toward God. It is the GOD-centered way, of LOVE toward God and LOVE toward neighbor.

The opposite is the SELF-centered way of VANITY, lust and greed; of competition and strife; of envy, jealousy and unconcern for the welfare of others.

Few realize this vital FACT: The "GIVE" way is actually an invisible, yet inexorable, SPIRITUAL LAW in active motion. It is summarized, in principle, by the Ten Commandments.

It is a LAW as REAL, as inflexibly relentless as the law of gravity! It governs and regulates all human relationships!

Why should it seem incongruous that man's Maker -- the Creator of all matter, force and energy -- the Creator of the laws of physics and chemistry, gravity and inertia -- should also have created and set in motion this SPIRITUAL LAW to CAUSE every GOOD result for man?

If the Creator is a God of LOVE -- IF our Maker is a God of all power -- could He possibly have done otherwise? Could He have neglected to provide a WAY -- a CAUSE -- to produce peace, happiness, prosperity, successful lives, abundant well-being?

I repeat: There has to be a CAUSE for every EFFECT.

If there is to be peace, happiness, abundant well-being, SOMETHING MUST CAUSE IT! God could not BE God without providing a CAUSE for every desired GOOD.

Isn't it about time we realize that IN LOVE for the mankind He created, God also created and set in motion inexorably this spiritual LAW to provide the CAUSE of every GOOD result!

Now recapitulate. DEATH is the penalty of SIN. SIN is the TRANSGRESSION of this LAW! To transgress this Law is to reject the WAY that would CAUSE the GOOD all humans want -- to turn to the WAY that CAUSES every EVIL result. God FORBADE Adam and Eve to take the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, under penalty of DEATH!

WHY? Because He wanted them to choose the WAY of every desired GOOD -- because He wanted them to avoid causing evils, sorrows, pains, suffering, unhappiness. Therefore, taking this fruit was symbolic of TRANSGRESSING God's spiritual LAW!

To have taken of the tree of LIFE was merely symbolic of receiving the GIFT of God's Holy Spirit, the very LOVE OF God (Rom. 5:5) which FULFILLS this spiritual Law (Rom. 13:10) and which God gives only to those who OBEY His Law (Acts 5:32).

Consider further: A just God could not have warned the first humans of the DEATH penalty without having fully revealed to them the spiritual Law -- the transgression of which carried that penalty -- the Law codified as the Ten Commandments. Remember, the details are not written here -- only the highly condensed overall SUMMARY of what God taught them.

So God had explained fully to Adam and Eve His WAY OF LIFE -- the "GIVE WAY" -- His inexorable spiritual LAW. God had already SET IN MOTION the LAW that causes all GOOD. He had explained also THE WAY that causes EVILS -- the transgression of that Law -- else He could not have told them that for transgression they would SURELY pay the penalty -- DEATH.

More clearly stated, God gave man his own choice. He could choose to CAUSE every good and receive eternal life in happiness. Or, he could choose to CAUSE evils. It is HUMANITY -- not God -- that CAUSES all the evils that befall man. The choice is MAN'S. What man sows, that does he reap.

Yet here's the crucial point: It was necessary for them to TAKE HIS WORD FOR IT -- the spiritual Law is as invisible as the laws of gravity and inertia! They could not SEE this Law. It is a spiritual Law! But God had revealed to them the way of GOOD, and the way of EVIL.

Now come to chapter 3 in Genesis.

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Eternal God had made" (verse 1).

Much of the Bible is in symbols -- but the Bible explains its own symbols. It is, of course, very out-of-date to believe in a devil today, but the Bible plainly speaks of a devil, named Satan. In Revelation 12:9 and 20:2, the symbol serpent is plainly explained to represent the devil.

Notice, now, the temptation.

Satan subtly went first to the woman. He got to the man through his wife.

"And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be [margin] GOD, knowing good and evil" (verses 1-5).

The narration here attributes astute subtlety to the devil. First, he discredited God. In effect, he said: "You can't rely on God's word. He said you are mortal and can die. He knows better than that; He knows your minds are so perfect that YOU can be GOD."

It is the prerogative of GOD ALONE to determine what is right and what is sin -- what is good and what is evil. God has not delegated to man the right or power to decide WHAT is sin -- but He compels us to decide WHETHER to sin, or to obey His Law.

To rightly determine what is GOOD required the creative power to produce and set in motion such inexorable LAWS as this spiritual Law and the laws of physics and chemistry -- a law which AUTOMATICALLY causes GOOD if obeyed, and EVILS when disobeyed!

Adam and Eve had only GOD'S word that they were mortal and could die. Now Satan disputed this. He said they were IMMORTAL SOULS.

WHOM should they believe? They had no PROOF, except God's word. But now Satan discredited that, and claimed just the opposite.

Satan said their intellectual powers were so great they could determine for themselves what is GOOD and what is evil. That is a GOD-PREROGATIVE. "You can be GOD!" said Satan.

This Satan was appealing to their human VANITY. Remember, they had just been created, with perfect human minds. Not God minds -- but perfect human minds. They allowed the thought to enter their minds that they possessed intellectual powers SO GREAT that they could assume the GOD-prerogative of PRODUCING THE KNOWLEDGE of what is GOOD and what is EVIL!

Intellectual vanity seized them! They were thrilled, enthralled, intoxicated with vanity at the grand prospect.

How, after all, could they be sure God had told them the truth?

They saw (verse 6) -- they used observation -- that the forbidden tree was good for food, pleasant to their eyes, and desired to make them wise. Intellectual vanity was stirred. In the ecstasy of this vanity they used human reason. They decided to reject revelation imparted by God, and to make the very first SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT!

They took the forbidden fruit and ate it!

They took to themselves the prerogative of deciding what is GOOD, and what is EVIL. In so doing, they rejected the GOD-centered WAY of God's spiritual Law, and rejecting it, of necessity they chose the way that transgresses it!

They PIONEERED in deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong -- what is righteousness and what is sin! And humanity has been doing what seems right in its own eyes ever since.

And HOW did they do it? They 1) rejected revelation, 2) used observation, 3) used experimentation and 4) used human reason. And that is precisely the "scientific" method used by modern science today!

And the result of that experiment? THEY DIED! They produced the first child delinquent, the first criminal and murderer!

The most VITAL dimension of knowledge was MISSING from their "scientific" procedure!

There is much vital, basic and important knowledge BEYOND THE POWERS OF MAN TO DISCOVER! Such important knowledge as what man IS, WHY he was put on earth and for what PURPOSE. And if there is PURPOSE, WHAT is that PURPOSE? And HOW may we attain it? What is THE WAY to PEACE? All nations seek and strive for PEACE -- yet none finds it -- they have WAR! What are the TRUE VALUES in life? This world pursues the FALSE!

Those are the most basic and important things man needs to KNOW. Yet he may search for the answers in vain. He can KNOW them ONLY through revelation.

Then such knowledge as: HOW the earth came; WHEN it came -- how old it is; how old is human life upon it -- the mystery of origins. These questions absorb the time, thought, research and thinking of scientists, philosophers, historians -- yet they can come up only with GUESSES, THEORIES, HYPOTHESES -- but NO PROOF -- the definite KNOWLEDGE they could know ONLY by revelation.

In taking to themselves the forbidden fruit, the first humans took to themselves the determination of what is GOOD and what is EVIL. I repeat -- in so doing, they rejected the FACT that God's living, inexorable spiritual Law is THE WAY OF GOOD -- the CAUSE of all GOOD -- and its transgression THE WAY OF EVIL -- the CAUSE of all evil. Since they and humanity in general after them have taken to themselves the determination of what is GOOD, they of necessity have followed THE WAY contrary to God's Law. They have followed THE WAY that has produced all the vast mountain of EVILS that has descended on this sick, SICK world!

They made themselves competitors of the living GOD. That is why it is written in Romans 8:7, "The carnal mind is enmity [hostile] against God: for it is not subject to THE LAW OF GOD, neither indeed can be."

So what, then, is the MISSING DIMENSION in SEX knowledge -- in ALL knowledge?

It is revelation from GOD!

For even though rejected by the first humans -- even though rejected by mankind in general -- God did bequeath to mankind HIS REVELATION OF BASIC KNOWLEDGE. We have it IN WRITING! The Holy Bible is that revelation. It contains history, instruction, revelation of basic knowledge and prophecy.

It does not contain ALL knowledge. It contains that basic, foundational knowledge otherwise inaccessible to man!

What, then, is WRONG with knowledge production today? The most vital dimension is MISSING! I have said that error generally comes from assuming a false premise, taken carelessly for granted without proof, and building on that premise. And when the basic hypothesis or premise is false, the entire structure built upon it topples with it!

I have said that the tools of modern science are observation, experimentation and reason. Are those tools wrong? NOT AT ALL? The error comes from REJECTION of revelation. For revelation is the true starting premise. When man substitutes his own false hypothesis, the most vital dimension in knowledge production is MISSING!

God's Word -- His INSTRUCTION MANUAL for mankind -- is the FOUNDATION of ALL knowledge. It is NOT the sum total of knowledge. It is the foundation -- the true premise -- the starting point -- the concept that directs the approach to the acquisition of further knowledge.

God INTENDED for man to PRODUCE ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE. He gave us the basis -- the foundation -- the premise -- the concept. But He also provided us with eyes with which to observe. With hands and feet to explore and measure. With means to produce laboratories, test tubes, means of EXPERIMENTATION. He gave us awesome MINDS with which to THINK.

Today, as I write, I was flown by jet plane from Singapore to Manila. If the pilots in the cockpit had started the plane off in the wrong direction we might have landed in India or Australia instead of the right destination. It is just as important to start off in the right direction, from the true premise, with the right approach, in this matter of KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION.

God intended man to use observation, experimentation and human reason. He supplied us with the basis -- the foundation -- the start in the right direction, with the right concept. But our first parents rejected the most vital dimension in all knowledge. And mankind has continued to reject the very FOUNDATION of all knowledge. Knowledge production has been operating without a foundation -- based on false premises and erroneous hypotheses.

That is THE REASON human knowledge production has FAILED to solve humanity's problems, and to cure the world's ills.

Manufacturers of mechanical or electrical appliances send along an instruction manual with their product. The Bible is our Maker's INSTRUCTION MANUAL which He has sent along with the product of HIS making -- humanity.

Six thousand years of human misery, unhappiness and evils ought to provide sufficient PROOF for those willing to see, that humanity, starting with our first parents, rejected the most vital dimension.

From this point on, in the current volume, we shall cover the all-important subjects of sex and marriage with the most vital dimension restored -- now published for the first time.

It will prove a real EYE-OPENER for those who are willing to see!

NOW WE COME -- IN GREATER BUT necessary detail -- to the real source of this attitude of shame that flowed on the tide of the Babylonian Mystery religion into the Roman world. As stated in Chapter 1, it had reached Greece from Egypt. Yet it stemmed from a much earlier source -- actually from the forbidden fruit incident in the Garden of Eden.

There we find its real author!

Already, in Chapter 2, this fact was covered in brief. But the incident in the Garden of Eden set the course of human history from that moment. It determined the direction followed by humanity from the beginning until now. It is necessary that we understand more thoroughly -- even at cost of partial repetition -- just HOW the attitude of shame toward sex was injected into the human tradition.

God had told the first man, Adam, that he, as a man, was wholly physical. Here was the newly created man. Grasp the significance if you can! Suddenly, a full-grown adult MAN received consciousness.

He looked around. Everywhere he saw BEAUTY! There were colorful flowers, stately trees, green lawns, entrancing shrubs, shimmering pools, the audible laughter of a rippling stream. He was surrounded by breathtaking magnificence.

Then the man looked at himself. He must have wondered, "WHAT AM I?" Once, I remember, I fainted. Then, when consciousness again came suddenly, the question was gasped, involuntarily, "Where am I?" But Adam must have wondered, not only where, but WHAT!

And God told him. "You are DUST." After the man had sinned, God said, "... out of [the ground] wast thou taken: for DUST THOU ART, and unto dust shalt THOU return."

God did not say "dust your BODY is." He said the conscious MAN was dust -- composed of matter. The revelation of God is plain: "God formed MAN of the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7). This man, composed of physical matter from the ground, became a soul (same verse). This scripture does not say God put an immortal soul into a material body. It says God breathed BREATH into his nostrils -- into the MAN'S lungs. God breathed this breath -- this air -- into the man's nostrils, just as all men breathe air in and out of their nostrils -- just as dumb animals do!

This man, composed of matter out of the ground, became a breathing, living soul. The soul, then, came out of the ground. The soul is composed of matter, not spirit. The word "soul" is translated from the Hebrew nephesh. It means "life of animals."

But what has all this to do with the origin of this teaching that sex is evil?

IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT!

Satan uttered the first recorded lie in the history of mankind. He told mother Eve she would not surely die -- or, in other words, that she was an "immortal soul." But GOD says souls that sin SHALL DIE (Ezek. 18:4 and Ezek. 18:20). God said to Adam and Eve that if they took of the forbidden fruit, "Thou shalt surely die."

Notice how SATAN HIMSELF put in human minds the sense of shame and guilt toward sex.

In the "Creation chapter," Genesis 1, it is written that in creating man, God created the physical sex organs -- "... male and female created he them" (verse 27). "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was VERY GOOD" (verse 31). The physical organs of sex, then, God pronounced "VERY GOOD."

God gave the first man and his wife full instruction in regard to His intended purposes and uses of sex, as we shall cover in detail later. God ended His instruction -- His teaching -- of necessary basic spiritual and physical knowledge, as recorded in Genesis 2:24:

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

Then follows verse 25, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

NOTICE CAREFULLY! God had been personally with Adam and Eve. The three had been talking together. Adam and Eve were naked. Nothing in God's instruction regarding husband-and-wife relationship had caused them to experience any sense of shame in regard to sex. In the privacy of this one married couple, bound in marriage by the Holy God who was speaking with them, there was absolutely no sense of shame in regard to sex.

Now continue right on -- next verse! See what now happened!

Remember, as originally inspired and written, the Bible was not divided into chapters and verses. These were added by uninspired men much later, as a matter of convenience in biblical study. The very next verse, continuing immediately, is verse 1 of chapter 3:

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the ETERNAL God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

Immediately Satan begins to discredit revelation as the fountain source of knowledge -- that is, God's teaching. He subtly and craftily implies: "Look! God knows better than that! God was misrepresenting!"

God had told Adam and Eve that the wages of sin is DEATH -- for eternity -- ETERNAL punishment! God told them they were MORTAL, and could DIE! Satan uttered the first recorded lie of history:

"Ye shall not SURELY die!"

In other words: "Why, God was deceiving you. He knew you are IMMORTAL SOULS!

The Genesis account is exceedingly brief and condensed. It merely summarizes, in fewest words, these conversations and events. We learn much from later passages, and from history.

Filling in the omitted gaps and details, what Satan said becomes clear.

As soon as Satan got in his lying, deceptive talk, and the woman had obeyed him, eating the forbidden fruit, and her husband deliberately had eaten it with her, the next verses tell us this:

"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (verse 7).

Now continue, next verse:

"And they heard the voice of the ETERNAL God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the ETERNAL God amongst the trees of the garden. And the ETERNAL God called unto Adam, and said unto him, WHERE ART THOU? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS NAKED; and I hid myself" (verses 8-10).

Notice God's answer! "WHO TOLD THEE THAT THOU WAST NAKED?" (verse 11).

Yes, WHO put the sense of shame about sex in the minds of Adam and Eve?

It was SATAN who had been telling them things!

GOD DIDN'T!

All the time GOD had been talking to them, instructing them in true and right knowledge, they were naked. But NOTHING in all God taught them gave them any sense of shame toward sex. This idea that sex is evil CAME FROM SATAN. It was an accusation against GOD -- an attempt to make what GOD designed appear to be contaminated and degrading. It was inextricably tied up with the false "immortal soul" lie!

But absolutely nothing in what you have just read justifies nudism, or nudist colonies. That is not the teaching of God at all! Rather, God Himself clothed Adam and Eve. Let's now learn how -- under what circumstances, and WHY!

When God had talked with Adam and Eve, immediately following their very creation, He was instructing them in a situation of husband-and-wife privacy. As long as they were the only humans, alone by themselves (so far as any other humans are concerned), God gave them no instruction to cover their bodies.

God is everywhere present at all times -- omni-present! When a husband and wife, today, are alone in the privacy of their own bedroom, GOD is invisibly present!

But, when their children, and other people -- the PUBLIC -- "ALL LIVING" -- are introduced, then, we read that GOD HIMSELF clothed Adam and Eve. Notice it! It appears later, in the same chapter:

"And Adam called his wife's name Eve: because she was the mother of ALL LIVING [her children -- their family -- the public]. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the ETERNAL God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Gen. 3:20-21).

Notice the expression, "The ETERNAL God ... clothed them." The Hebrew word God inspired Moses to write here, for "clothed," is labash. It does not mean to cover shamefulness -- to hide nakedness -- or any such meaning.

The Hebrew word meaning to conceal nakedness is kasah. But the word Moses was inspired to write, labash, means, rather, the donning of apparel, raiment. It refers rather to outer garments than underclothing. It implies the idea of adorning, or decorating, or displaying, rather than concealing or covering over, or hiding.

In the incident of Noah's drunkenness, he apparently had been violated by Canaan, son of Ham. Shem and Japheth, also sons of Noah, backed up with a garment on their shoulders, and "covered the nakedness" of their father (Gen. 9:23). They were hiding, concealing, the result of a sinful act. Here the Hebrew word for "covered" is kasah.

So notice, God did NOT kasah Adam and Eve -- did not hide shamefulness, conceal nakedness, but rather He labashed them -- adorned, clothed them.

Of course this clothing did cover nakedness. The difference between the two Hebrew words, labash and kasah, is one of purpose and intent, rather than the fact of being covered. Both do cover nudity. But the Hebrew kasah, carries the connotation of concealing, or hiding something that might be shameful, while labash includes no such meaning, and implies adding attractiveness rather than hiding shamefulness. In other words, although God's clothing did cover their bodies, it DID NOT imply any sense of shame in what God designed.

This does not mean, under any circumstances, that God would approve public nudity. NOT AT ALL. God CLOTHED man! God intended man to KEEP CLOTHED! God intended that we NEVER expose or exhibit the pubic region of our bodies except in the privacy of marriage -- but THE REASON is not because the pubic region which GOD designed and made is degrading or evil, but rather, as a matter of proper modesty and decorum!

It is a matter of propriety -- of courtesy to others -- that we take care of certain eliminative functions privately. This does not imply there is sin or evil in going to the toilet. It is a matter of etiquette -- consideration for others -- rather than to cover up something WRONG. In the same manner, God wills that we wear clothes -- that we do not expose the sex region of the body -- as a matter of decorum and propriety, and to avoid temptation that could lead to sinful wrong use -- but NOT because the sex organs which God designed are themselves evil.

There are two additional reasons.

God designed sex for use only between a husband and wife whom GOD has joined in holy wedlock. He designed sex for righteous uses -- and one of them is to bind husband and wife together in a loving relationship unshared with any other. The very privacy of this marriage relationship makes it sacred, makes husband and wife dear to each other in a special way never shared with another in adultery. This entire loving, sacred, precious relationship is greatly impaired, or destroyed, when shared with any other. That is why fornication and adultery are so harmful to their participants, and therefore CAPITAL SINS.

The second additional reason for avoiding indecent or lewd exposure is that undue exposure of the female body is automatically lust-arousing to the carnal male mind. Burlesque and girlie shows, strip-tease acts, and all such exhibitions, are deliberately intended to attract male admissions for profit, through lust.

Nevertheless, these passages in Genesis show positively that the origin of the concept that sex is evil and shameful originated with SATAN -- and not from God!

The pagan world accepted this lie. As a teaching, or doctrine, it became a universally accepted dogma. This fable was popularized by the Greek philosopher Plato, founder of the curricular system of education. Plato wrote it in his book "The Phaedo."

It was from this "immortal soul" doctrine that the concept of sex as evil in itself stemmed.

Notice how it developed!

This "immortal soul" doctrine teaches that man is DUAL. While it claims falsely that the "immortal soul" is the real man, and the body is merely the prison in which he is held, yet it teaches inconsistently that man is DUAL -- both soul and body.

Thus, the real MAN is represented as being spiritual, pure, good, righteous, already having immortality. It represents the body -- the FLESH -- as being essentially evil, filthy, nasty. Sex organs and sex functioning are physical -- of the BODY, and therefore fleshly, sensual and evil.

Thus, Satan has implanted the concept that what GOD designed and created is evil, while man is righteous.

Remember Satan is a spirit person -- the former archangel, the cherub Lucifer -- with no physical body -- no sex or power of reproducing himself. Therefore he is envious of these attributes bestowed on man. He tries to discredit them and represent them as evil -- yet also to glorify them as objects of lust. Satan is the real author of prudish dualism. He also goes to the opposite extreme today. He also is the real author of the so-called "New Morality," which is in fact gross IMmorality. In this extreme, Satan deceives people into accepting sex as an IDOL of lust.

In both extremes, he deceives humanity into EVILS by which he seeks to DESTROY the human race!

This satanic doctrine of dualism is the very antithesis of GOD'S revelation of the true FACTS. It is a diabolical LIE!

God formed MAN of the dust of the ground. MAN IS FLESH -- matter. And God beheld everything that He had made, and, behold, IT WAS VERY GOOD! It is what man thinks and does that is sinful. But Satan blasphemes the Holy GOD, by saying that what God made was very filthy, nasty, evil and sinful.

This is the satanic dualism injected into the original Babylonic religion (Gen. 10). It spread into the pagan religions, and into Egypt. From there it flowed into ancient Greece and then the Roman world. We have already covered its injection into post-apostolic Christianity.

NOW WE HAVE COVERED THE facts -- as they existed from pagan times -- as they continued through medieval Christian repression -- as they are today under the "New Morality."

History has been written -- in unhappy, frustrated marriages -- in licentious IMmorality today. But the "New Morality" is not solving the problem. Rather, the Western world has leaped from the frying pan into the fire.

The more human leaders have tampered with moral codes, social regulations, forms of government, international movements for peace, the further they have plunged the world into evils, wars and violence, human misery and suffering. And the farther they have driven humanity from mankind's transcendent potential.

There is -- I repeat again and again -- a CAUSE for every effect.

And the cause? The MISSING DIMENSION -- the basic, foundational KNOWLEDGE -- the true premise for all explanations, philosophies and guidance in conduct. And the WAY OF LIFE that would CAUSE all good.

Our first parents rejected revelation as the starting point in knowledge and human conduct. They rejected the LAW of God. All humanity has continued in that fatal error.

Through 6,000 long and painful years the lesson has been written in cruel EXPERIENCE.

Man is a physical being -- but with a spiritual attribute. And of the whole man, the MIND, with its spiritual attribute and potential, is the all-important factor. The body is merely the mechanism, or vehicle, that the MIND directs and uses. But how is MIND connected with SEX?

Sex anatomy and sexual functioning is connected directly with the mind through the system of nerves. There can be no use of sex apart from the mind. Every bodily action is directed, consciously or subconsciously, by the mind.

And so it is, that ATTITUDE is an all-important factor of sex, and directly associated with its every function.

So there are TWO phases of any use of sex -- the one, of first importance, the mental-spiritual phase; the other, physical.

Thus, as in almost every activity of life, ATTITUDE is of prime importance. Direction of mind!

Now, let's UNDERSTAND what is so fatally WRONG with all this modern knowledge of sex. In both the "Old Morality" and the "New Morality" of this world's teachings and customs, IGNORANCE OF THE CREATOR'S INTENDED PURPOSES, and dissemination of evil moral teachings have poisoned human minds, and injected damage-causing ATTITUDES.

A mixture of half good food and half potassium cyanide will kill you as surely as the dose of potassium cyanide alone!

Not all of the purely physical knowledge published in this modern onslaught of sex books has been correct, by any means. But even if the dissemination of the physical details, of itself, were completely true, it is COMBINED, in every case -- whether in such a book or from other sources -- with a false and poisonous ATTITUDE OF MIND concerning sex PURPOSES and uses!

It thus becomes DEADLY MORAL AND SPIRITUAL POISON. And today's world is gulping down the fatal dosage!

Today, knowledge of physical details is abundantly available. Yet even among books disseminating biological information, I have not found a single volume I would want to recommend to our radio listeners, television viewers and "Plain Truth" readers. And when physical information is combined with a poisonous mental attitude, it emphatically destroys moral purity and character.

So, WHERE NOW?

WHERE, for the knowledge of RIGHT PURPOSES and USES?

WHERE, for the Supreme AUTHORITY for morals -- WHERE for the right attitude?

In no field is the fact more positively demonstrated that the WORD OF GOD is the FOUNDATION OF KNOWLEDGE than in this area of sex!

HOW, and from where, and when, did sex originate?

And WHY?

You shall see that there was great PURPOSE -- great MEANING behind the origin of sex. There was intelligence, design, wisdom, in its planning. It was CREATED by the All-intelligent, All-powerful, All-HOLY Creator!

The answers are found in the Bible. And the place to begin is at THE BEGINNING!

Here is the beginning:

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).

I have quoted that passage in the English language. But when God inspired Moses to write it, originally, it was written in the Hebrew language. What I quoted is a translation from the Hebrew. And in the Hebrew, the word -- or the NAME -- translated into the English name, "God," was Elohim. That is a uniplural [collective] noun. It is uniplural, like such words as group, church, crowd, family or organization.

Take, for example, the word church. You will read, in I Corinthians 12:20, that the Church is only ONE CHURCH -- the "one body" yet composed of "many members." Even though it takes many persons to constitute the Church, it is not many churches -- it is only the ONE CHURCH!

A family is made up of more than one person, yet only the one family.

And so, incredible as it may seem to those who do not rightly and fully UNDERSTAND the Bible -- and only an infinitesimal minority does -- GOD is not merely one Person, nor even limited to a "Trinity," but GOD is a FAMILY.

The doctrine of the Trinity is false. It was foisted upon the world at the Council of Nicaea. It is the pagan Babylonish trinity of father, mother and child -- substituting the Holy Spirit for the mother, Semiramis, and calling it a "person."

God is a KINGDOM -- the supreme divine FAMILY which RULES the universe! The whole GOSPEL Jesus brought to mankind is, merely, the Good News of the KINGDOM OF GOD -- and that Kingdom is God. It is a FAMILY -- a RULING divine Family into which humans may be born!

It is vitally necessary that we UNDERSTAND this truth -- if we are to understand the MEANING and PURPOSES of sex!

There is only the ONE GOD! Because of false teaching -- including that of a "Trinity" -- nearly all of us have been reared from childhood to assume that GOD is one individual Person. It is true that one Person -- the Father -- is head of the family, but each Person in the God FAMILY is an individual divine Person.

Elohim is the divine FAMILY -- only ONE family, but more than one divine Person. Jesus Christ spoke of His divine Father as GOD. Jesus said He was the Son of GOD (as well as the Son of man). Jesus is called GOD in Hebrews 1:8 and elsewhere. All the holy angels are commanded to worship Jesus (Heb. 1:6, Ps. 97:7) -- and none but GOD may be worshiped!

In Genesis 1:26, Elohim said, "Let us [not me] make man in our image."

So the Eternal FATHER is a Person, and is GOD. Jesus Christ is a different Person -- and is GOD. They are two separate and individual Persons (Rev. 4:2, 5:1, 6-7). The Father is Supreme HEAD of the God Family -- the Lawgiver. Christ is the WORD -- the divine Spokesman.

But when Jesus was begotten within His human mother Mary, He was not, as all other men, begotten of a human father, but of God, by the agency and power of God's Spirit. He became -- as a human -- the Son of God. He called God His FATHER. He prayed to His Father. So we have a Father-and-Son relationship. It is a FAMILY relationship!

But it goes further. Humans, in the likeness of God, may receive the gift of God's HOLY SPIRIT (Acts 2:38-39).

This Spirit emanates from the very Person -- the spirit Body of the Father. It begets us with His very life -- GOD life -- eternal life, on entering into us, precisely as a human ovum is begotten with the human father's life when the sperm-cell from his body impregnates the ovum. But it is not a born human child until nine months later -- it is, thus far, only begotten.

Those thus converted become the begotten SONS of God -- actually children of God (Rom. 8:14-17).

But it is well, at this point to make clear the fact that none other is a son of God. The widely believed "Fatherhood-of-God and Brotherhood-of-man" doctrine is, by Scriptural authority, FALSE!

The Pharisees had said to Jesus, "... we have one Father, even God." Jesus answered: "If God were your Father, ye would love me ... Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do" (John 8:41-44). In one of His parables, Jesus said, "... the good seed are the children of the Kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one" -- that is, children of the devil. The apostle Paul said to a human sorcerer, "thou child of the devil ..." (Acts 13:10). Again, "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God ..." (I John 3:10). One does not become a son of God until begotten of God by receiving God's Holy Spirit.

This brings up another significant point, and answers the question: Is abortion murder? The human who is begotten of God, but as yet unBORN, is already a CHILD of God (I John 3:1-2). The begotten but unborn fetus is the CHILD of its parents. To kill it is MURDER! But the human who is born is the child of his human father -- but only those begotten of God are children of God.

Those thus begotten of God are baptized into (that is, immersed into -- put into) God's CHURCH (I Cor. 12:13).

The CHURCH is the affianced BRIDE, to MARRY CHRIST at His glorious return to earth (Eph. 5:25-27, Rev. 19:7). So we have the Father-and-Son relationship, and also the Husband-and-Wife relationship!

The CHURCH of God, now, is the begotten family of God's children as yet unborn to spirit immortality. But, at Christ's coming, when the begotten mortal heirs become the spirit-composed BORN inheritors of the GOD KINGDOM, then (and not until) they shall have entered into the KINGDOM OF GOD!

The KINGDOM of God, then, is merely the GOD FAMILY as a RULING GOVERNMENT.

A KINGDOM is a government. God is CREATOR. God is a FAMILY of Divine Persons. God rules His entire vast, limitless creation. GOD IS A KINGDOM!

Jesus preached one Gospel -- one Message -- the KINGDOM OF GOD. The world rejected Him because it hated His Message. The world appropriated His name, rejected His Message, and proclaimed its false gospel -- merely about Christ, while rejecting His Message about the Kingdom of God. That is why the world with its churches, wallowing in the moral cesspools of confusion, does not understand about either SEX or THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

Now let's UNDERSTAND! Genesis 1:1: In the beginning, ELOHIM -- the KINGDOM OF GOD -- created the heavens and the earth .... And ELOHIM -- the God FAMILY -- said, "Let us!" -- not "let ME!" Did you ever wonder why "GOD" said, "Let us make man in OUR image"? God is a FAMILY -- a ruling KINGDOM.

Notice! Understand! We speak of the mineral kingdom -- the plant kingdom -- the animal kingdom. Then there is the human kingdom -- for humans are not animals, and did not descend from animals. There is truly, a "missing link"! But the "missing link" does not link man to dumb animals. The "missing Link" is JESUS CHRIST -- the true Link between MAN and GOD -- and through whom we may be born into the GOD Kingdom!

Now consider the first man.

Adam was not born; he was created, suddenly, a full-grown adult man. His wife Eve was created, suddenly, a full-grown adult woman.

But we must not suppose that they were created with a full storehouse of knowledge implanted automatically in their minds. Perhaps you never thought of it in this light before -- but consider:

How did we, the adults of today, come into possession of the knowledge we have? We were not born with it. A newborn babe knows nothing at birth. He is born with a mind, capable of absorbing knowledge -- a very little at first, but cumulatively additive. Humans must be taught -- must learn. That is one of the vital reasons why marriage and family life are necessary for humans, unlike animals. Human babies start out very helpless. They need parental care, protection, teaching, training and love. They need the warmth and companionship of family life.

What was the difference between Adam, at the instant of his creation, and a baby at the instant of birth?

Within a portion of a single day, AN ADULT MAN was miraculously created, suddenly, out of the dust of the ground! Adam was created with a MIND, as yet unfilled with knowledge, but capable of receiving knowledge, reasoning from it, acting on it.

And it was a mind free from defect or degeneration!

What, then, was the difference between Adam at the instant of his creation, and a baby at birth? He was started off as an adult -- his mind had adult capabilities -- but he was as much without knowledge, and therefore as helpless, as a newborn babe! He was created with adult capacity, but not with adult knowledge!

The very first need of the first man and the first woman was to be given essential KNOWLEDGE! That is humanity's first need today, but humanity has rejected that essential knowledge. But of necessity, the first man and woman were created with ability of speech and of understanding speech as taught them by God.

And here enters a basic TRUTH long ago forgotten by the world!

The Almighty is not only the Creator! He is also the Great Educator!

The ETERNAL instructed the first man and woman. And He instructed them about SEX! The Great Designer, Creator and Lawgiver revealed for mankind the basic FOUNDATION of ALL KNOWLEDGE! That foundation of necessary knowledge -- not otherwise discoverable by man -- is available today in the Bible.

Yet our first parents rejected God's revelation of knowledge, rebelled against God and His Law for man's welfare! And their children have been rejecting and rebelling ever since!

Think of it! God the Creator is also Ruler of all His vast creation. He is also the Great and Supreme EDUCATOR for all mankind. Yet mankind rejects Him as both Ruler and Educator -- and most reject Him as Creator!

Now consider! The very last act of God's creation by work was the creation of MAN. It was on the sixth day of that first week. Earlier that sixth day God had created cattle, other mammals, the creeping animals. The creation of Adam was the very final act of the work of creation. That day, by God's order, ended at sunset.

As that day's sun set, and the seventh day of the week arrived, "God ended his work which he had made" (Gen. 2:2). Notice what God ended. Not creating! He ended His work which He had made. God did not end creating! Only His work -- those things made by work. Now He created His Sabbath by rest -- not by work! He blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it -- that is, set it apart from other days as HIS, for holy use and purpose. He established the Sabbath as the day for assembly and spiritual instruction.

Just as this first Sabbath came on, there was the man Adam -- suddenly formed, shaped, created as an adult MAN -- needing instruction! And there, beside him, was his wife and his Creator, ceasing from the work phase of creation! Did the Creator walk off, or vanish out of sight, leaving the man and woman helpless with empty minds, to stumble and bungle around aimlessly into trouble and harm?

Just as a newborn baby is helpless -- needing parents -- needing to be taught -- knowing NOTHING at birth -- so this newly created couple were helpless, needing to be taught -- knowing NOTHING at creation.

The record shows that the Eternal God began speaking to the man -- communicating knowledge -- giving instruction.

It was on another Sabbath day, some 4,000 years later, that Jesus preached and instructed His followers. God is consistent -- never changing (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8). As that first Sabbath came on, God set the example -- teaching the Gospel to the first man -- giving that man, so far sinless, HIS FELLOWSHIP on His Sabbath day!

The historic record says: "And the ETERNAL God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the ETERNAL God commanded the man, saying ..." (Gen. 2:15-16). The ETERNAL immediately began speaking to, TEACHING, INSTRUCTING, the man.

Understand, now, two points: 1) Which Person of the God Kingdom spoke to man; and 2) the brevity of this record, as the very briefest SUMMARY.

It has been explained that in Genesis 1:1 the word for "God" in the Hebrew -- the language in which it originally was written -- is Elohim -- meaning more than one Person forming one GOD -- the one God FAMILY or the God KINGDOM -- for GOD is a KINGDOM.

But now, when the historic account first begins to record the fact of God -- as an INDIVIDUAL -- speaking to the man He created, a new and different Hebrew name is used. In Genesis 2:15 (and previous verses beginning verse 4) the English words "LORD God" (in the Authorized Version) are translated from the Hebrew Yhwh Elohim. The Hebrew Elohim already has been defined as a uniplural. It is the plural of El, or Eloah, meaning the uniplural GOD, Strength, Might, Deity.

But Yhwh is a name meaning the Everliving, or the ETERNAL. There is no one word in the English language that translates it exactly. God always NAMES things or people what they are. Actually Yhwh means the Self-Existent, Everliving, Eternally Living Creating One. Personally, in the English, I prefer the name "the ETERNAL" as most nearly translating the Hebrew name into modern idiom.

This is not the place for a long, technical, theological explanation. It would require a long chapter or more on the one subject. But in many places in the New Testament you may find quotations from the Old Testament referring to Jesus Christ, where, on turning to the Old Testament passage from which it is a citation, it speaks of Yhwh -- translated as "the LORD" (in capital letters) in the King James Version.

In other words -- and you may write in for a free article giving proof -- the "Lord" (Yhwh) of the Old Testament, in nearly every case, is the Jesus Christ of the New -- but as He existed prior to His birth as a human of the virgin Mary.

In John 1:1-3, this same Personage is spoken of as the Word -- the Greek word (the New Testament was originally written in Greek) is Logos, meaning Word, or Spokesman, or Revelatory Thought. Jesus the Christ (Messiah) is, and always has been, the individual Person of the GOD KINGDOM who is the Spokesman. But He said that He had spoken nothing of Himself -- the Father which had sent Him had instructed and commanded Him what to say.

The FATHER of the God Family is the HEAD -- the Lawgiver -- the Creator. Yet He created everything by Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:9). Christ carried out the Father's orders, by speaking, as the Father had directed. In the creation, "He spake, and it was done" (Ps. 33:9, Gen. 1:3). The HOLY SPIRIT is the POWER that produced what He commanded (Gen. 1:2). Thus, in John 1:3, "All things were made by him" -- by the Logos or Word, who is Jesus Christ (verse 14).

The specific Person of the Godhead who spoke to Adam, then, was Yhwh -- the ETERNAL (often falsely translated Jehovah) -- who became Jesus Christ.

The second important point I wish to stress at this juncture is the fact that God has not seen fit to give us the full details of all that was said and done in these first few chapters of Genesis. The inspired record, in these chapters, reveals to us only the briefest SUMMARY.

Yet this abbreviated account does summarize what was said and done. It does tell us that God, in and through the Person of Christ, immediately began to teach, instruct and command the first man and woman. It hits the high spots. And even though the record omits the details, it spans the fields covered. Much of the detailed instruction, therefore, may be accurately filled in from other parts of the Bible.

What fields, then, did God cover, in teaching our first parents?

He gave them all essential spiritual truth -- He revealed to them the TRUE GOSPEL. He revealed His spiritual Law -- His way of LIFE. He revealed man's transcendent potential -- the gift of ETERNAL LIFE. And He also instructed them in all necessary physical knowledge -- including knowledge of the marriage institution and of SEX.

The two trees in the Garden of Eden were SYMBOLS representing vitally important truths. Actual literal trees though they well may have been, they were symbolic, and of tremendous significance.

Notice! One of many trees in the Garden was "the TREE OF LIFE also in the midst of the garden (Gen. 2:9). This tree symbolized God's GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT. Freely God (in the Person of Christ) offered this supreme gift. "The ETERNAL God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but ..." -- excluding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In other words, God offered him FREELY His Holy Spirit!

"But," continued God, "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (verses 16-17).

Here, in briefest condensation, we find the teaching of the GOSPEL -- that "the wages of SIN is death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life" (Rom. 6:23).

The Bible says all have sinned -- and Adam sinned first of all (Rom. 3:23, 5:12). God could not have allowed Adam to sin, without first having taught Adam what sin is. The Bible definition of sin is, "Sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4). And again, sin is the conscious, knowing transgression, for "to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (Jas. 4:17). Adam knew about God's Law -- for Adam SINNED! Therefore, definitely, God instructed Adam and Eve about His great basic spiritual Law, God's WAY OF LIFE! And that instruction was given immediately -- of necessity before they sinned!

On the physical plane, God instructed them in regard to food (Gen. 1:29, 2:9).

And He also instructed them in regard to SEX.

So here, once again, we begin at the beginning.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth ... And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth ... And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was VERY GOOD" (Gen. 1:1, 26, 27-28, 31).

GOD made mankind male and female. God created SEX in humans. And GOD said it was VERY GOOD -- not evil, shameful, degrading or sinful of itself. Only wrong use becomes sinful.

God created sex for USE. Had He not intended sex to be used, He would not have designed it. In the angel family God did not intend sex to be used -- so He did not design angels to be male and female. Angels have no sex apparatus, perform no sex function, do not reproduce.

If the Creator designed human sex anatomy, and set in motion human sex stimuli and capacity for functioning, He did it for definite PURPOSES. And God most assuredly did not neglect His responsibility of revealing to that first man and woman the right PURPOSES this functioning within their bodies and minds was to serve. The Genesis account, I repeat, is the briefest SUMMARY. Yet the basic nature of the Creator's original instruction is plain. And the full details are brought out for mankind through other portions of the Bible.

Remember, before proceeding, God's overall PURPOSE for humanity. God said, "Let us make man in OUR IMAGE." Man, as previously stated, was created physical, out of MATTER, in the likeness of God. But, as of now, man is merely the raw CLAY, out of which the Master Potter is -- with man's yielding -- forming and shaping the final IMAGE -- the spiritual CHARACTER of God.

Creation is still going on! The spiritual creation of righteous CHARACTER. The New Testament reveals that, once man has surrendered, repented of his rebellious past, and through Christ been reconciled into contact with GOD, he BECOMES A NEW CREATION (II Cor. 5:17).

This creation of right spiritual CHARACTER in us demanded free moral agency -- that man must intelligently CHOOSE the right as opposed to the wrong -- that he exercise free choice, develop self-discipline.

God designed and created SEX for right, wholesome and holy functions. But, in the process of CHARACTER development, God allows man, if man rebels and so wills, to pollute, besmirch, befoul and pervert that which God intended to bring rich BLESSINGS. But wrong uses impose CURSES!

God made His TRUTH available. God instructed the first man and woman. He commanded that they travel the RIGHT ROAD. But they, and their children universally ever after them, rebelled and chose to travel the WRONG road -- the WAY that somehow seems better to a man, but which leads him into pain, suffering, sorrow and DEATH (Prov. 14:12, 16:25).

So God did instruct the first man and woman in the intended right, wholesome, happiness-producing, uplifting PURPOSES of SEX!

In the passage quoted above, God commanded sex to be used FOR REPRODUCTION! He said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen. 1:28).

So one of the purposes of sex in humans is reproduction.

But that is far, far from the only purpose -- as we shall see later!

Now reproduction, merely as such, is, of course, common to animals and plants, as well as humans.

BUT, IN HUMANS, REPRODUCTION HAS A SACRED AND GOD-PLANE MEANING NOT APPLICABLE TO ANY OTHER KIND OF LIFE!

We shall see, later, that the birth of a human baby differs in striking manner from that of animals. Animals are not born to become the very HEIRS of God!

In humans, there is TREMENDOUS, AWE-INSPIRING MEANING and significance to begettal and birth that is entirely nonexistent with animals or plants. And God intended -- had man been willing to heed God's instruction -- that the very KNOWLEDGE of these deep and wonderful MEANINGS should bring man dynamic JOY!

So far as the purely physical functions of the process are concerned, reproduction is the same in mammals as in humans. That is a mere PHYSICAL process. But there is deep, spiritually transcendent MEANING in human begettal, gestation and birth that raises it to an altogether and incomparably higher plane than mere animal reproduction.

Human children are begotten through sex. And that very begettal, period of gestation and birth of a human baby gives us the very PICTURE of the spiritual SALVATION and gift of eternal life made possible through Jesus Christ!

This is another reason Satan seeks to deceive his world regarding the purposes and right attitude toward sex!

By this very BLINDING of the world to GOD's purposes of SEX, Satan has HIDDEN from his world the true KNOWLEDGE about GOD -- that God is actually a FAMILY -- a divine KINGDOM into which we may be born! He has HIDDEN from the world the real TRUTH of SALVATION -- what it is, where it leads, how we receive it!

This FALSE MORALITY -- both the so-called old and the so-called new -- has been a far more potent weapon for the destruction of humanity than has been realized!

Now see and UNDERSTAND how human reproduction pictures spiritual SALVATION!

All human life comes from a tiny egg, called an ovum, produced inside the human mother. This ovum is about the size of a pin point. Inside it, when highly magnified, can be seen a small nucleus. But this ovum has a very limited life, of itself! Some doctors and scientists believe it has a life of some 24 hours, unless fertilized by a sperm from a male.

But human life may be imparted to it by a sperm cell, produced in the body of the human father. The sperm cell is the smallest cell in the human body -- about one-fiftieth the size of the ovum. The sperm -- technically named a spermatozoon (plural, spermatozoa) -- on entering an ovum, finds its way to and joins with the nucleus. This imparts life -- physical human life -- to the ovum.

But it is not yet a born human being. Human life has merely been begotten. For the first four months it is called an embryo. After that, until birth it is called a fetus. This human life starts very small -- the size of a tiny pin point -- and the sperm that generates it is the smallest cell in a human body!

Once begotten, it must be fed and nourished by physical food from the ground, through the mother. From this physical nourishment it must grow, and grow and GROW -- until physically large enough to be born -- after nine months. As it grows, the physical organs and characteristics gradually are formed. Soon a spinal column forms. A heart forms and begins to beat. Other internal organs form. Finally hair begins to grow on the head, fingernails and toenails develop -- facial features gradually shape up. By nine months the average normal fetus has grown to a weight of approximately six to nine pounds, and is ready to be born.

Now notice carefully the astounding comparison!

First, understand briefly what spiritual salvation is. Few professing Christians understand this.

God said, in the "forbidden fruit" chapters of Genesis, that man is WHOLLY composed of physical matter from the ground (Gen. 2:7 and 3:19). Job said there is a spirit IN man (Job 32:8). It is explained in I Corinthians 2 that no man could have HUMAN comprehension, knowledge and intellect, but by "the spirit of man which is IN him" (verse 11).

This spirit essence is NOT the man, but something IN the wholly physical man. It imparts the power of intellect to the physical brain. It marks the vast, vast difference between animal brain and human MIND. This spirit cannot see, hear or think. The physical brain sees through the eye, hears through the physical ear, thinks with the physical brain. Yet this spirit acts as a computer, adding to the brain the psychic and intellectual power. It also adds to MAN a spiritual and moral faculty not possessed by animals.

The human's LIFE, however, is not supplied by this spirit. Human life is merely a temporary PHYSICAL and chemical existence, caused by the breathing of air, the circulation of blood by the heartbeats, and by refueling through food and water. Man's LIFE is mere temporary physical chemical existence -- like the life of an automobile engine, or all vertebrates.

Remember, God told Adam and Eve that for disobedience, and stealing the forbidden fruit, they would SURELY DIE. But God had offered them freely the gift of eternal life, by choosing the "tree of life."

When they chose the forbidden fruit, God drove the man (and his wife) out of the Garden, "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" (Gen. 3:22).

But, through Christ, a repentant humanity may yet receive God's gift of eternal life. To Nicodemus, Jesus explained, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

Of course Nicodemus couldn't quite grasp that. He knew that he had been born by being delivered from his mother's womb. He knew the difference between being BORN and being merely BEGOTTEN -- something few theologians seem to know today.

Jesus explained, "That which is born of the flesh IS FLESH; and that which is born of the Spirit IS SPIRIT" (verse 6). Man is MORTAL. Man came from THE GROUND. He is FLESH -- material flesh. Jesus was not talking about another physical birth -- but He was talking about a spiritual birth -- when man shall BE SPIRIT -- be wholly composed of SPIRIT. He shall then have been BORN of GOD! God is Spirit (John 4:24); man is physical flesh.

A human has to be BEGOTTEN by his human father. To be born again of the Spirit -- of GOD -- one must first be begotten by the SPIRITUAL FATHER -- Almighty God.

Now see how HUMAN begettal, period of gestation and birth is the astounding identical TYPE of spiritual salvation -- being BORN of God -- being given ETERNAL LIFE in the Kingdom of God -- the God FAMILY into which we may be BORN!

Each adult human is, spiritually, an "egg" or "ovum." This spiritual "ovum" has a very limited life span, of itself -- compared to ETERNAL LIFE -- an average of some 70 years. But spiritual, divine immortal life may be imparted to it by the entrance into it of the HOLY SPIRIT, which comes from the very Person of GOD the Father. This divine Spirit of GOD imparts to us also the divine nature (II Pet. 1:4). Heretofore we have had only human, fleshly or carnal nature.

As the human sperm cell is the very smallest of all human cells, even so, many newly begotten Christians start out with a very small measure of God's Holy Spirit. Many may still be, at first, about 99.44 percent carnal! Apparently those in the Church of God at Corinth were (I Cor. 3:1-3). The apostle Paul said he still had to feed them on the spiritual milk -- not yet adult spiritual "food."

Now, as the physical male sperm finds its way to, and unites with the nucleus in the ovum, so God's Spirit enters and combines with the human MIND! There is, as explained above, a spirit IN man. This human spirit has combined with the brain to form human MIND. God's Spirit unites with, and witnesses with our spirit that we are, now, the children of GOD (Rom. 8:16). And God's Holy Spirit, now combined with our human spirit in our MIND, imparts to our mind power to comprehend SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE (I Cor. 2:11) -- which the carnal mind cannot grasp.

Now we have the presence of ETERNAL LIFE -- God life -- through God's Spirit, but we are not yet immortal spirit beings -- not yet BORN of God -- not yet inheritors, and possessors, but physical HEIRS (Rom. 8:17). But IF God's Holy Spirit dwells in us, God will, at the resurrection, "quicken" to immortality our mortal bodies BY His Spirit that "dwelleth in us" (Rom. 8:11, I Cor. 15:49-53).

Now see how the astonishing analogy continues!

As yet we are not born divine beings. We are not yet composed of spirit, but of physical matter. The divine life has merely been begotten. This divine CHARACTER starts so very small it is doubtful if much of it is in evidence -- except for the glow of that ecstasy of spiritual "romance" which we may radiate in that "first love" of conversion -- spiritually speaking. But so far as spiritual KNOWLEDGE and developed spiritual CHARACTER goes, there is not much, as yet.

So now, once spiritually begotten, we are merely a spiritual embryo. Now we must be fed and nourished on SPIRITUAL food! Jesus said man shall not live by bread (physical food) alone, but by EVERY WORD OF GOD (spiritual food)! This we drink in from the BIBLE! But we drink in this spiritual knowledge and character, also, through personal, intimate, continuous contact with God through PRAYER, and through Christian fellowship with God's children in His Church.

Now the physical embryo and fetus is fed physically through the mother. God's CHURCH is called Jerusalem above "which is the MOTHER OF US ALL" (Gal. 4:26).

Notice the exact parallel! The CHURCH is the spiritual MOTHER of ITS MEMBERS. God has set His called and chosen ministers in His Church to FEED THE FLOCK -- "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body [CHURCH] of Christ: TILL we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13).

It is the duty of Christ's TRUE ministers (and how scarce today) to PROTECT the begotten but yet unborn saints from false doctrines, from false ministers.

The HUMAN mother carries her unborn baby in that part of her body where she can best PROTECT it from physical harm; and that protection is part of her function, as well as to nourish the unborn child! Even so, the CHURCH, through Christ's ministers, instructs, teaches, counsels with, advises and PROTECTS from spiritual harm the unborn members! What a WONDERFUL picture is human reproduction of spiritual SALVATION!

Continue further! As the physical fetus must grow physically large enough to be born, so the begotten Christian must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ (II Pet. 3:18) -- must overcome, must develop in spiritual CHARACTER during this life, in order to be BORN into the Kingdom of GOD!

And as the physical fetus gradually, one by one, develops the physical organs, features and characteristics, even so the begotten Christian must gradually, continually, develop the SPIRITUAL CHARACTER -- LOVE, FAITH, PATIENCE, GENTLENESS, TEMPERANCE. HE MUST LIVE BY, AND BE A DOER of the Word of God. He must develop the divine CHARACTER!

Then in God's due time -- though the man may die meanwhile -- by a resurrection, or by instantaneous CHANGE to immortality at Christ's coming, he shall be BORN of God -- into the KINGDOM OF GOD -- because GOD is that Kingdom! He is no longer material flesh from the ground, but composed of spirit, even as God is a spirit (John 4:24).

How WONDERFUL is the TRUTH OF GOD!

Yet, by his dastardly perversion of sex attitudes and purposes and the true sex knowledge of GOD'S Word, Satan has DECEIVED THE WORLD -- has blinded humanity to the fact that God IS this KINGDOM Jesus proclaimed -- and that WE may be born as spirit individuals -- as part of that divine FAMILY -- as part of the GOD KINGDOM!

How precious, pure and wholesome is GOD'S TRUTH! And God designed reproduction to picture His truth in physical manner and to KEEP US CONSTANTLY IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WONDERFUL PLAN OF SALVATION!

Let us, then, allow the living Savior to CLEAN UP our minds, and open them to HIS TRUTH!

NOW COMES THE BIG TRUTH! SEX was designed and created in humans for purposes other than reproduction -- for purposes totally foreign to animal or plant life!

But the world has continued in unhappy and wretched IGNORANCE of these glorious and God-bestowed purposes!

AND WHY?

This brings us again to that striking truth, that THE WORD OF GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL KNOWLEDGE! GOD is the Supreme EDUCATOR! The Bible is far, far from the sum total of knowledge. It is the BASIS -- the FOUNDATION -- the starting point, and the foundational approach to the acquisition of discoverable knowledge!

God, through the Maker's Instruction Book, reveals what man cannot otherwise learn! Full TRUTH comes from the biblical revelation, PLUS acquired and discoverable knowledge approached through the CONCEPT revealed in the Bible.

Man, without divine revelation, has been able to observe that plant life reproduces; animal life reproduces; and human life reproduces. From this, IGNORANT of the divine revelation, man has formulated erroneous and happiness-destroying concepts about purposes and uses of sex.

Through the centuries pagan dualism had assumed and taught the erroneous premise that the only purpose of sex is reproduction -- and it has viewed even that purpose with suspicion! Not understanding the real meaning and true purposes of marriage, and inheriting its concept from the Babylonian Mystery religion, it placed marriage on a LOWER PLANE than celibacy of lifelong virginity!

Today educators, scientists, psychologists, doctors and those who set the moral standards, rely on the evolutionary concept as their assumed and erroneous basic premise and approach to knowledge. They do not know the origin or PURPOSES of sex. They do not know how, why or when MARRIAGE originated.

The Bible reveals knowledge otherwise unacquirable!

So once again, let us go to that SOURCE of knowledge!

Remember, the Eternal (Heb., Yahweh), who literally spoke to and instructed Adam and Eve, was the very Person of the Godhead who later became Jesus Christ.

Jesus taught the Pharisees precisely the same thing about sex that He had taught Adam and Eve. To the Pharisees, He said: "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife ... What therefore GOD hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:4-6).

For what cause shall a man marry? Because God made them male and female -- because God created SEX.

Sex did not evolve, without intelligence or purpose! It was GOD, by miraculous creation, who made humanity male and female! And God always has a purpose for what He does!

So because God created sex, He ORDAINED THE MARRIAGE INSTITUTION. And it is GOD who binds together, as husband and wife, a man and a woman.

MARRIAGE, then, is the second-named PURPOSE of sex.

Marriage is a physical union, but a divine institution. Almighty GOD ordained it! It did not evolve. It is not of MAN'S devising.

Notice, in the scripture quoted above, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Have ye not read ... ?" He quoted an already written passage of Scripture. He said the Pharisees should have read it! Where is that scripture found? It is found in the second chapter of Genesis. It is part of the brief SUMMARY record of the ETERNAL'S original instruction to the newly created Adam and Eve. The creation of Eve had just been described, and God then said, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife" (Gen. 2:24).

So the Almighty revealed the sacred MARRIAGE institution to the first man and woman.

Now stop and think for a moment. WHY did God ordain the human relationship of MARRIAGE?

The old repressive, dualistic morality taught that the only purpose of sex was reproduction. But if merely reproducing their kind were the only purpose of sex, NO MARRIAGE WOULD BE NECESSARY! God made animals male and female. Animals reproduce -- BUT THEY DO NOT MARRY! Marriage is not necessary to procreate.

Realize this! UNDERSTAND this truth! We can, through sex, have reproduction without marriage! Indeed, that is one of the world's greatest evils today -- there is entirely too much reproduction without marriage!

Animals reproduce. But animals do not marry! Animals are born with instinct. They need little or no teaching.

Ever see a little calf born? The mother cow does not need to call an obstetrical physician or go to a hospital for the delivery of her calf. As soon as it is born, the calf will begin to stagger to its feet, while the cow just stupidly stands waiting. She does not need to teach her calf how to walk, how to take its food, how to do anything. A little wobbly and unsteady at first, the calf is up and walking in just a minute or two.

Now how long does it take a human infant to learn to walk? Usually a year -- and often more. But the newborn calf walks almost immediately. No one teaches it. THE CALF HAS INSTINCT. And where does it start walking? It has no instruction from anyone. It starts walking for its first "dinner." It knows where to go. And the mother cow just stands stupidly still while her calf sucks its milk.

And where is "Daddy" -- the bull? That's hard to say. Perhaps miles away. He probably is nowhere around. And soon the calf will not even need the milk from its mother -- and will be on its own.

There is no marriage -- no FAMILY LIFE -- no HOME LIFE.

But with humans all this is different. The purely reproductive process is the same in all mammals. But beyond this, all is different! The only purpose for sex in animals is reproduction. But HUMANS ARE DIFFERENT! In humans reproduction is not the only purpose of sex. A second purpose is MARRIAGE -- and there is yet a third purpose!

The newborn human does not get up and walk immediately to its food. The tiny baby is absolutely helpless. It has a few instinctive reflexes, but no instinct, in the strict sense of the word. It has MIND -- but at birth there is NO KNOWLEDGE as yet in its mind. It knows virtually nothing at birth. It must be taught! It needs parents to teach it! It matures so very much more slowly than animals! Yet its potentiality is infinitely higher! And for this higher purpose, parental guidance and FAMILY LIFE are NECESSARY!

For God had said, "Let us make man in OUR IMAGE."

God made cattle "after their kind" -- after the cattle kind. He made "every winged fowl after his kind" -- after the winged fowl kind! But He made MAN after the GOD kind !

Now, incredible as it may sound to those who do not UNDERSTAND the revelation of God's TRUTH -- and only an infinitesimal minority does -- GOD is a FAMILY! This we have explained in Chapter 4.

And in MAN, God is reproducing HIS kind! Man has the supreme potentiality of being actually born into the very divine GOD FAMILY!

Do you realize what that means? Of course, God is composed of immortal SPIRIT -- while man, like animals, is composed in this life of material FLESH -- matter! But the transcendent essential factor is that GOD IS PERFECT SPIRITUAL CHARACTER! It is the supreme intelligence, combined with holy and righteous CHARACTER of MIND that most importantly distinguishes GOD from every other living creature. No animal has this potential -- but it is the true destiny of MAN. Of course God, too, possesses supreme ALL-MIGHTY POWER. But without right CHARACTER, this power would be destructive and dangerous!

What is this righteous spiritual character?

It is that controlled ability, in a separate independent entity, to come to a right knowledge of the TRUE from the false -- the RIGHT from the wrong -- and, by free choice, to CHOOSE the right and the true, and, further, to use the self-discipline to will and to actually DO the right. And how define right? By the spiritual Law of God!

This necessitates that each individual human be an independent entity, with a mind of his own -- with freedom of choice (free moral agency) -- and it requires MIND power -- intelligence -- intellect -- ability to absorb KNOWLEDGE, to reason, to think, to plan, devise, to draw conclusions, to will and to act.

Inanimate objects have no mind, make no decisions, have no character. Animals have instinct installed in brains. But animals do not possess human-level consciousness of self, do not absorb knowledge from which they reason, make choice, and will to act even to enforcing self-discipline. Animals do not comprehend such things as art, literature, music. Animals do not imagine, and by thought and reasoning processes design creatively. Animals do not acquire scientific knowledge. Animals do not create, question or decide whether to obey moral codes. Animals are not made in the image of God -- do not possess mind power to comprehend the right ways of God's spiritual Law. They develop no character.

Humans are born with MINDS. Humans must be taught, or learn. But the human mind can absorb knowledge and reason from it -- think creatively, formulate plans, make decisions, render judgments and exercise self-discipline. Man has the POTENTIALITY of developing righteous CHARACTER.

So the human baby is born without knowledge, but with capacity for acquiring it, and of developing righteous CHARACTER. The human has the supreme potential of receiving God's own HOLY SPIRIT, to impart the divine nature, to equip the MIND to comprehend revealed spiritual knowledge!

Human babies are born helpless! They need the tender care, the loving instruction, the patient training and discipline and the warm affection and love of a father and a mother. They need the warmth and protection and security of family and of home life. And they are of supreme importance -- for they are the potential HEIRS OF GOD!

This righteous CHARACTER is not created instantaneously. It develops through experience, and experience requires TIME. Instinct in animals is automatic, set in the animal brain from birth. But divine righteous CHARACTER must be developed over a span of years.

All this is one reason for marriage and the FAMILY relationship.

But there are more! There are other reasons for marriage -- for FAMILY -- and for HOME!

WHY should humans marry?

Well, the educators today do not really know! The scientists do not fully comprehend! They suppose that somewhere along the evolutionary trail, perhaps millions of years ago, man himself started it merely as a custom. They do not know when the marriage institution started, by whom, or for what purpose! Of the tremendous MEANING of this institution they are ignorant! The Communist USSR even experimented for a time on abolishing marriage and producing humans outside marriage.

The real TRUTH about sex and marriage in humans goes deeper still! Its overwhelming significance and meaning seems to have become lost by man.

We have seen that animals have sex, that animals reproduce; but MARRIAGE is not required for reproduction, and animals do not marry. They do not establish HOME LIFE and the FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.

Now consider angels. The skeptic doesn't believe it, but the Bible reveals that angels do exist. Angels are on a higher level than men. It is written that man was made "a little lower" than the angels -- that is, during this mortal, fleshly, human life, now.

Yet angels, on a higher plane than physical man, do not marry! (Matt. 22:30). Each angel was individually and separately created, not born. Among angels there is no marriage -- -no home life -- no family life!

And NO SEX!

Then what is the function of angels?

Angels are spirit beings -- composed, not of material flesh, but of spirit -- immortal. "And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits ..." (Heb. 1:7, Ps. 104:4). GOD is immortal, and composed of SPIRIT. Then are angels on the same level with God? Not at all! They are mere spirit creations of God, created to be His servants, messengers, representatives in the administration of God's UNIVERSE-RULING GOVERNMENT.

Angels, on a plane far lower than God, are higher than mortal man, now. But consider man's ultimate heritage -- if he chooses it!

Speaking of the relative difference between man and angels, in the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews, we read:

"For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come [the WORLD TOMORROW], whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified [Ps. 8:4-6], saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? ..." (Heb. 2:5-6).

UNDERSTAND THIS! The earth was once put in subjection to angels, with the archangel Lucifer on that world throne as God's administrator to administer God's government over the angels that then populated the earth. But Lucifer became proud, filled with vanity, and decided to become an aggressor, attempting to dethrone God and place himself on the throne of the UNIVERSE! He was cast back down to earth, his name changed to Satan, meaning Adversary. The angels which joined his mutiny became demons.

Satan and his demons still sway, invisibly, this world. But Jesus Christ conquered Satan, and qualified for WORLD RULE. He is coming again to earth -- soon, now as KING of kings to set up and re-establish on earth GOD'S GOVERNMENT.

Now what of MAN? Those truly converted before Christ returns shall RULE the WORLD TOMORROW, under Christ (Rev. 3:21, 2:26-27). Yes, but ultimately even more than that!

Notice, now, this passage in Hebrews 2. The statement is made that angels will not be ruling the WORLD TOMORROW. But what of MAN? Yes, insignificant flesh-and-blood mortal MAN! Why should the Great GOD consider him? And here comes the stupendous answer few humans, blinded by Satan's deceptions, have ever noticed:

"Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with GLORY and HONOUR, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put ALL THINGS in subjection under his feet. For in that he put ALL in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him ..." (Heb. 2:7-8).

You won't quite grasp that at first. It is too overwhelming! To be crowned means to be given kingly RULE. To be crowned with GLORY and HONOR is to be given such rule as Christ has, NOW -- and that is described in chapter 1 of Hebrews as being the administrative, ruling Executive over the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! Christ is now ruling over "ALL THINGS"! The Moffatt translation renders this, properly, from the Greek as THE UNIVERSE -- that is, all that God has created! -- all that EXISTS!

Christ rules it all now! The FATHER OF THE GOD KINGDOM HAS PLACED THE RESURRECTED, LIVING CHRIST as Chief Executive over the GOVERNMENT OF GOD over the entire, vast limitless UNIVERSE. And converted humans are HEIRS of Christ -- JOINT-HEIRS with Him to inherit with Him, in due time, all that HE has now inherited! (Rom. 8:17 -- which read!)

But continue the passage in Hebrews 2, "... But now we see not yet all things put under him" (verse 8). Oh, then the rulership over the universe is NOT YET under man -- not while he is human -- mortal! But what do we already, now, see? Continue the passage:

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [even as we, now] for the suffering of death, CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOUR ..."(verse 9). And verse 10 shows that Jesus Christ is the captain -- the Leader, the Pioneer who goes on before -- of our salvation!

Christ already is CROWNED with this HONOR and GLORY. Christ ROSE from the dead! He is ALIVE -- and He is DIVINE! He has been GLORIFIED -- and in His glorified SPIRIT condition His eyes are like flames of fire, and His face shines as bright as the very SUN -- FULL STRENGTH! (Rev. 1:14-16.)

Are you really comprehending this? Are you?

And mortal man, if he repents, surrenders unconditionally to God and God's government, accepts in living FAITH Jesus Christ as personal Savior, can receive God's gift of His HOLY SPIRIT -- the very life, essence, nature, mind and power of God -- BEGETTlNG him, now, as God's own (yet unborn) Son! If he then GROWS spiritually (II Pet. 3:18), overcomes and endures, he shall -- at Christ's soon coming, be changed (or resurrected if he dies) from mortal to immortal (I Cor. 15:44-54).

And then -- IF the very CHARACTER of God has been developed within him -- his vile material body will be instantaneously changed (converted) into one "like unto his [Christ's] GLORIOUS body"! (Phil. 3:21.) But your vile character will not then be instantaneously changed -- THAT change must take place NOW, in this life!

So THAT is the supreme heritage of MAN -- if he is willing!

But what is a function of angels, NOW? They are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14).

Man, now lower than angels, has a destiny far higher!

So GRASP this colossal TRUTH, if you can!

Here is the greatest TRUTH you can ever know! MAN, and man only, of all life forms God has created, can be born into THE GOD FAMILY -- the KINGDOM OF GOD!

Animals have never been given FAMILY relationship. Angels have never enjoyed FAMILY status. The family relationship is a GOD-PLANE relationship -- not an angel-plane relationship. And God bestowed it on MAN! Because MAN is to be BORN into the GOD FAMILY.

Of all life forms -- whether plant, animal or angel in all God's creation, MAN ALONE was created for MARRIAGE -- for HOME, and FAMILY LIFE!

Read that again! Try to comprehend it! THINK of the significance! This pivotal truth has been hidden from a deceived world!

Man is, now, composed of matter. Yet in man -- and in MAN ONLY, is God's CREATION still going on! Humans, by repentance, surrender to God and acceptance of Christ, may be in mind and attitude converted -- may receive God's Holy Spirit. Thus they are actually begotten as God's children! They may have direct communion with God, and call Him FATHER! They are brought into a FATHER-AND-SON relationship with GOD!

This is possible for no other creature -- not even angels! Angels were not, never can be, begotten and BORN of God! Each angel is a separate creation. No angel can ever become a part of the DIVINE FAMILY OR KINGDOM OF GOD!

Notice! Of angels, God says: "For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" (Heb. 1:5.)

Neither animal, nor angel, nor any other being, except MAN, can be literally begotten by spiritual reproductive process, and then actually BORN into the divine GOD FAMILY!

What a matchless, supreme, awe-inspiring, breathtaking potential!

Angels, higher than man is now, are the ministering servants of God in the administration of His universe-ruling government! And, in relation to MAN, angels are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14). Invisible angels actually minister to, and serve the human children of GOD. Begotten humans are the actual heirs of God -- and joint-heirs with CHRIST (Rom. 8:17).

Notice! "And because ye [converted Christians] are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a SON; and if a son, then an HEIR of God through Christ" (Gal. 4:6-7).

A young son of a wealthy man, while still a child, may be under the care of an adult servant. The servant is older, farther advanced in knowledge, on higher status physically and mentally -- but far lower potentially. For when the son is mature, he will inherit his father's wealth and power. Therefore the servant, temporarily older and farther matured, is servant, ministering to the young HEIR! That illustrates the fact of angels ministering to humans!

Humans are, if converted through Christ, the heirs of the GOD FAMILY. They are to enter the divine FAMILY. They are, even now, the begotten children of God. Therefore God ordained the family relationship for human beings.

NO OTHER BEINGS -- whether angel or animal -- HAVE THIS RELATIONSHIP.

But it goes further!

The FAMILY relationship demands the HUSBAND-AND-WIFE relationship! And that demands MARRIAGE, and faithfulness to that matrimonial bond! The CHURCH of God is merely that BODY composed of the begotten children of God. And the Church, as a BODY, is the affianced BRIDE OF CHRIST -- to MARRY Christ at the time of the resurrection and His second coming!

So there is also the divine MARRIAGE relationship!

Now UNDERSTAND! The husband-and-wife relationship, and the family relationship, are God-plane relationships!

These are NOT animal-plane, or angel-plane relationships!

Since humans were put on earth for the very PURPOSE of being begotten, and then BORN into the GOD FAMILY -- which is the KINGDOM OF GOD -- the ETERNAL has endowed this GOD-PLANE relationship for HUMANS -- and for humans only! What a WONDERFUL PRIVILEGE to be HUMANS -- to be given the MARRIAGE relationship now, but later to marry Christ and become part of the GOD FAMILY!

Here is another vital REASON for the institution of MARRIAGE in the human family. It is to teach us -- to constantly remind us -- of our sacred relationship to Jesus Christ!

Here is the vital teaching:

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ..." (The Word, if obeyed, washes away error.) "That he might present it to himself a glorious church [GLORIFIED -- DEIFIED], not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies .... For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

"This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Eph. 5:22-32).

Notice! For this cause -- because of the coming MARRIAGE (spiritually) between Christ and the Church -- because the Church is, now, the affianced Bride, engaged to marry Christ -- FOR THIS REASON, God ordained the MARRIAGE institution for humans! But not for animals! Not for angels!

Notice Revelation 19:7 -- speaking of the second coming of Christ in GLORY, "... the MARRIAGE of the Lamb [Christ] is come, and his WIFE hath made herself ready." ONLY those made ready in righteous CHARACTER will be presented to Him then!

So, in addition to the FAMILY relationship, there is also the divine MARRIAGE relationship.

So UNDERSTAND! The husband-and-wife relationship, and the family relationship, are God-plane relationships!

These are not animal-plane or angel-plane relationships!

Humans are free moral agents. God never forces one to be truly converted -- to become His very begotten son. Yet the PURPOSE God is working out here below is to reproduce Himself -- to bring, through Christ, "many sons unto GLORY" (Heb. 2:10) in the divine KINGDOM OF GOD!

And since humans were put on earth for the very purpose of being begotten, and then BORN into the GOD FAMILY, the Eternal has endowed this God-plane family status for humans, now -- and for humans ONLY!

What a WONDERFUL PRIVILEGE to be given the MARRIAGE and FAMILY relationship -- that we may be prepared for the spiritual marriage to CHRIST and the divine family status, for eternity, in THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

WE HAVE COVERED TWO VITAL purposes relating to sex in humans -- procreation, and marriage. And these mean a GOD-PLANE family relationship.

But now comes the question: Did these really require SEX?

In Chapter 5 it was shown that marriage and family life are necessary in humans, because babies and growing children need the tender care, loving instruction, discipline and warm affection of a father and a mother. But there is another equally vital need for the marriage relationship within the family and home. And this vital need required a right sexual relationship totally unrecognized today. So we ask:

Could not God have devised some other means of generation than SEX? And would not the marriage and family relationship be happier without SEX?

The formulators of early Christian thought would have answered the above two questions in the affirmative.

Referring to these founders of traditional teaching, Gibbon says, in Chapter XV of his famous "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:" "The chaste severity of the fathers in whatever related to the commerce of the sexes flowed from the same principle -- their abhorrence of every enjoyment which might gratify the sensual, and degrade the spiritual nature of man."

Their favorite opinion, continues Gibbon, was that if there had been no "fall," Adam would have lived forever in a state of virgin purity. Paradise might have been peopled, not by "degrading" sex, but by some harmless mode of vegetation.

Apparently God made a terrible mistake when He created sex. That is, in the "chaste severity" thinking of those Catholic fathers!

"By them," continues Gibbon, "the use of marriage was permitted only to the fallen posterity, as a necessary expedient to continue the human species."

Gibbon speaks of these men, as "unwilling to approve an institution [marriage] which they were compelled to tolerate." And, further, "Since desire was imputed as a crime, and marriage was tolerated as a defect, it was consistent with the same principles to consider a state of celibacy as the nearest approach to the Divine perfection."

Poor souls!!

Ignorant of the biblical revelation that God (Hebrew, Elohim) is a FAMILY -- ignorant of the truth of the Kingdom of God -- these men condemned the very GOD-PLANE relationship of the Eternal! The fruits of that teaching have been an indescribably enormous MOUNTAIN of human woe and misery!

What was wrong about marriage, they reasoned, was not the ceremony or the state of marriage -- but the use of sex in marriage! How much better would marriage have been, without sex!

And that is the BIG QUESTION to be settled once and for all in this present chapter! Was SEX necessary for the God-plane marriage and family relationships? Could we not have had these without SEX?

WHY was sex necessary, anyway?

Why not some intellectual way, free from passion and sex, of producing offspring?

This pagan concept was Satan-inspired (I Tim. 4:1-3). It simply means this:

Satan is an individual being, with NO POWER TO REPRODUCE HIMSELF. Satan is deprived of FAMILY RELATIONSHIP. God, on the other hand, IS the divine FAMILY -- Father, Son and those begotten by the Holy Spirit to be born into it. God has bestowed on mankind the privileges of FAMILY, and of reproducing our kind, bringing our human offspring into our human FAMILIES.

Satan resents this!

So Satan palms himself off as the GOD of this world (II Cor. 4:4).

The true God -- the Eternal CREATOR -- pictures Himself, in His Word, as the divine FAMILY, and bestows on man the privileges of reproduction and family relationship. Satan represents God's system of reproduction as being wrong. He deceived the world for hundreds of years into believing marital LOVE through SEX is a corroding, contaminating thing.

Today, worldwide REVOLT has set in against the repressive "chaste severity" of the "fathers."

The formulators of the modernistic perversion see only one thing -- that repression, passively adopted but not practiced by Protestants, became intolerable. The sex-is-evil attitude had to go.

The medieval concept downgraded the God-plane MARRIAGE and FAMILY relationships below asceticism. The "New Morality" threatens to abolish these divine institutions! Satan was subtilely deceiving the medieval world. He is just as cunningly deceiving the "New Morality" modern world today!

Instead of coming to the true MEANING and PURPOSES and right USES of sex, they blindly swung to the opposite extreme of declaring ANY USE OF SEX IS GOOD -- NOT EVIL! Therefore, says the modern revolt: "Let's USE IT -- freely -- in or out of marriage -- perverted or otherwise -- DOWN WITH ALL RESTRAINTS! Let's LIVE IT UP!"

So, in the present moral rebellion, labeling IMmorality "the New Morality," marriage has lost whatever meaning or sanctity it had. Its very existence is threatened.

Now we have seen, in the preceding two chapters, that there is vital and deep-rooted MEANING to the MARRIAGE institution, and to the establishment of HOME and FAMILY life.

But the BIG question of the present chapter is: Was SEX really necessary for the high and noble God-plane relationship of the marriage state, and the institution of home and family? Could not these have been more enjoyable, more pure and clean, more righteous -- and better for humanity -- without sex?

To answer this BIG question about sex, we need to look further into the FAMILY relationship that constitutes the KINGDOM OF GOD, and the betrothal relationship between CHRIST and the CHURCH.

God has given mankind the institutions of marriage, and family, to prepare us for an ETERNITY of happiness and joy in His Kingdom -- His FAMILY!

Just WHAT, then, is the very basis and foundation of the FAMILY RELATIONSHIP?

That basis is LOVE!

Of all the CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES of God, the very first, greatest and most important is LOVE!

Above all, GOD IS LOVE! (I John 4:8, 16.)

The very first of the attributes of God -- expressed in the fruits of His Holy Spirit in man is LOVE (Gal. 5:22). When this very God-life is infused within us, by His Spirit, it is "the LOVE OF GOD ... shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 5:5).

Thus, in first begetting us, God infuses within us the divine GIFT of His love! The divine FAMILY RELATIONSHIP is a LOVE relationship. The tie that holds the divine Family together is the tie of LOVE!

To those thus begotten of God, converted by His Spirit, Christ says through John: "Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called THE SONS OF GOD .... Beloved, now are we the sons of God [begotten], and it doth not yet appear what we shall be [when born]: but we know that, when he [Christ] shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (I John 3:1-2).

Even now, converted begotten sons of God have spiritual FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER and with the Son, Christ (I John 1:3).

So the FAMILY relationship, both on the divine plane, and in the human type, now, is a LOVE relationship -- and GOD IMPLANTS WITHIN HIS BEGOTTEN CHILDREN His divine love TO EQUIP THEM FOR THAT DIVINE LOVE relationship.

Likewise, the betrothal Husband-and-wife-to-be relationship between CHRIST and THE CHURCH is a LOVE relationship.

Notice, again, God's teaching that MARRIAGE on the present human level is to be a LOVE relationship, just as is Christ's relationship to His Church:

"Husbands, LOVE your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it ... that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies .... For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh" (Eph. 5:25-31).

For what cause shall a man marry a wife? For what PURPOSE? For that of LOVE!

The betrothal relationship between Christ and the Church -- of which marriage between humans is the type -- is a LOVE relationship. Husbands are to love their wives "even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it."

But notice again! To Adam and Eve in the Garden in Eden, God gave SEX as the cause for marriage -- as did Jesus in Matthew 19: "He ... made them male and female, and said, For this cause" shall a man and woman marry (verses 4-5). Because of SEX they shall marry.

So we have the two scriptural reasons for marriage -- for LOVE, and because of SEX. These are not two contradictory reasons. They blend into ONE -- to express LOVE through SEX! This will be made far more plain in the chapter to follow!

Sex was created, not only as the means of reproduction and bringing about a FAMILY, but, in humans, as a means of expressing LOVE in marriage.

So again I ask, just what IS love?

And again I answer. the world does not know!

There is more than one kind of love. The Greeks had three words for it each with a different shade of meaning.

In today's modern world, the meaning of LOVE has been all but lost. It has been so romanticized, so confused with LUST, that people carelessly call any sex desire or sex use "love." Usually this is LUST.

Today nearly all popular songs are falsely supposed to sing about love. Motion pictures, television, novels -- all confuse and eroticize "love" and induce society to accept lust in the name of "love."

The Greeks are more definitely expressive. They use three words which define love more accurately.

First is agape, which is moral or spiritual love. This is the love GOD expresses toward humanity. It is the divine, spiritual love, supplied by God's Holy Spirit. The natural and unconverted man does not have this love! But God longs to fill him with it -- if he will surrender and believe!

Second, is philia, or philadelphia, two related forms. This is the love of friendship -- brotherly love -- love of parent, or child.

Third is Eros, which refers to sexual love between husband and wife. But it means love, not lust. The Greek language uses a different word for lust. Eros, however, is a love expressed physically, not spiritually.

Just what, then, is love?

If I had to define love in four words, I would say, "Love is an unselfish outgoing concern" for the good and welfare of the one loved. Love is primarily on the giving, serving, sharing side of the fence -- not on the getting, taking, factional, striving side. It is not selfish.

God is Love. Consider how God expresses love toward us who are humans. Yes, even those who are hostile, and rebellious toward God: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Jesus Christ is God -- one of the divine Persons who compose the God Family. Notice how Christ manifested love: "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us .... when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Rom. 5:8, 10).

How did Jesus Christ express His love for the Church? The scripture has been quoted above -- He gave Himself for it!

Love is UNselfish. It is not an emotion, though it may be expressed with an emotional content. True love combines the rational aspect of outgoing concern -- desire to help, serve, give or share -- along with sincere concerned affectionate feeling.

William Graham Cole, in his book "Sex in Christianity and Psychoanalysis," gives an excellent analysis of love. He draws an interesting distinction between true mature love and infantile love. The latter is primarily emotional, thoughtlessly selfish, seeking its own gratification. Like "puppy love," it does not love another as he is, or for what he is, but as he is imagined or romantically desired to be.

"Illusion," says Cole, "is the standard diet of infantile love. It is, as the poets say, blind .... Cupid appears appropriately enough in diapers." (For our British readers, "nappies.")

Mature love, says Cole, is not blind. "It has progressed from pabulum to porterhouse."

Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." That is a true statement, of which nearly all humans are ignorant. Carnal humanity is bent on getting, taking, having. The average person, selfishly, is primarily interested in gratifying the desires of his five senses -- with no concern for others.

The five senses do cry out for gratification. We humans are composed of FLESH -- mortal flesh -- MATTER. We can receive pleasurable sensations through these five senses. In their "chaste severity" the early "Christian fathers" deemed any pleasurable sensation or experience, through the senses, to be sinful.

THAT IS EMPHATICALLY NOT TRUE!

It depends on the attitude of mind. If it is covetous, lustful, selfish, it is sinful. But if not, it may be beneficial.

God even tells us, in His Word, that our senses should be exercised by use, so that we can distinguish good from evil (Heb. 5:14). Our senses were put within our bodies to be used -- but not misused!

God created us so that we must eat food to live. He equipped us with the sense of taste. God gave us this sense so that we might enjoy the necessity of eating. We should, therefore, exercise our senses to distinguish true, natural, health-building food from those false foods which destroy health -- and then give God thanks, and really ENJOY the eating!

In like manner God made it possible for us to receive great pleasure and enjoyment of the most upbuilding and wholesome kind from the sense of sight. He gave us the faculty for appreciating the beautiful. But a man can misuse his sense of sight by looking lustfully at a woman.

God equipped humans with the sense of hearing. How much inspiring, uplifting, pleasurable enjoyment we receive from beautiful MUSIC! But of course, this sense, too, may be used for good, or for evil. Glorious music was actually created in the archangel Lucifer. But when, in pride and greed, his whole character changed, and he FELL from his estate of perfection to become Satan, he became corrupted and perverted in all his ways (Ezek. 28:13, 17). Satan is the author of perverted, discordant, degenerated modern music -- of a wail, a dirge, a moan, a squawk or a rhythmic erotic fast beat.

IN LOVE, God equipped humans with the five physical senses, to supply man with wholesome ENJOYMENT AND PLEASURE! But the use of these senses can be turned in the wrong direction! The privilege carries with it the obligation of responsibility. This is part of the character-building process.

I repeat! Sin is not the thing -- but the WRONG USE of the thing!

God intended man to be HAPPY! It is God's will that we ENJOY life -- that it be pleasurable, satisfying, wholesome, rewarding! But God gave us minds -- and made HIS WORD available -- to distinguish the TRUE values from the false! Not to decide, in our own minds, what selfish or lustful desire would like to make right -- but to distinguish what God reveals He has made right.

The right use of the five senses brings enjoyable, pleasurable sensations that are uplifting, constructive, beneficial -- not only to the self, but to others. The wrong and sinful use of the senses also may produce pleasurable sensations, but these wrong uses are psychologically, spiritually and physically destructive and harmful -- not only to the self, but often also to others.

It is a matter of RIGHT or WRONG direction.

It is a matter of attitude!

How may we humans know which use is right, and which is wrong?

BY THE LAW OF GOD!

God's Law is A WAY of life. It guides actions and uses in a definite direction -- always constructive, upbuilding, beneficial. That WAY always is THE WAY of LOVE -- the way of unselfish, outgoing concern, the way of sharing what is enjoyable.

SIN is the transgression of THAT WAY! Sin travels in the direction of vanity, greed -- INflowing selfish gratification, hostility toward God and man. It wants to be served, not to serve. To be helped, not to help. To get, not to give.

The WHOLE LAW OF GOD is summed up in one word -- LOVE! And it requires love expressed in action to fulfill the Law (Rom. 13:8,10).

But this Law-principle of LOVE is subdivided into the two Great Commandments -- LOVE toward God, and love toward neighbor. The first four of the Ten Commandments define love toward GOD. The last six tell us how to love neighbor. Love toward neighbor is not altogether outgoing concern. It is also a sharing with neighbor -- "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Of course that is a lot of love!

It is human to love your own self. That requires no effort -- no character. But what is not human nature is to love your neighbor EQUALLY! That requires recognition by an intelligent mind of the TRUE VALUES -- and it requires the exercise of WILL and self-discipline and CHARACTER!

Now we are approaching the real ANSWER to the BIG question of this chapter.

Consider! The Law allows you to love yourself equally with your neighbor. But NOT GOD! It requires you to love GOD with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength!

How, then, may a person LOVE GOD?

Actually, the natural unconverted man CANNOT! Take, at random, any man -- any woman -- you might meet on a busy street -- or out on a country lane. Has he the ability to love GOD far more than SELF -- with ALL his heart, mind, soul and strength? DOES the average person love God that much?

What's the answer?

God's Word answers, "We love him, because he first loved us" (I John 4:19). The "we" here is addressed to converted Christians.

A human can only really and truly love God with the very love which we first must receive from Him! This is the spiritual divine love God GIVES us by the Holy Spirit! But we must first REPENT -- surrender unconditionally to live GOD'S WAY -- turn from our former contrary way -- and truly BELIEVE in Christ, accepting Him as personal Savior.

When we love GOD, it is merely HIS OWN LOVE, on a return circuit, flowing on back to Him again! GOD'S SPIRIT is active -- flowing!

So the first Great Commandment -- to be kept in its complete and true spiritual sense -- requires a love MAN SIMPLY DOESN'T HAVE! Of course, God longs to GIVE every man that love, and fill him with it! But very few are willing!

Now consider TWO EXTREMES:

1) Love toward your NEIGHBOR farthest from any natural affection -- a recognized enemy. Here is Jesus' teaching of fulfilling the Law toward him: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for [not against] them which despitefully use you, and persecute you ..." (Matt. 5:44). Does the natural, unconverted man have that kind of love? The world doesn't consider that teaching of Jesus very practical -- because the world is empty of that kind of love.

2) At the other extreme, two categories of neighbor closest to you are singled out in the New Testament for SPECIAL LOVE. One of these categories is one's neighbors closest to him spiritually -- his brethren in Christ. Many scriptures put emphasis on a SPECIAL LOVE for these. Here again, a love is required which is totally absent in unregenerate man. But, in that case, they are not brethren in Christ UNLESS both are IN Christ -- have received God's Holy Spirit! Otherwise they are none of His! (Rom. 8:9.)

The other of these, singled out in the New Testament for special love is the neighbor closest to you physically -- your husband or wife!

And right here is the BIG POINT, vitally important, that probably never before entered your mind!

Four categories have just been cited -- love to GOD, and (of love to neighbor) your enemy, your true fellow Christians and your marital mate.

Man simply is not born with -- does not have -- the divine SPIRITUAL love required for the first three of those four categories! -- to love God, enemy and fellow Christian SPIRITUALLY, in the manner the law requires!

But when we come to the fourth category -- MARRIAGE -- we find an altogether different situation!

Even here, when, in the New Testament, the command is given to those IN THE CHURCH, "Husbands, love your wives," the word "love" in the original Greek in which the apostle Paul wrote it, is not Eros, but is agape, which is the divine love which emanates from God!

The true Christian husband loves his wife, not only in the physical and natural sense possible for a natural, yet unconverted, person -- but also with a special spiritual love!

But God well knew that an infinitesimal percentage of humans, from Adam and Eve to now, would be called by God and yield themselves to receive that divine love of God. And, even so, it is then mingled with the physical love God has made possible through sex!

Now we are ready for the ANSWER to this chapter's big QUESTION.

We need, now, to understand some of the FACTS OF LIFE which few ever grasp!

GOD is a Spirit. But God did not create humans out of spirit! To have done so would have defeated God's whole grand PURPOSE! So MAN is physical flesh -- made from matter -- the dust of the ground!

Of the three kinds of love, expressed by the three Greek words agape, philia and Eros, the natural man is capable of expressing only the last two types of love. There is a certain selfish element in the philia love -- love for children, parents or family. We may have this love for those of "our club," "our team," "our group." That is actually, to coin a phrase, love of the "empirical self." That often is a factional-type love -- one of the "works of the flesh" of Galatians 5:19-21 (see especially Moffatt translation).

WHY did not God design things so that married humans would love each other with God's SPIRITUAL LOVE -- without the physical love of SEX? Simply because God deemed it necessary to make MAN, for now, of physical matter.

In His divine wisdom, God knew that His supreme PURPOSE required that man be made, first, on the material level -- a physical being!

Being physical, we were made with the five physical SENSES.

It was God's PURPOSE that humans, unlike animals, angels or any other living beings, enjoy the blessings of MARRIAGE and FAMILY relationships -- actual God-plane relationships. The marriage relationship, as explained, had to be a LOVE relationship. But human, fleshly man is not born with spiritual love. Man's comprehension of MIND -- his expression of LOVE -- is confined, naturally, to the physical level, through the senses. Unconverted man can express only physical love -- and, in marriage, through sex. The first man, Adam, was created -- and we were all born -- with one "human" spirit which imparts physical intellect to the brain. But man was made to need another spirit -- the Holy Spirit of God. Yet only the few specially and individually called by God, have God's Spirit -- and with it the agape love.

Man is given a CHOICE! So he has full ability to turn physical sex love in the wrong direction of LUST. God equipped him with MIND. He has capability to discern -- to CHOOSE -- and what he sows he shall reap!

Making man a physical being, it was still God's design to make possible our greatest HAPPINESS.

Of all the truly ENJOYABLE experiences received through the five senses, perhaps the most intense and supremely gratifying -- the very pinnacle of sheer exhilaration -- is that received in the sex act of expressing LOVE for the one who is dearest of all people on earth, and to whom one has been joined in blessed and holy wedlock by GOD HIMSELF!

I remember when I was a young unmarried man, some of us young men had a good argument for resisting fornication. IF, we reasoned, a man might experience a momentary sensual thrill out of an act of fornication, how much greater would be the satisfaction of waiting, to share that act with the one sweetest, dearest, loveliest wife in all the world -- giving LOVE -- not receiving LUST -- with a clean conscience. With a harlot or a girl loose and immoral enough to permit fornication, it could not be real LOVE -- and, besides, it involved a guilty conscience (it did 70 years ago) -- and it could involve premarital pregnancy or venereal disease. (Remember, conditions and attitudes of teenagers were quite different then -- some 70 years ago.)

Even in carnality, we realized it was better -- BETTER FOR US -- to wait for marriage.

The perverted believer in today's "New Morality" could argue, "Why not enjoy both?" But he misses the whole point. The supreme enjoyment and happiness of marital LOVE springs from the very exclusiveness of the true marriage relationship -- sacred to just the two -- unshared with any other. Fornication prior to marriage robs the marriage of something very precious and eminently worth the pre-marital self-denial.

God made us so that we may really ENJOY the taste of delicious food -- the sound of beautiful music -- the sight of a beautiful landscape or flower garden -- the fragrance of lovely roses. The RIGHT exercise of our senses is RIGHT. God intended this pleasure and enjoyment. God is LOVE, and God expressed His love toward us by making these delights possible. Yet, probably the most intensely delightful of all physical joys God's love has made possible, is that of sexual LOVE between husband and wife.

It was intended to endear each to the other, bind them closer to each other.

It was GOD who created these five senses, and set them in such dynamic action, with their various stimuli. And God beheld everything that He had made, and pronounced it VERY GOOD!

God wants us to ENJOY living! God made us so we can find true happiness, here and now -- we can simply radiate HAPPINESS AND JOY! His LAW is the guide to the RIGHT USE of these powers which can produce joyous blessings, or terrible curses. And He gave us the CHOICE!

God gave us the blessed MARRIAGE relationship, and the God-plane FAMILY relationship!

LOVE is God's WAY. But natural man can express it only physically.

But if the physical love relationship in marriage brings joys and delights, how much more the SPIRITUAL LOVE RELATIONSHIP expressed in marriage where both husband and wife are filled also with this second Spirit -- the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD!

So, since humans can express naturally only a human and physical love, we come to the answer of the question of this chapter:

THE CREATOR, IN HIS WISDOM, KNEW THAT SEX WAS NECESSARY TO PRESERVE THE MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIP, IN REAL LOVE!

God knew what He was doing!

GOD'S answer to those unhappy early religious "fathers" in their "chaste severity" is: "WOE unto him that striveth with his Maker! ...Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it, What makest thou?" (Isa. 45:9.)

And again: "Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?" (Isa. 29:16.)

SEX was created, in God's loving wisdom, to make possible these sacred God-plane institutions of marriage, home, and family!

Sex was created to stimulate pure romantic attraction and love between a man and a woman properly mated for marriage; to inspire them with desire to share their lives, their problems, their trials and troubles, their hopes and successes TOGETHER; to enjoy the planning and building together of a happy HOME; and to rear a happy FAMILY.

God designed SEX to produce pure, righteous, clean, holy and rich BLESSINGS! He made it to be the loving BOND which not only would inspire a properly mated couple to marry, but which would PRESERVE that marriage in love. Sex should be the energizing magnet to draw constantly closer and closer together with increasing LOVE a husband and wife -- to heal over those little irritations, disturbances or misunderstandings which do occur.

Yet, this very bond which should bind the marriage tightly together is also the cord which, misused and perverted, severs more marriages than all other causes combined. Misused, it can bring nightmarish divorces, wreck homes and lives, leave children without parents, spawn juvenile delinquents!

Let's save sex for MARRIAGE. Let's turn to the WAY of all the blissful joys and blessings God made possible, and intended!

IT ASSUREDLY IS EVIDENT BY NOW that sex was designed neither as some-thing evil, filthy and degrading -- nor, on the other hand, to be used in premarital, extramarital, homosexual or other manner of perversion.

Sex did not aimlessly evolve without purpose. It was designed by the Creator, and is to be held in sacred and holy honor. It was created for man's GOOD, not his destruction.

When God Almighty created sex in humans, there was PURPOSE so high and wonderful it transcends human ability fully to comprehend. It was designed directly to reflect our relationship with the HOLY GOD! Man's destiny is to be born into the very God Family -- to become a member of the divine KINGDOM OF GOD.

What an incomparable destiny! Think of it! To be privileged to enter the DIVINE FAMILY -- to be enabled to know and experience the blessings of FAMILY relationship -- a God-plane relationship allowed to no other species or kind of life -- to be given the joys of the LOVE relationship of marriage and family here and now -- in this present mortal life!

All this is beyond the comprehension of those deceived by repressive prudery, and those contaminated by the modern sweep of IMmorality being falsely labeled "the New Morality."

God, in His wisdom, knew the necessity of preparing potential members of His divine Family, during this life, for that peaceful, happy, loving family relationship. Man should be boundlessly GRATEFUL, instead of polluting, profaning, perverting these blessings of God!

Now back once again to God's original instruction to our first parents!

Because, after creating Adam, God created the female Eve, He said, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24).

Now what does that mean -- a husband and wife "shall be one flesh"?

Remember, this Genesis record is the most abbreviated summary of God's instruction to the first man and woman. Man must not try to interpret Scripture. The Scripture interprets itself! One scripture interprets another!

What, then, is the Bible explanation of what is meant by being "one flesh"? It is explained very plainly in I Corinthians 6:16. There we find this very passage of Genesis 2:24 quoted and explained.

Condemning fornication between a man and a harlot, this passage says: "Now the body is not for fornication ... Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? [the temple of the Holy Spirit -- verse 19] shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh" (I Cor. 6:13, 15-16). And verse 18 adds, "FLEE FORNICATION."

The words in this passage, "for two, saith he, shall be one flesh," is a direct citation from Genesis 2:24!

That is PLAIN SPEAKING!

A man and a woman -- any woman, even a harlot -- become "one flesh" through the sexual act! A man and a harlot are not married -- but in coitus they are one flesh!

In I Corinthians 6:16 this act between a man and a harlot is condemned as a capital SIN! But in Genesis 2:24 -- and also in Jesus' quotation from it in Matthew 19:5 -- this same act is commanded between husband and wife! God says a man and wife SHALL -- a direct command! -- "be one flesh." A man and a woman (I Cor. 6:16), become "one flesh" in sexual intercourse.

So, translated into frank and plain words, God says that, because God made humans male and female -- a man shall marry a wife, and they shall have sexual intercourse!

And the Bible also commands, "Husbands, love your wives!"

And Jesus added, "What therefore GOD hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6).

MARRIAGE was ordained of GOD! Marriage has God's blessing! God commanded the first humans to have sexual intercourse -- and so this relationship is directly commanded by God, and has God's blessing!

But ONLY IN MARRIAGE!

Sex in marriage, far from being a sin, is "what GOD has joined together." It is a holy and sacred relationship!

All through the Bible, God condemns lust. Fornication -- the sex act committed prior to marriage -- is a SIN and breaks the Seventh Commandment. Homosexuality is condemned in the Bible as SIN -- sodomites shall not inherit the Kingdom of God! ANY use of sex, except as an expression of LOVE in MARRIAGE, and, also, for the purpose of procreation in marriage, is a SIN, and breaks the Seventh Commandment! That includes masturbation, bestiality -- any perversion -- ANY USE except that of love and reproduction in marriage!

The marriage relation is the very type of Christ's relation to the Church! The family relationship is a sacred GOD-PLANE relationship! It must be kept sacred. For the GOOD of both husband and wife -- as well as for their future in ETERNITY -- it must be kept inviolate between themselves alone!

Now UNDERSTAND this entire passage in the 6th chapter of I Corinthians -- for you probably have never looked at it closely enough to fully comprehend it before.

This chapter continues the thought of the preceding 5th chapter. It is, of course, part of a letter written by the apostle Paul to the Church of God at Corinth. These people, as a whole, were converted Christians -- they had really repented of the former life, and had received God's Holy Spirit. But of course that does not remove human nature. Real repentance and receiving God's Holy Spirit does remove the spirit of hostility against God and neighbor -- but not natural and normal self-concern. A spirit-begotten person still must resist inordinate desires of the flesh.

Those of the Corinthian church were still spiritual babes. Paul's letter was corrective. Some were being enticed into fornication and immorality. One, in particular, had been indulging in a sex relationship with his stepmother.

It seems the Church at Corinth was adopting the attitude of some ministers today. They showed "compassion" on this fornicator by condoning and approving his sin. Paul sternly commanded them, by authority of Jesus Christ, to put this evildoer out of the Church (chapter 5, to verse 13).

In chapter 6, some church members were taking their personal disputes before the civil courts. Paul condemned this, saying they should bring such matters before Church officials for settlement.

"Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" he asked. He was speaking of the time, after Christ's coming and the resurrection, in the coming "millennium," when the begotten children of God shall have been BORN into the world-ruling Kingdom of God! Here Paul reminded the Church (for his epistle was inspired as God's Word for God's WHOLE Church, even of our day) of man's tremendous DESTINY! "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" he continued (verse 3). "How much more things that pertain to this life?"

He continues, verse 9: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind [homosexuals], nor thieves ... shall inherit the kingdom of God."

Then Paul shows that, even though one has led such a life -- committed such sins -- HE CAN BE FORGIVEN, if he repents and turns from them -- and STILL CAN INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE. In the next (llth) verse, he continues:

"And such were some of you: but ye are washed ..." (forgiven and cleansed of such things, through Christ).

This MORALITY subject is continued in verses 13-15: "... Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord [Christ's resurrection], and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid."

Then follow the verses first quoted above: "What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh" (verse 16). Then verse 18: "FLEE fornication ... What? know ye not that your body is the TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price [by Christ's DEATH!]: therefore glorify God in your body ..." (verses 18-20).

Look at that carefully! The BODY is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The BODY does not belong to the individual -- we are not our own -- Christ bought and paid for us! Therefore glorify GOD -- HOW? It does not say with "your mind" -- but "in your BODY"!

All through this passage, even from the preceding chapter, the theme has been SEX. These two chapters forbid and condemn the MISUSE of sex through fornication, adultery, homosexuality, masturbation. But GOD established MARRIAGE. Marriage is honorable -- marriage has God's blessing -- it is GOD who joins the husband and wife in a GOD-PLANE relationship. And GOD has said a man and wife shall "be one flesh" -- shall express marital LOVE in sexual intercourse!

This GLORIFIES GOD -- because God ordained it -- because God actually joined the husband and wife. You thus glorify God in your BODY by keeping it pure from fornication, adultery or other wrong use, and also by this God-ordained RIGHT and SACRED use of sex in marriage.

This is a direct command thus to glorify GOD by using the body in this God-ordained use.

If a husband and wife approach the sexual union in LOVE, as an expression of LOVE, comprehending the divine significance and God-ordained meaning of this use of sex -- and giving God thanks -- they are glorifying GOD with their bodies!

But have some minds become so perverted by this satanic teaching that even God-ordained MARRIED LOVE seems shameful, degrading, and leaves some with a sense of guilt? One of the tragedies of all time is the fact that some actually have been thus branded!

What a catastrophe in human experience! What a cunning, diabolical deception of Satan!

God blessed mankind with the holy GOD-PLANE institution of marriage -- the very picture of the Christ-Church relationship. God made possible this expression of marital LOVE, by which two whom GOD has joined for life may glorify GOD in their bodies! God endowed mankind with the God-plane institution of the FAMILY and the HOME -- the very type of the KINGDOM OF GOD into which we may be born. Thus God ordained that even in this mortal life we may experience the blessing of FAMILY life, to prepare us for life in the Kingdom of GOD!

But humanity has lost the knowledge of these glorious truths!

A clever, subtle devil has instilled in human minds these false attitudes toward SEX. By this very means he has blinded men's eyes to these truths. He has robbed potential heirs of God of these blessings!

Today the new IMMORALITY calling SEX GOOD -- even in promiscuity -- is sweeping the world. Nevertheless, a large portion of girls being drawn into mental acceptance still FEEL a sense of shame and guilt. It's a psychological hangover from the agelong "Old Morality."

I know, too, that thousands of wives will read this book -- accept this TRUTH with gratitude to God -- and still find themselves unable to eradicate false convictions. They are simply victims of this agelong "moral" teaching of Satan.

Many of today's women -- or especially those of the not-too-long-ago forties and fifties -- have been taught from early childhood by well-intentioned parents that sex is some kind of "animal instinct" -- that sex is "not nice," but shameful, degrading, sinful. This attitude has been so deeply embedded they now find themselves unable to free their minds.

Coming to know the truth intellectually, a wife may really want love and a good physical relationship with her husband. Yet she finds that she just somehow can't "let herself go." Lovemaking, which a benevolent God formed her to enjoy with her husband, just somehow seems to be contaminated. It leaves her with a sense of shame and guilt. She knows better, in her mind -- yet this false sense has been inculcated so deeply, it seems still to hold her in its clutch.

Do you know why?

Do you realize that one can be taught a thing so intensively, so repeatedly, that the false concept has become literally burned in to the extent he (or, usually she) is unable to root it out?

It becomes a scar that can never be removed.

It is like a woman -- some thirty-seven years ago -- who was chief librarian in the science section of a large city library. I had been making a critical study of the theory of evolution, side by side with my first study of the biblical account of special Creation. I had found the "trunk of the tree" of the evolutionary hypothesis. Every argument -- every purported "evidence" -- was merely a branch off that main trunk. If it fell, the whole tree fell with it. I had written a brief thesis setting forth the facts, and since I knew this librarian was well schooled in science I asked her to read it and give me her evaluation.

"Mr. Armstrong," she said, with a sharp but half-puzzled gleam in her eye, "you have an uncanny knack of getting to the very heart and core of a subject. You have reduced it to comparatively few words. You have, beyond question, felled the trunk of the tree of evolution. With my mind, I can recognize that you have disproved the only premise that could be PROOF of the doctrine. Your argument is correct. Your facts are true. Yet, in spite of your positive PROOF that evolution has no foundation, I could never in all my life cease to believe in it. I am simply too steeped in it. All my life I have been associated in scientific circles. I have devoted years doing graduate work at Columbia, the University of Chicago and other universities. Everything I have always read, been taught and accepted in every field of science is based on evolution. You force me to admit evolution is unproved by your paper -- yet I am unable to put evolution out of my mind."

A person's conscience may be "seared with a hot iron" (I Tim. 4:2). We can have a false teaching so deeply burned into our minds that we are "given over to BELIEVE a lie."

We read, in II Thessalonians 2 of those who have been indoctrinated with Satan's delusions, that "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (verse 11).

Because of this ungodly teaching that sex, even in in marriage, is degrading and shameful, countless wives, even after coming to a knowledge of God's TRUTH, are utterly unable to bring themselves to feel right -- as God intended -- about the marriage relationship. This is actually a form of perversion -- mental perversion in which the mind has been trained to reject what is holy and good and God-ordained as if it were something evil! It is incurable by human means -- incurable except by divine miracle! It takes God's power!

Most assuredly some who will read this book will find themselves in this category. With their minds, they will now see the TRUTH. Yet, in the marriage relationship, they will automatically freeze up in dread. They will, in spite of true KNOWLEDGE, feel dirty, with a sense of condemnation and guilt. This has been "brain-washed" into their subconscious minds -- burned in -- as if cauterized; and cauterizing deadens sensation.

To enjoy the rich BLESSINGS a loving GOD wishes to lavish on every true wife who follows HIS LAWS and is led by HIS SPIRIT, God's TRUTH must be not merely recognized by the mind -- it must be acted upon!

Every victim of this foul satanic mind-branding should pray earnestly, prevailingly with the whole heart, to the Holy GOD to remove root and branch that false concept. Pray, as did David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit [attitude] within me" (Ps. 51:10).

When David, filled with remorse and emotion, prayed this prayer, he was in brokenhearted repentance because of his SEX sin with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah. He was repenting of his wrong attitude toward sex. He was beseeching God to take this dirty attitude of lust out of his heart -- to create in him a clean heart, and to restore a right spirit -- or attitude -- a right concept toward sex -- in his mind.

Read again and again this and the preceding three chapters. Read all the Bible passages. Learn to OBEY God gladly, wholeheartedly, in love and loving anticipation, when He commands, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Eph. 5:22, Col. 3:18). Even as husbands are commanded to love their wives, so wives are commanded to give love to their husbands (Tit. 2:4).

God's LAW -- God's WAY to every happiness -- safeguards this holy, pure, righteous, personal and intimate loving marriage relationship. It has God's BLESSING!

Travel this way, in prayer and thanksgiving, in love, and in deep gratitude to a benevolent and loving GOD!

Now study the 7th chapter of I Corinthians.

The BIBLE -- as originally inspired -- SPEAKS OUT in plain and frank language, not only against every misuse and perversion of sex, but just as frankly instructing us in God-ordained right uses!

Remember, we read the Bible as it has been translated into the English language. Some translations -- especially the Authorized (King James) version -- were made at a time when sex was universally regarded as shameful and evil. The King James translators tried to cover up the true meaning, feeling it was "not nice" to speak so plainly. But every original word was inspired by God's HOLY SPIRIT! And it is time we throw off Satan's false accusations that some of the Word of God is "not nice." It is holy and sacred!

For this reason, the Moffatt translation will be used, as well as the King James, in expounding this crucial New Testament chapter on SEX. The Moffatt translation renders the inspired original Greek in the English words of its TRUE MEANING.

This was written originally as a letter from the apostle Paul to the Church of God at Corinth. But it was inspired through the Holy Spirit. It is part of GOD'S WORD for us today.

We have seen, earlier in this chapter, that in his 5th and 6th chapters the apostle was writing about SEX. There were sex abuses -- sex misuses -- in that Church, which God through Paul condemned. But we have seen how Paul, in the latter part of the 6th chapter, taught that husbands and wives, through God's sacred MARRIAGE institution, should GLORIFY GOD in their bodies -- by giving LOVE through sex between husband and wife -- as well as by keeping their bodies clean from fornication, adultery or misuse.

Chapter 7 continues the instruction from GOD of the true God-intended use of sex.

Notice verses 1 and 2: "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

NOTICE THAT! Get its real meaning! Every man and woman should marry -- but WHY? Because it is a sin to remain single? No -- verse 1 says it would be good for "a man not to touch a woman" -- that is, to remain free from sex, and unmarried. It is not WRONG to remain single.

Then WHY does this passage teach that men and women should marry? Does it say "marry in order to beget children"? No, it says nothing here about the purpose of marriage being reproduction.

WHY, then? This scripture answers, "To avoid fornication"! Paul has just been condemning premarital sexual intercourse -- FORNICATION -- as a SIN, which breaks the Seventh Commandment.

The plain teaching here is that, to avoid sexual intercourse out of marriage, a man and woman should marry! Have sexual intercourse IN marriage! This has God's blessing. This is commanded by God!

To avoid the SIN of fornication -- unmarried sex -- and to have the sexual relationship with God's blessing in TRUE LOVE, let men and women marry!

The PURPOSE here given is not reproduction, but lawful and righteous sexual intercourse instead of unlawful and sinful fornication. This becomes even more plain as we proceed.

Now verse 3: "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband." The King James translators in the year 1611 tried to translate this in "modest" language, and this largely covers up the true meaning. However, "benevolence" does mean disposition to do good, charitableness, love.

Now read it with the false modesty stripped away, in the Moffatt translation, "The husband must give the wife her conjugal dues, and the wife in the same way must give the husband his ..." And the word "conjugal" means sexual or marital.

Notice, in this verse these points. The sexual relation in marriage is a command, "The husband must ... and the wife ... must ..." Notice, next, God's principle of giving, sharing. Each is to GIVE this sexual-intercourse love to the other. God does not speak of it in terms of carnal taking, or receiving sensual gratification -- but in terms of giving love.

Continue, verse 4 -- Moffatt: "... a wife cannot do as she pleases with her body -- her husband has power, and in the same way a husband cannot do as he pleases with his body -- his wife has power."

Notice how the principle of God's Law -- that of LOVE -- of GIVING of outgoing concern rather than selfish gratification, is stressed. It is a command, "a wife cannot ..." It does not say "ought not"; it flatly forbids, as contrary to the Law -- and consequently SIN -- for either husband or wife to use his or her body selfishly. The wife made frigid by false concepts must not withhold sexual intercourse from her husband. Her sex organs do not belong to her -- they belong to her husband!

In the same way, a husband cannot withhold participation in coitus from his wife -- or, conversely, neither shall a husband make inconsiderate demands on his wife, so that he may use his sex organs as he pleases for his selfish gratification. His sex anatomy does not belong to him. Christ bought both husband and wife with the price of His very life.

Actually our bodies belong to HIM -- but He, here, gives the right and power of the husband's body over to the wife, and the right and authority over the wife's body to the husband. Yet the teaching of God -- the WAY of His Law -- denies selfish, taking, and demands considerate giving.

The motive and intention are here involved. Actually, it devolves down to direction of mind and intent -- to attitude. The man who argues that this verse of God's teaching gives him the right to make inconsiderate and selfish demands on the use of his wife's body -- arguing that her body belongs to him -- overlooks the fact that his motive and purpose is merely to use his wife's body for his own sensual gratification without any consideration or outgoing concern for her wishes.

There are times, in the life of any married couple, when it would be cruel, totally inconsiderate, utterly selfish on the part of a husband to demand his own satisfaction and gratification by use of his wife's body. At such times, God's teaching, when understood, says the husband's sexual apparatus does not belong to him -- he has no right to use it selfishly at cost of pain, suffering or mental harassment to the wife. God commands each husband to be considerate of his wife's feelings -- to be tender, gentle, as much concerned for her desires and comfort and pleasure as his own.

On the other hand, there are times when sexual union is a definite need for a husband. At such times, the wife must be considerate, and not defraud her husband. At such times she must not claim her body belongs to her and deny it to him.

Then again, the selfish "frigid" wife who deliberately denies love in coitus to her husband, merely because she "isn't in the mood," is violating God's command which says "a wife cannot do as she pleases with her body -- her husband has power" -- her body belongs to him.

God's Law, at all times, is the way of love -- which is concern and consideration for the other at least equal with that for the self. Selfishness becomes lust. LOVE flees when the whole concern is for self.

Verse 5 of this 7th chapter of I Corinthians becomes still more plain: "Do not withhold sexual intercourse from one another, unless you agree to do so for a time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again. You must not let Satan tempt you through incontinence."

Now notice that same verse in the King James version. It shows that abstaining from sexual intercourse in marriage -- except by mutual agreement at infrequent intervals -- or, for either one to selfishly deny coitus to the other -- is actually DEFRAUDING the other!

In other and plainer words, to practice what falsely called "Christian" teaching has demanded for 18 + centuries -- withholding sexual intercourse except for begetting children -- is a direct violation of God's teaching -- is ITSELF SIN AND DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD -- and is DEFRAUDING one's mate!

This dualistic paganism piled up a mountain of human woe and frustration through these 18 + centuries higher than all the geological mountains of earth piled one on top of the other! It taught millions of husbands and wives to disobey God's commands -- to commit SIN -- and the human suffering is the evidence. Obedience to GOD'S Law brings happiness and joy. SIN brings suffering and misery. The very fruits of this medieval prudery demonstrate that it has been the WAY OF SlN!

Here, then, is that same verse 5 in the King James translation:

"Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency."

Not only does ALMIGHTY GOD, through the Bible, speak out in plain language against this pagan and medieval teaching. The VOICE OF CRUEL EXPERIENCE also cries out!

This stern teaching that sex must be used only to beget children has put marriages beyond count into an injurious, impossible situation.

Augustine, Aquinas and the church "fathers" who preceded them in their "chaste severity" could see no LOVE in the marital union. Marital sex, except for procreation, was viewed always as lust, concupiscence, degrading and sinful self-gratification. And, even if a husband and wife mated in coitus for the express PURPOSE of begetting a baby, they viewed it with suspicion.

Of course those men -- at least Augustine, and those priests after him including Aquinas -- never experienced the happy joys of married LOVE. Augustine's conscience was wracked with guilt over his fornication and sex vices. He NEVER MARRIED. He largely influenced the establishment of priesthood celibacy. He was not without quantitative sex experience. But all that experience was motivated by concupiscence. He never experienced the GIVING of love in marriage. He knew NOTHING of its happy and blissful Joys. All he knew, by experience, was inordinate, self-desire, followed by the conscience-stricken pangs of self-condemnation and guilt. Such men never experienced that clean, wholesome, LOVE of a pure wife, mingled with respect, admiration, high regard, esteem and honor.

Yet thousands of intelligent husbands and wives, victims of that repressive teaching, have come to see -- in spite of that teaching -- that the expression of pure LOVE between husband and wife through coitus is every whit as vital a purpose as producing children. Of course, probably the overwhelming majority, blinded by the false teaching, never discovered this. But where did it leave those who did?

Thousands of case histories -- and I know of enough to be sure of what I am saying -- have found that this repression robbed their marriage of spontaneity and joy. There are times when circumstances dictate either the spacing of the next child, or else that there should be no more children. Even in the case of couples who have discovered the true, clean and beautiful happiness of giving and bestowing LOVE in the sexual union, where does this teaching leave them?

They have been sternly taught that "they must hear the CHURCH!" To disobey this teaching they have been led to believe, will mean an eternity of indescribable torture of burning forever and ever in hell! This has been made REAL to them! They are filled with fear and the terror of it! They dare not disobey their church teaching. And, usually, they want to obey it -- because they have been made to believe it is right! So what happens? They strive to live without sex. Sex comes to carry the hateful meaning of FEAR that destroys love!

Many, in their desperate dilemma, have gone tearfully to their parish priest for counsel and help. And if and when they are told that the only difficulty is lack of self-control, they are really frustrated.

They may struggle and wrestle with the one allowance of the church -- resorting to the "rhythm method." In desperate determination, they restrain themselves for what is calculated (often erroneously) to be the prescribed period. Then, often, they find this method simply DIDN'T WORK!

And today many priests are beginning to see -- in their hearts if not in public statement -- the evils of this traditional misteaching.

Today many doctors admit that this "rhythm method" is a faulty theory. There is no part of the month during which all women are for a certainty immune from conception. There may be a decrease in probability -- but the matter is only relative. Medical charts show conceptions occurring at any or all times of the month.

And so millions, under the whiplash of this UNscriptural teaching, even if they had once found the joys of true marital love, find their marriages twisted. Wives become frigid. Husbands become frustrated.

Case histories by the uncounted thousands PROVE that the biblical way, once rightly understood, is RIGHT and its FRUITS are abundant happiness and joy. But man's way, whether of medieval prudery or modern promiscuity, produces only the bitter grapes of wrath!

NOW YOU HAVE, IN BRIEF, THE missing dimension in sex knowledge. In all books pretending to impart information about sex, the half from God's revelation should have come first, as, indeed, it has been placed first here.

It has, in this book, been emphasized that the Holy Bible is the FOUNDATION of all knowledge. Especially is this true in the subject of sex. Also, it provides the right approach to acquirable, experimental and discoverable knowledge.

Now we have the FOUNDATION on which knowledge of the physical details of sex ought to be built. We have, now, the true, wholesome, clean and God-directed attitude as our approach to the biological facts. Now you may view the physical facts with right attitude, clean mind and profound respect and awe for the wisdom of God for having designed SEX for man's highest GOOD!

God's ways are PERFECT! They are the bestowal of HIS LOVE!

We are ready, now, to proceed in receiving the necessary BIOLOGICAL knowledge. And even in this physical area, the true WAY is the WAY OF LOVE! Revelation provides the only right APPROACH.

There are TWO biological differences we need to understand. First is the difference between human and animal FEMALES.

So far as reproduction itself goes, the physical process is the same in humans as in mammals. But beyond the purpose of reproduction there are vital differences.

All reproduction in animals and humans comes from a union of male and female elements or cells. Most all physical life is carried on by reproduction through sex. Walt Whitman wrote that we see "everywhere sex, everywhere the urge of procreation." Flowers, plants, vegetables; the whole of the animal kingdom from the smallest insect to largest mammal; and humans, too -- all are male and female.

There is an old Latin phrase, Omne ex ovo, meaning everything comes from an egg.

The beginning of reproduction -- in mammals and humans -- is from an egg, or ovum. The ovum always is produced by the female. Yet every ovum -- human or animal -- is infertile of itself. Life must be imparted to it by a sperm cell, called a spermatozoon (plural, spermatozoa), produced within the body of the male. Within the ovum is a nucleus, or dormant germ. After a sperm cell enters an egg cell, it unites with the nucleus, and then a new human or animal has been begotten, and is well on its way to developing into the same kind, or species, as its parents.

This fertilization of the ovum is called conception, or begettal. A woman in whom such conception has occurred is said to be pregnant. The growing state, from conception until birth, is called gestation, or period of the mother-to-be's pregnancy. Its birth is called parturition.

This physical process of reproduction is the same in mammals as in humans. But, aside from the reproductive process, there are extremely important biological differences between human and animal females.

In both women and female mammals, the ova are produced within the body, by germinal glands called ovaries, of which there are two. In women, an egg cell, or ovum, is produced approximately every four weeks. If the ovum is not fertilized, the uterus discharges a little blood. This is called menstruation, and will be explained more in detail later. Menstruation occurs normally in women about thirteen times a year.

But in ANIMALS, there is no menstruation in the sense and manner it occurs in women.

Female animals have, instead, a rutting period. It does not occur with the frequency of humans. In dogs, for example, females have a rutting time about every six to eight months. In other animals, this occurs less, and in some more frequently. They produce an ovum only once in that period. At all other times, female animals are virtually sexless! The female does not allow the breeding act, and the male animal seldom attempts it. If one does, the female will fight him off with all her strength.

But at this rutting time, commonly spoken of by farmers as a time when the animal is "in heat," the sexual organs secrete substances which release an odor. This excites the animals automatically (instinct) to sexual intercourse for breeding.

In the animal world, SEX SERVES NO PURPOSE EXCEPT REPRODUCTION! No expression of love, in the human sense, exists. The female sex organs in animals are absolutely DORMANT at all times, except during the rutting period. It would be utterly IMPOSSIBLE to arouse a female animal, sexually, during all this long time from one rutting period to the next. Experiments in artificial insemination have proven that animals cannot be impregnated during the long periods between rutting times.

With animals there is no marriage -- no home -- no family relationship. No husband-and-wife sexual LOVE relationship. Females are sexless between rutting periods!

Female humans do not have a "rutting period," or a mating period when they are "in heat." Between the age of puberty and the time of menopause -- roughly between ages fourteen and forty-four, or a duration of approximately thirty years -- women have the monthly period (approximately each twenty-eight days) when they menstruate. Female animals do not menstruate.

But when "in heat," the female animal is beside herself with desire for mating. And until she is relieved, by the fertilization of the ripe ovum from coital breeding by the male of her kind, she knows no rest. Actually, unless the female animal is soon bred, she will make every effort -- run any risk -- to attain pregnancy.

But in women, such things are utterly different! Women are never "in heat." The presence of an ovum in a Fallopian tube (when it is ready to be fertilized) makes little or no difference in either a woman's desire for, or reluctance against sexual intercourse. The Kinsey reports and other surveys of doctors, have shown that in many, if not most women, no difference whatever is noted. In the minority, the difference in either desire or abhorrence is slight and merely relative.

What does all this MEAN?

It means that, except for purposes of producing progeny, the functions and responses of sex in women are entirely different from sex in animals. Although marital coitus should never, of course, occur during menstruation (see Ezek. 18:6 and parallel scriptures), there is NO TIME during the month when a women is virtually sexless -- when sex functioning goes dormant -- when she is unable to engage in coitus with her husband. She is as much capable of coitus at one time as another.

God made WOMAN, as well as MAN, on a plane infinitely higher than animals! He created SEX in HUMANS as a means of bestowing reciprocal LOVE. He created women so that their sex organs may be used for the purpose of sharing LOVE when pregnancy is virtually IMPOSSIBLE. (At least, when the "rhythm method" advocates say it is.)

Animals DO NOT MARRY. The use of sex for breeding purposes, in animals, is not a matter of lovemaking!

Can you imagine a big bull and a cow in passionate embrace, with their "arms around each other" -- that is, trying to wrap their front legs, with their hoofs, around each other, trying to hug and kiss, and caress, and make LOVE?

If a circus could ever train a bull and a cow to put on such an act, it would be sure to bring the house down with side-splitting laughter. You may be sure the circus people would have thought of that -- and done it -- long ago, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE to train a bull and a cow to go into a LOVE embrace!

Sex SERVES NO PURPOSE OF LOVE with animals!

With mammals, reproduction is brought about by the same process as in humans. But animals DO NOT MARRY. Animals do not have either the "philia" or the "Eros" love. Animals cannot receive the "agape" love from God. With animals, sex does not stimulate desire for LOVE -- or, for that matter, for lust.

WHY do people refer to human LUST as "animal passion"? Why do some women say, "Men are BRUTES"? WHY INSULT THE ANIMALS? They do only what God set their brains to cause them to do BY INSTINCT!

In women, sex is a LOVE stimulant. Women can, and usually do, engage in sex as a LOVE embrace, even at times when pregnancy is impossible! Female animals cannot.

When a female animal is served by the male, there is NO LOVE EMBRACE -- no lovemaking. The male mounts on the back of the female, imparts the fertilizing spermatozoa and departs.

Human bodies were deliberately designed BY GOD in a different manner -- so that sex in humans becomes an embrace of love.

The evolutionists, in willful and inexcusable ignorance, classify MAN with the ANIMAL kingdom. There was no intelligent Creator. There was no rational thoughtful and wise planning and designing, with PURPOSE. In their stubborn, IRRATIONAL rebellion against revelation, they formulate and religiously embrace in blind faith ridiculous and vanity-inspired fables. They cling defiantly to the postulate that MAN descended, over millions of years, from animals similar and ancestral to the anthropoid ape. All this by hereditary reproduction, brought about by natural processes and resident forces.

How, WHEN and WHY, then, did animal instinct disappear, and human MIND with its human SPIRIT, arrive on the scene? And if no intelligent GOD designed and created sex for definite PURPOSES, just how do we explain these amazing sex differences between animals and humans? And WHY such a total gap in fossil findings? WHY no intermediate species?

There is yet one other amazing factor the evolutionist will have difficulty in explaining. And that is what happens after human menopause.

Women have been given a duration of approximately thirty years of fertility, during which they may become mothers. At an age averaging thirteen or fourteen, girls reach the age of puberty. At that age their breasts develop, for the purpose of supplying milk to newborn babies. Their sex organs mature, and their ovaries begin to produce ova.

These egg cells usually are produced at the rate of one every twenty-eight days, alternating from each ovary. If the ovum is fertilized in the Fallopian tube, a new human life has been begotten. It then continues on into the womb, or uterus, where it is protected, nourished and gradually developed ready to be born after approximately nine months.

But if the ovum is not met by a sperm cell and fertilized -- and some doctors say it has a life of only forty-eight hours after leaving the ovary -- it dies. Meanwhile, with the releasing of each egg cell from an ovary, the uterus has been prepared to receive a fertilized embryo. But if fertilization did not take place, then the womb discharges a little blood through the vagina, gradually, over a period of about 5 days. This is called menstruation.

Although the menstrual period occurs generally about every twenty-eight days, many if not most girls experience irregularity beginning at the age of puberty. Sometimes this irregularity persists for some years before a regular rhythm is established. Unless this irregularity is quite excessive, it need cause no alarm.

As soon as a girl begins her menstrual periods, she is physically capable of becoming a mother. But she is not yet, for some years, mentally and emotionally mature enough for motherhood.

This physical capacity for reproduction continues for approximately thirty years. Then a woman reaches the "change of life" period, called menopause.

Some women reach this period of change at about age forty -- some, rarely, as late as age fifty. The average will be somewhere around forty-five.

This menopause is a more or less trying experience. There will be nervousness, often complaint of "hot flashes," and sometimes neurotic disturbances. The discomforture depends largely on physical, mental and emotional health. Some women foolishly have internal sex organs removed by surgery at this time, only to discover later that they obtained temporary relief at cost of greatly increased mental problems, as well as physical.

But WHY this menopause stage?

Here again the wise design of a loving, all-intelligent Creator is emphasized. After this stage of life, women simply should no longer carry the responsibilities of caring for babies and training young children. Children begin to "get on their nerves."

Neither women nor men ever reach the age where they no longer enjoy children. You see, this is the age when they usually become grandparents. God has designed things so that all grandparents find their own grandchildren are just as sweet, lovely and dear to them as their own. They now have the privilege (barring geographical separation) of ENJOYING the grand-children -- on occasion.

It is a real JOY to see the little tots come scampering into the grandparent's home. But after an hour, or two or three, it is somehow a welcome relief when their parents take the kiddies home. Grandma just simply ought not be burdened down too often with the care and responsibility of the children.

So there was intelligence, wisdom, loving concern, in the designing hand of the Creator. When a woman reaches this stage of life, her ovaries cease manufacturing ova.

No SUCH CHANGE TAKES PLACE IN MEN. There is a mild sort of menopause in men -- more mental than physical. But men may become fathers into a very ripe old age.

BUT WHAT ABOUT EXPRESSING LOVE THROUGH SEX?

The Creator designed HUMAN sex (but not animal sex) as a means of expressing pure, righteous and undefiled LOVE. And God commands, "Husbands, LOVE your wives!" And also for women "to LOVE their own husbands."

Now should a husband and wife stop LOVING each other, after age forty-five or fifty? NEVER!

And so a benevolent, loving GOD, designed women so that they are freed from exposure to pregnancies after this stage of life -- BUT THEIR PARTICIPATION IN SEXUAL LOVE WITH THEIR HUSBANDS DOES NOT CEASE!

Actually, most women are either less reluctant (if inhibited by the dualistic repression), or else more desirous of sexual intercourse with their husbands after this period than they were before!

It is true that, after this age, physical sex drives in both sexes begin to slow down gradually. The act of coitus will not be desired quite so often. But if the wife slows down, so also does her husband. So a God who had great outgoing concern for us -- His own potential children -- designed humans so that husband and wife continue to be endeared to each other by coitus all through life.

And if that is true of expression of physical love, the giving of spiritual love, by those endowed with GOD'S Spirit, conversely should intensify and deepen as the years flit by.

MARRIAGE is ordained "until death do us part." One purpose of marriage is sexual LOVE. When the other purpose -- childbearing -- ceases, sexual LOVE continues to draw husband and wife ever closer in the bond of true LOVE -- until death parts them!

Can anyone contemplate these wonderful facts of the Creator's wisdom and love and power, without an emotional feeling of awe, reverence, respect and gratitude?

How WONDERFUL are the works of GOD'S hands!

So we have these marked differences between human and animal females.

These physical, biological differences, as well as God's WORD, prove that sex in HUMANS was designed for a PURPOSE not applicable to animals. It was designed for MARRIAGE -- for FAMILY relationship -- for expression of love between husband and wife. And sex provides the means for this bestowal of love "until death do us part," even into old age!

MAN HAS PRODUCED MANY HIGHLY complicated mechanisms out of matter he has appropriated from the ground.

The huge, intricately designed modern newspaper and magazine presses bring exclamations of amazement from visitors seeing one for the first time. I am reminded of this, because we have a number of these big magazine presses in our enlarged printing plants in Radlett, England; and North Sydney, Australia; and, previously, in Pasadena, California.

But the largest, most complicated machines man has designed pale to insignificance beside the most wonderful of all mechanisms -- the HUMAN BODY AND MIND!

This awe-inspiring mechanism also was formed from matter out of the ground. It was the supreme MASTERPIECE of God's great creative handiwork! The Almighty formed man after His own likeness! And His SPIRITUAL CREATION is still in process!

God reveals much about Himself! He is composed of Spirit -- not matter. He is a God of Supreme MIND. He tells us He has eyes, ears, nose, mouth. He has arms and legs -- feet and hands! He wrote the Ten Commandments on stone tablets with His own finger!

The marvelous human body is formed and shaped like God, unlike any other creature! Yet God, being Spirit, possesses inherent eternal life. He has endowed MAN with only a limited physical existence, sustained chemically, in principle, much like the motor in your car.

So God designed in the human body two basic types of systems.

One is the life-sustaining apparatus. This includes the highly complicated digestive, circulatory, respiratory and other systems. These are coordinated in functioning by the nervous system, which, in turn, is directly connected with the mind.

The other basic system is the genital, or sex system, making humans male and female. This has no direct part in sustaining the individual's existence. It serves to perpetuate, not the individual, but the race. But it also generates love and a desire to marry a certain one, and stimulates marital love to preserve the home and family. This genital system, too, is connected by the nervous system directly with the mind.

These two general systems serve different purposes, yet there is a connection between the two. The genital apparatus exercises a considerable influence on the life-sustaining functions. The female sex hormones cause a woman's body and mind to be feminine. The male sex hormones cause a man's body and mind to be masculine.

Also there is a closer analogy between male and female sex organs and sex functioning than is generally understood.

It is the genital system that we need here to describe.

We shall use, in this description of sex anatomy and functioning, the medical, or scientific, terminology. I strongly urge all parents to learn these terms, and to use them in teaching their children.

If it were not entirely too embarrassing, a social gathering could be given a hilarious evening by each, one at a time, saying right out loud the names for sex organs and functions -- especially the eliminative functions -- which their mothers taught them! Probably no two people at the party would reveal the same terminology. Every young mother seems to think up some new outlandish names for such things. It becomes a sort of secret language.

If I might, at this point, be permitted one digression intended to be humorous, I should like to mention the cute saying of a year-and-a-half-old little girl. Her mother had tried to break her of bed-wetting by making a shaming face and uttering a sound something like "kh -- kh -- kh -- ." In her baby talk this little girl soon began to call this particular means of elimination by a term she pronounced "kuh" -- almost like "koo." Then one day, for the first time in her life, the little girl saw an ocean. She was tremendously impressed by its magnitude.

"O Mommie!" she exclaimed, excitedly. "Ocean kuh pang!" "Pang" was her baby talk for panties. The adults haven't stopped laughing since.

The moral is, children should be taught the proper professional terms rather than some weird terminology of your own devising.

We humans cannot live the clean and happy lives the Creator intended and made possible, unless we understand His PURPOSES, and the laws regulating sex functions. This is true, regardless of age, sex or marriage status. It applies to all from the age of puberty. And there are many things about sex which parents need to teach children as soon as little minds begin to become curious about little bodies.

This book is not intended to be a technical scientific textbook to educate professionals -- though certainly every doctor, psychiatrist or other professional dealing with sex ought to know what has been covered in this book.

It is, however, the purpose of this book to reveal not only God's PURPOSES, and the right attitude toward sex, but those basic though somewhat elementary biological facts which ought to be known by teenagers as well as the marriageable and the married.

Man, utterly unlike animals, arrives at sexual maturity several years before he achieves mental, emotional and social maturity. Boys and girls are capable of becoming parents years before they are qualified for the responsibilities of parenthood.

Teenagers need this knowledge for their own protection. In this age of pressures toward promiscuity, blinded by false teachings, adolescents cannot be expected to resist premarital sex unless their minds are opened to intelligent acceptance of GOD'S PURPOSES and LAWS.

Also, all married people need this knowledge if their marriages are to be preserved in happiness. It is the lack of this knowledge which has caused 90 percent of all marital unhappiness, contention, separation and divorce.

None can understand what he needs to know without an elementary knowledge of the anatomy of sex organs, as well as some knowledge of sex stimuli and sex functioning. And so we approach, here, the necessary knowledge of anatomy and functioning in a manner quite different from that which has been commonly used.

The genital system is composed of three functional categories. These are:

1) Glands. These produce the germinal cells and the hormones. In the male these glands are called testes, or testicles, and in the female, ovaries.

2) Ducts. These tubes transport the germinating cells from testes and ovaries, and render possible fertilization. In the male they are the vasa efferentia, the epididymis, the vas deferens, the ejaculatory duct and the urethra. In the female, they are the Fallopian tubes, or oviducts, through which the ovum is carried from the ovary to the uterus.

3) Organs of copulation. Through these the male germinal cells, called spermatozoa, reach the ovum for fertilization. These organs are, in the male, the penis, and in the female, the vagina. The fertilized ovum remains in the female uterus or womb, where it is nourished and developed sufficiently to be born.

No book I have examined and researched on sex anatomy and functions makes any mention of the Great Architect who planned, designed and produced it. Sex is viewed coldly merely as something man finds he has -- not knowing WHY, or anything of the Designer's purposes -- knowing only what he sees, and, in his self-centered concupiscent human nature, experiences.

But the ETERNAL, in His INSTRUCTION BOOK for mankind, compares the marvelous human body to God's CHURCH, which is the "Body of Christ."

The various members in God's Church have various functions, and God provides them with various spiritual gifts for performance of these functions. This is found in the chapter devoted to the "spiritual gifts," the 12th of I Corinthians.

The human body -- like God's true Church -- is not composed of one member, but MANY. It is the same with GOD. As explained previously, the biblical INSTRUCTION BOOK reveals God as a divine FAMILY -- only the ONE God, but composed of more than one divine Person.

So with the Church. And so, likewise, with the God-designed human body, made in the likeness of GOD. Here, then, we see still another manner in which MAN is made in the likeness of GOD -- one God, more than one Person; one human body, more than one member. Also one Church, more than one member.

Notice! "If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body ... And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath GOD set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him" (I Cor. 12:15-18).

It was GOD who designed and set the sex apparatus in the physical human body -- "AS IT HATH PLEASED HIM"!

Then let us learn what we need to know about them, without false modesty or foolish prudery -- but as God would have us know!

Follow this 12th chapter of I Corinthians a little further. The stern, harsh prudes who formulated a false so-called "Christian" ethic about sex said of the genital system, "We have no need of thee!" God rebukes them -- and they should, even in those early centuries, have read His rebuke!

Here it is -- beginning verse 21: "And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble [Moffatt: rather delicate -- or dishonorable], are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable [sex], upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness."

When we come to consider the human body from the MIND OF GOD -- we see it, not as something shameful and evil, but as something WONDERFUL, to be understood with clean and healthy minds, in AWE of the handiwork of the Great Designer. For this is what God beheld, when He had formed it, and pronounced "VERY GOOD."

The Psalmist was inspired to cry out: "I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: MARVELOUS ARE THY WORKS!"

God has given each of us a marvelous human body -- to use as He has directed in His INSTRUCTION BOOK. The possession of such a body imposes on each individual a SACRED RESPONSIBILITY! It is something you may use to God's honor and glory -- and to your own great happiness; OR you may misuse and abuse it to dishonor the Creator, and bring degradation, shame and curses on yourself.

First, then, we examine the masculine genital organs.

God says, through Paul: Those physical organs of the body which humans regard as more uncomely, He has made very necessary, with HONOR. And He continues: "Yes, God has tempered the body together, with a special dignity for the inferior [uncomely] parts, so that there may be no disunion in the body, but that the various members should have a common concern for one another" (I Cor. 12:24-25, Moffatt). And all this is compared to GOD'S CHURCH -- the Body of Christ!

It may seem to many that the most "uncomely" parts of the male body are those organs we now explain first -- the germinal glands, called testicles. That is, until the truth about them is learned. And then one should stand in AWE at the divine MIND and HANDIWORK of the Great God who designed and produced such a marvelous mechanism!

See the matchless mind and hand of the Creator in these extremely necessary glands! Actually, they are the most important organs in the male generative apparatus.

The testes are a pair of oval-shaped glands. They are enclosed in a cutaneous sack, or bag, called the scrotum. It is made up of several layers, and is divided into two compartments, each containing a testicle. Each testicle is about the size of a hickory nut, approximately 1 1/2 inches long, and 1 inch thick.

The testes, with the scrotum, hang between the thighs, forward, underneath the base of the penis, by the spermatic cord. The testes are located on the outside of the body. Did you ever wonder WHY? The Creator had a very good reason! This will be explained.

Many men themselves do not realize it, but the left testicle hangs a little lower in the scrotum than the right. There is an important reason. Could blind evolution, without intelligence, have thought this out and made it thus? There is perhaps no pain a boy or man can suffer that is as excruciating as a crushing of or injury to the testicles. Did blind "nature" know this? Or did an all-intelligent Creator, concerned for our welfare, design it so that, in case the thighs are crowded together, one testicle will slip over the other, thus avoiding any crushing. No evolution here!

When we understand what science tells us about these glands, we ought to be struck with amazement. Small as they are, still they are "laboratories" performing a colossal work, going on day and night! They perform an astonishing dual activity. They produce both the germinal or reproductive cells, which impart human life to an otherwise infertile ovum; and also the hormones which cause the body to be masculine in shape, the voice to be masculine in tone, and the mind to be masculine in its thinking! And that's an incredible job to be performed by two small "factories" weighing less than an ounce each!

Let's take a quick inspection of these "laboratories" that generate human life. Each small testicle contains a very large number of convoluted tubules, sometimes called seminiferous tubes -- infinitely tiny. There are about 300 of them, intertwined in a tiny but vast network of coils. If stretched out straight, the length of these tubules, in the two testes, would be approximately one mile in length! And all within "factories" only 1 1/2 inches in length! Astonishing? I should say!

These tiny coils of tubules produce the male reproductive cells at an astounding rate -- actually millions an hour, any one of which could impart a human life to an ovum!

These male reproductive cells are called spermatozoa (singular, spermatozoon) -- and are quite generally, in professional circles, called "sperm cells" for short -- or, sometimes, just sperm. These sperm cells are unbelievably infinitesimal -- the smallest cells in either male or female body. They are very different from any other cells in the human body. Each has a minute egg-shaped head, an intermediate segment and a tail comparatively long. They look, under a microscope, like tiny tadpoles. These infinitesimal cells cannot be seen with the naked eye, but are visible and measurable under a high-powered microscope. Each sperm is approximately one four-thousandth of an inch in length. Even the female egg cell, or ovum, is only about the size of a fine pinpoint -- just barely visible to the naked eye -- and a sperm cell is not more than about one-fiftieth as large as an ovum.

This drawing shows the interior of a testicle. Arrow points to a greatly enlarged section of tubule, as if sliced open -- to illustrate how millions of spermatozoa are produced within a single hour within the mile length of these infinitesimal tubules. Inset at top shows sperm cells, greatly magnified.

 

Think of it! Every human being starts his existence in so miniature a size!

Spermatozoa of animals are much larger than those of humans.

The scientific authorities have now discovered that each human spermatozoon contains twenty-three chromosomes -- and that it is through these that the characteristics of the father -- and also of grandparents -- are transmitted, by heredity, to the child. Of course the mother's characteristics also are passed on, through the nucleus within the ovum.

The tiny intertwined tubules within each testicle, in which the spermatozoa are produced, are so narrow that a hair could not pass through them. This book is not intended, as mentioned before, to be a technical or professional scientific work. But I do feel that certain of these more technical facts are important, for the reader should come to a realization of the awesome mind and purpose of the Creator!

This vast, intricate network of intertwined canals, or convoluted tubules, unite near the top to form a set of larger ones -- the so-called vasa efferentia, and these in turn unite to form the epididymus. All this is encased within the scrotum. And finally, the tubules forming the epididymus converge into one seminal duct or tube, called the vas deferens. The vas deferens continues up into the body, carrying spermatozoa to the seminal vesicle -- which will be explained later. As there are two testicles, there are also the vasa efferentia, the epididymus and the vas deferens for each -- terminating into the two seminal vesicles located beside, or just under, the bladder within the body.

But before we leave the description of these tiny yet colossal "laboratories" -- the testicles -- there is still another most important function they perform.

They produce also the male hormones. These are of vital importance, and deserve a brief description.

Scattered among these seminiferous tubules are microscopically tiny islands of cells. In these infinitesimal islands the male hormones are produced. These are not carried through the vas deferens, as are the spermatozoa, but pass directly into the bloodstream, and thus circulate through the body.

These male hormones cause changes in the shape of the body. Thus, from age of puberty, a boy's body develops into the masculine form -- narrow hips, wide shoulders for masculine strength; beard on the face, hair on the chest and other parts of the body more than is common to females; the deeper voice.

And these hormones directly influence the MIND. There are certain pronounced differences between male and female minds, some of which will be explained later -- although many of these are generally recognized by all.

For example, little girls are interested in dolls and feminine things, little boys in machines and masculine things. Boys and girls are not sex conscious before the age of puberty in the same manner they become after puberty -- bodily changes become pronounced after puberty -- yet there are noticeable MIND differences in young boys and girls.

Let me illustrate further the ENORMOUS IMPORTANCE of these "uncomely parts" which humans too often regard as "less honorable," but on which the Great Designer has bestowed "more abundant honor."

Certain experiments made in the interests of "science" should teach us an impressive lesson. Perhaps, in the sight of the Eternal, such experiments ought not to be made. But men have made them, and the results are both intriguing and enlightening.

As far back as history records, men have practiced castration. It is widely practiced today on animals -- removing testes before male animals reach sexual maturity. You probably eat steer beef often, and capon occasionally -- to name just two examples.

Of course castration destroys reproductive capacity. No spermatozoa are produced. But also the male hormone production is destroyed, and that is the striking thing revealed by certain experiments.

Of course, the castration practice in modern stock raising is not done primarily to destroy breeding capacity. It is done to alter the appearance and behavior of the animal.

The stock-raiser does not need a bull for every cow. One bull can take care of the breeding requirements for a number of cows. But steers make fatter and more tender steaks, and if the steer is not butchered for meat, the animal which, uncastrated, would have grown into a wild bull, will, as a result of castration, become a docile ox, willing to work. The castration causes changes in bodily form, and in the horns. Roosters and pigs are castrated to increase the poundage and therefore the profits.

In the Bible you read of castrated humans, called eunuchs. Middle East sultans and other rulers used eunuchs to serve in harems. The eunuch lost all sexual desire -- the harem women offered no temptation. They were once used at the papal court -- said to be employed as singers because of their high-pitched voices. Eunuchs become obese, without beard or normal male hair growth on the body.

However, even though castration is an age-old practice, much of the true importance of male testes and female ovaries was unknown until the experiments of Berthold in 1849.

It had always been known, of course, that the comb of a castrated cock degenerates. But Berthold experimented further. He removed the testes of cocks and then regrafted these testes on the cocks' backs. The combs remained the same as in all uncastrated roosters. All bodily appearances remained the same. But of course all reproductive capacity was lost!

This proved that the testes serve a DUAL purpose. Many similar experiments have been made since. They prove that the testes and ovaries not only serve to reproduce one's kind, they also determine the sex characteristics of the individual.

Some astonishing experiments were made by the scientist of Vienna, Professor Steinach. First, he castrated both male and female animals of the same species. They both acquired a neutral appearance -- neither male nor female. But this professor went further. He exchanged ovaries and testes. Into castrated males he grafted female ovaries and into the females the germinal glands removed from the males. The former males now took on female characteristics, and the former females acquired those of males. The former females now behaved as males toward the former males -- and the males now took on the behavior of females. Former males even developed mammary glands, and nursed the young!

Of course there is much more to the hormone story than this. Other glands in other parts of the body have their coordinating relation to bodily characteristics -- such as the pituitary, pineal, thyroid and suprarenal glands. It is not our purpose to discuss them here. But what little has been covered about the hormones, it is hoped, will be of interest.

The question has been asked, WHY are the testes located outside of the body? The Great Architect had a very good reason -- but men never learned this reason until quite recent times. The earliest account of it I have been able to find dates from 1950.

Scientists, it seems, stumbled onto this in making tests on animals to learn how long spermatozoa retain both their motility and their fertility at various temperatures.

Then, in these experiments, the testes of rabbits were kept in a refrigerator. The sperm cells remained alive much longer than when kept at body temperature. So next, they made tests on live animals to determine what happens in testes at various temperatures. They discovered that the temperature inside the scrotum was several degrees lower than body heat.

They made an experiment on male mice, in a hatching oven at 110 degrees. They found fertility drastically reduced, and soon nil.

Test now followed test. They were learning things!

So next they tried heating the testes alone, with bodies at normal temperatures. This experiment was made on sheep, goats and pigs. The same thing happened -- fertility rapidly reduced, until there were no fertile spermatozoa!

Finally a Dutch scientist determined that the temperature inside the human scrotum is actually six to fifteen degrees lower than body temperature!

It took man thousands of years to learn what the Creator planned and designed! Finally men learned that these colossal, yet miniature "laboratories" are so designed that they require this slightly lower temperature to produce fertile life-imparting cells for the reproduction of the race!

Then they discovered additional proof.

In the fetal stage of development before birth, the testes first develop inside the male fetus, and then descend into the scrotum some considerable time prior to birth, through the inguinal canal. In all normal cases male babies are born with the testes already in the scrotum. But it sometimes occurs that one or both testicles remain in the abdomen at and after birth. These infants are born with either a half-empty or wholly empty scrotum. Doctors today bring down the testes with a minor operation.

Yet, when this was not known, there were cases where the testes remained, after puberty, and after marriage, inside the body. Formerly, neither these men -- nor, for that matter medical science, could understand WHY such men appeared in every other way normal MEN -- they could marry -- they had normal desire and ability for coitus -- yet they could not become fathers! Their testes were normal -- they did manufacture spermatozoa. But not fertile sperms. They were sterile! Today it is known that the cause was, simply, that these marvelous and mighty little "factories" generating human life do not perform their wonderful operation of producing life-imparting sperm cells at bodily temperature. They must be kept at a temperature several degrees lower!

So now scientists have at last learned something else!

The scrotum -- the sack which houses the testicles and epididymides -- is made up of a kind of skin different from any other in man or woman! It is a nonconductor of heat! It is made up of folds. In cold temperatures, or if the man if bathing or swimming in cold water, these folds shrink up, and draw the testes up tight against the body -- almost partially into it -- lest the outside temperature become too cold for these marvelous little "laboratories."

But, in very warm weather, they stretch out, until the testes are dropped down a considerable distance farther from the warmer-than-normal body.

Thus, this scrotum not only needed to be on the outside of the body -- it also acts as an AUTOMATIC TEMPERATURE GAUGE, to keep these little life-germinating "factories" producing at temperatures proper for their work!

If you think "mother nature," blindly, and without mind, intelligence or knowledge, planned and worked all this out, you are welcome to your ridiculous opinion! It was not dumb and stupid "MOTHER nature" -- it was the Supreme FATHER-GOD -- who instructed CHRIST, who "spoke" and commanded, and the Holy Spirit was the POWER that brought it into being. If you think the evolutionary fable sounds more rational as a means of accounting for such wonders -- well, of course you are allowed your opinions, however far from FACT!

These experimenting scientists deduce something further from their experiments. Their tests indicate that male sperm cells gradually lose both vigor or motility, and also fertilizing power, under the normal bodily temperature once deposited within the female body. Some experimenters insist spermatozoa retain power for fertilization only 48 hours, and that ova must be fertilized within 24 hours, in the Fallopian tube. Thus, if this were true, there is only a period of a few hours in any month when human conception is possible. This "discovery" led to the "rhythm cycle" theory. But this so-called method of planned parenthood has, in fact, produced quite a bumper crop of babies!

However, the doctors and scientists do not agree among themselves! A European "authority" says: "This period of time is variously estimated. Some authorities think it is only from twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Others assume eight or even fourteen days. Taking into consideration the analogy of various animal species and practical experience rather than experimental research, I am inclined to believe in a long continuance of seminal vitality."

Notice these expressions in the above quotation -- typical of "scientific" language, as I have expressed in an earlier chapter: "Variously estimated"; "Some authorities think ..."; "Others assume ..."; and "I am inclined to believe ...."

We are dealing, here, not with the AUTHORITY of revelation, but with the speculations, opinions and guesses of "science."

Personally I claim no authority, save that of God. I have seen charts in medical books generally available only to doctors -- and I have read many statements of experience, which do indicate that pregnancy is possible at any time of the month.

And so we have now covered the most important organs in the male generative apparatus.

We come next to the equivalent system in the female.

I am departing altogether from the method followed almost universally in the flood of books on the subject of sex, in covering essentials of the sex organs. Instead of grouping the organs as to external and internal -- male, and then female, it seems more logical, for our purposes here, to describe them according to functional classification.

The most important organs in the generative system of the female are the ovaries. There are certain similarities between the female ovaries and the male testes -- yet in other ways they are quite dissimilar.

The ovaries are located on the inside of the body. They do not, like the male generative "laboratories," require lower-than-bodily temperature to do their work.

They are, like the testes, a pair, located within the pelvis, in the lower abdominal region, one on each side of the upper portion of the uterus. Also, like male testes, each ovary is about 1 1/2 inches in length, but they are more almond-shaped. They are connected to the uterus by a pair of ducts called Fallopian tubes.

The ovaries produce the egg cells, called ova (singular, ovum). When an ovum is fertilized by a sperm cell, it is the start of a new human life.

In each ovary, many egg cells (ova), between the age of puberty and menopause, are in various stages of development. But ova are produced very much more slowly than spermatozoa. A mature ovum is released from the ovaries about once every four weeks -- alternating every other month, so that each ovary produces a mature ovum approximately every eight weeks.

Illustration of ovulation, showing bursting follicle, with ovum being shot into opening of Fallopian tube, together with uterus. Upper inset shows greatly enlarged cut-open section of Fallopian tube, with sperm cells attacking ovum.

Each ovum is an almost round, or globular cell, about the size of a pinpoint, just barely discernible by the naked eye -- if your eyes are really sharp. Yet, tiny as they are, each ovum is about fifty times larger than a spermatozoon.

As they are produced inside the ovary, each ovum is surrounded by, and enclosed in, a sort of very tiny bladder, called a Graafian follicle. This follicle is filled with fluid. As each ovum matures, enclosed in its follicle, it is developed in the outer layer of the ovary. This causes the outer ovarian wall to bulge. Then the Graafian follicle bursts, or rather explodes its contents out into the abdomen. The ovum is caused to bounce out, like a ball, into the fringed, or near funnel-shaped end of the Fallopian tube. This fringed end of the Fallopian tube, shaped something like a carnation flower, seems to open like an out-stretched hand, to receive the ovum, which is virtually shot into it. It opens only when an ovum is mature and ready to be released into it. This discharge of the ovum from the ovary into the Fallopian tube is called ovulation.

At this same instant something else, quite interesting and very important, happens.

The female sex hormone is called follicular hormone, because it is formed within this membranous envelope or follicle. When the follicle bursts, only the infinitesimal round ovum is shot into the oviduct (Fallopian tube). The follicular hormone is then released into the abdomen, absorbed into the blood-stream and thus carried by the blood to do its work in various parts of the body.

So the hormone production in females is unlike that in males. It is formed in the female germinal cells -- the ovaries -- but not in tiny islands among tiny tubules. Ova are not formed in tubules, as sperm cells are formed in testes. Instead of being developed in a system of coiled tubules, both ovary and hormone are formed near the outer surface of the ovary.

In a sense, this membranous envelope formed around the ovum compares to the shell covering a hen's egg. When the follicle bursts and the ovum is bounced out of the ovary, it would quickly perish if it were not, in a fraction of a second, shot directly into the oviduct, where an albuminous substance immediately protects it.

And that, in brief, is the story of the sexual glands in both men and women. They are, indeed, miniature "laboratories," or tiny "factories," where, in a sense, human beings are being manufactured -- or, at least the germinating cells which start every human life!

It is, when seen from the approach, and through the eyeglasses of the revelation of the Creator, a fascinating and awe-inspiring bit of knowledge.

 PEOPLE SPEAK OF "THE DIGNITY OF man." But how little do they know, usually, whereof they speak!

As humanity generally conducts itself, little of that dignity is apparent. Yet the true potential of man is utterly and incredibly beyond his ken.

Ringing silently in my ears, as I write, are those strains from one of the lively choruses of Handel's Messiah, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way" (quoted from Isa. 53:6). Yes, as Paul was inspired to write, "all have sinned."

Man, by his own thought and actions, has contributed only conversely to any commendable dignity. He has polluted, contaminated, perverted, abused, ruined, misused everything a benevolent God has placed within reach of his hands. He has rejected and rebelled against his Maker.

WHY, then, should the Great GOD be concerned about MAN? The Psalmist asked that question (Ps. 8:4-6). David's answer was, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands" (verse 6). But the WHOLE TRUTH is not revealed in that Old Testament passage. David merely included the dominion God gave Adam and his descendants -- dominion over the animals and the land, over the fish and the seas, and over the fowls and the air -- as far as earth's atmosphere extends.

That is all the dominion God has given mortal man -- YET! And man has polluted and misused it all! Not satisfied with that, man is now seeking to extend his dominion beyond the jurisdiction God assigned. Today man is venturing OFF LIMITS. He has already made repeated landings on the moon and returned to earth, and now speaks of landing on Mars or other planets.

But man is simply getting in too big a hurry! He is striving to "take over" what he has not fitted himself to manage, and before it has been made lawfully his!

For what man does not know is that -- IF he first qualifies for the trust -- it has been God's intention all along to place not only the moon and Mars, but THE WHOLE VAST, LIMITLESS UNIVERSE under his jurisdiction!

The WHOLE answer to David's question was not given in the Old Testament. It is revealed in the New! But the religious leaders of MAN have never caught the overwhelming truth. To minds hostile to God's authority, it would seem too incredible to accept. So they read right over the glorious revelation of the true potential DIGNITY OF MAN!

Even though explained in Chapter 5, this answer NEEDS REPETITION!

HERE, THEN, IS THE FULL ANSWER TO THE PSALMIST'S QUESTION.

REPEATING THE question, GOD INSPIRED, THROUGH PAUL, "WHAT IS MAN, that thou [God] art mindful of him? ..." And the answer, "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet" (Heb. 2:6-8). Just what do these words, "ALL THINGS," mean? THEY MEAN JUST WHAT THEY SAY -- ALL THINGS -- the entire vast, limitless UNIVERSE! Read the next words! "For in that he put all in subjection under him, HE LEFT NOTHING THAT IS NOT PUT UNDER HIM" (verse 8).

But how about the fact that, to Adam, God did limit man's dominion to the land, the seas and the atmosphere OF THE EARTH?

The last sentence of this same 8th verse explains: "But now we see NOT YET all things put under him. BUT WE SEE JESUS ... CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOUR" (verses 8-9). In verse 10 Jesus is called the "captain" -- the LEADER -- the PIONEER who has gone on before -- of OUR salvation!

And just HOW, and in WHAT CAPACITY do we now see Jesus?

We see HIM (chapter 1:2-3) in POWER and GLORY, "upholding ALL THINGS by the word of HIS POWER." Look at the plain English translation of "ALL THINGS" in the more modern Moffatt translation: "sustains THE UNIVERSE with his word of power." (Also the Revised Standard Version.)

Yes, Jesus Christ, the "firstborn among many brethren," is now on the very throne that governs the entire UNIVERSE -- He now controls every POWER, every FORCE, every ENERGY that exists! And He has merely pioneered the way! We, IF we yield to God and HIS GOVERNMENT, may, THROUGH CHRIST, BE RECONCILED TO THE GREAT GOD, and become co-heirs with Christ, to inherit, after OUR resurrection, EVERYTHING HE ALREADY HAS INHERITED!

And THAT is the true potential DIGNITY OF MAN!

Truly, most men who prate around in their vanity about "the dignity of man" little comprehend the REAL meaning of those words! Man must first turn around and GO THE OTHER WAY -- he must REPENT -- for he has been traveling in the wrong direction! He must go GOD'S WAY. He must first qualify, before God will entrust him with the government of the universe!

For this mortal life, the Creator made us out of PHYSICAL substance, and confined us to this PHYSICAL earth. But He made us in His likeness -- even though now merely the CLAY to be refashioned, shaped and molded into His own SPIRITUAL CHARACTER!

For this purpose, even our clay bodies were made to work in a most miraculous fashion.

As David also said, "I will praise thee; for I am FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY MADE: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (Ps. 139:14).

Of course the MOST fearfully and wonderfully made part of man is his MIND. That is something the brute animals do not have!

Yet the mind requires a BODY to keep if functioning, that man may fulfill his tremendous destiny. He requires legs and feet to transport him. He needs arms and hands to make and do what his mind directs. He needs the life-sustaining apparatus -- digestive, circulatory, respiratory systems. He needs the nervous system. And he also needs the genital or sex system.

Man has gone astray in this area of sex, as he has in every other possible way. But the fact that man has, by wrong CHOICE of mind, misused, abused and perverted this genital system does not alter the FACT that what God designed was VERY GOOD. And it was intended to be -- and indeed CAN be, if we are right-minded -- put to most honorable and glorious USE.

We can, as mentioned before, GLORIFY GOD in our BODIES -- by preserving them for God-intended uses and functions. Young people glorify God by keeping their bodies undefiled as God made them, until a right and proper and God-joined MARRIAGE. And the married -- by the uses God intended and instructed for the very great joy of love in marriage, and the happiness of home and family!

We have covered, in an elementary way, the generative glands God fashioned in both male and female bodies. Truly, they are WONDERFULLY and fearfully made!

So now we come to the ducts, or tubes, which transport both ova and spermatozoa from their "laboratories" for conception and gestation of humans who may become the very heirs of God.

Since we have just finished explaining about the marvelous manner in which the infinitesimal ova are literally shot from the ovary into the open funnel of the oviduct, we shall continue, now, with this duct connecting the ovary with the uterus.

This oviduct, which transports the ova, is called the Fallopian tube. As there are two ovaries -- one on each side of the uterus, there are also two Fallopian tubes.

Ova do not possess, in themselves, power of motility, as do spermatozoa. Once the carnation-shaped funnel, at the entrance of the oviduct, opens to receive the ovum shot into it, the ovum travels very slowly on its journey through the Fallopian tube. This tube is made up of a three-layer wall, with fine tentacles. When the ovum bursts out of its follicle and into the entrance funnel of the tube, it is like a hen's egg without a shell. Not according to size, of course. It is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. But uncovered by its membranous envelope it would soon perish if it were not immediately covered and protected by an albuminous substance in the Fallopian tube.

The infinitesimal tentacles along the interior membrane of the tube very slowly propel this human egg cell on its way toward the womb. This journey through the Fallopian tube is said by the doctors and scientists to require approximately eight days!

Consequently, since most authorities believe the life of the ovum is limited -- some say to only 24 hours -- unless met and fertilized by a sperm cell, all scientific opinion today asserts that impregnation must take place in the Fallopian tube. And that, before the egg cell has proceeded far on its passage through the tube.

The two Fallopian tubes lead to the womb, or uterus. In medical parlance, this organ is still called by its ancient name, womb, about equally with the use of the more modern term, uterus. It is a pear-shaped organ, with the wider end at the top, and the Fallopian tubes enter it at this wider top portion. It is suspended by cords and muscles from above, and its downward-hanging neck, called the cervix, enters into the vagina.

The urinary bladder is located just in front of the uterus. The normal position of the womb is to incline or tip slightly forward from the bottom -- almost at a right angle from the vaginal canal.

The purpose of the uterus is to receive, house, protect and nourish the fertilized ovum, or embryo. After four months it is called a fetus. At approximately nine months, it is born as a human baby -- with all the over-whelming POTENTIALITY to which he may become heir!

In its quiescent state, the uterus is hard and muscular, its walls so close together that actually there is no real uterine cavity.

In nonpregnancy the uterus is about two inches wide at the top, one inch thick and three inches long.

Once each 28 days (on the average), a congestion occurs in the uterus preparing for reception of a fertilized ovum. If the ovum is not fertilized in the Fallopian tube, then, about 14 days after ovulation (discharge of the ovum from the ovary), the uterus sheds the special mucous lining prepared in readiness for the embryo. This slight hemorrhage then escapes through the cervix and the vagina.

This monthly process is called menstruation. It begins at the age of puberty -- average around 14 -- though sometimes a little later or earlier. Menstruation continues until the menopause.

This monthly emission of blood in females was formerly supposed to be a periodic purging of poisonous accumulations. That, of course, is not the fact at all.

If the ovum is fertilized, then the mucous lining specially formed in the womb receives the embryo and performs its important function.

The average menstrual cycle is about 28 days. However, it may vary from 21 to 35 days -- and occasionally there are much wider variations. The average duration of the menstrual flow is about five days -- but it may vary from three to seven.

We now return to the male seminal ducts.

As previously described, the tiny convoluted tubules of the testes converge ultimately into the epididymus, where all tubules unite into the one seminal duct, termed the vas deferens. The vas deferens, then, is a continuation of the epididymus. Passing from the scrotum into the body, the vas deferens runs alongside lymphatic vessels and nerves, arteries and veins, and these combined form the spermatic cord.

Spermatozoa are transported through the vas deferens to the seminal vesicles. This is done by repeated contractions.

Immediately under the bladder, and surrounding the urethra, is the prostate gland. It is between l 1/4 and l 1/2 inches in diameter, globular-shaped. The urethra, the urinary tube or duct, passes through it. This gland secretes the prostatic fluid -- milky-white and alkaline.

Sketch showing generative and copulative organs and ducts of male sexual apparatus.

 

 Formerly the so-called "authorities" thought that the entire seminal fluid was produced in the prostate. More recent speculation of the "experts," however, tends toward the belief that a certain fluid is formed in the epididymus, assisting in transporting the spermatozoa through the vas deferens. In any event, it is claimed that sperm cells do not possess their full motility until they reach this alkaline prostatic fluid, which serves both to preserve spermatozoa and stimulate motility.

The vas deferens enters into the prostate gland, and through it into the urethra. Of course they are a pair, one entering on each side. Also at this point of entry into the prostate is a sort of reservoir, or elongated bladder. There are also two of these, called seminal vesicles. Each vesicle joins as one tube with the vas deferens at the point of entry into the prostate gland. They then form a single tube through the prostate, entering the urethra. The urethra is the tube through which urine passes from the bladder, and on out through the penis.

Until the last decade or two, medical science supposed these seminal vesicles to be reservoirs, or elongated oval bladders in which the seminal fluid was stored until ejaculation. And probably they were right.

But many today think that the seminal vesicles produce a fluid of some sort, which, mixing with fluids secreted in the epididymus and the prostate gland, form the seminal fluid in which the spermatozoa swim.

However, it seems that all experiments have been made post mortem -- on dead bodies. Some doctors say candidly, therefore, that they cannot be sure.

The "authorities," as usual, are postulating -- and many assume their theories to be fact. I am not an authority. The one infallible Authority does not tell us. I am inclined to believe, then, that the seminal fluid is produced in the prostate gland, and stored in these vesicles.

Actually the answers to such questions are not pertinent to the object of this book. I merely mention such technical details as a matter of interest, and an example of the very questionable "authority" of the human "authorities."

These men, "professing themselves to be wise" (Rom. 1:22), reject as foolishness the one reliable AUTHORITY. In so doing, God says they become fools!

But let me remind you again, God does not reveal ALL knowledge through the Bible. It is the FOUNDATION of all knowledge -- the foundation on which to build. It reveals only what man needs to know and cannot otherwise learn. But also it tells us that there are some things which prick human curiosity to great and costly speculation, but which God hides from mortal minds because such knowledge is for us unnecessary.

"The secret things belong unto the Eternal our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us" (Deut. 29:29).

The purpose of this book, after all, is to give the reader that vital knowledge which is necessary for right, happy and abundant living; the knowledge of the origin and causes of harmful attitudes toward sex; the knowledge of the right and intended attitude toward, and purposes of sex; the knowledge so necessary for fullest happiness in adolescent and premarital conduct; the knowledge so essential to marital and family happiness.

And so finally, in describing the genital systems, we come to the organs of copulation.

The copulative organ in the male is a fleshy, muscular organ, or shaft, composed principally of erectile tissue, called the penis.

In the normal quiescent condition, it hangs limp and retired. In size, like human noses, ears, hands and other organs, there is variation in different individuals. Average, in the quiescent state, is three to four inches in length, about an inch in diameter. Rigidity, however, is necessary for sexual union.

Some uninformed young people believe that "fecundation, if not impossible, is at all events very difficult if the semen is deposited on or in the external genital organs and not in the vagina itself." But authorities and numerous case histories -- a number of which have been brought to me for serious counseling, advice and spiritual help -- prove positively that this belief is in serious error. In these case histories, unwed girls, going too far in what they had been led to believe was harmless and socially accepted "petting" or lovemaking, found they were physically in the condition of the prophecy, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive." But spiritually they were at the opposite extreme from the position of the virgin Mary. What was conceived in them was not by God's Holy Spirit, but by PLAIN FORNICATION! And though they were still virgins physically, their hymen unbroken, they certainly were not spiritually!

I will have more to say about this later, at the proper time, as a serious WARNING to the unmarried.

The truth is, penetration of the vagina IS NOT necessary for reproduction, even though it renders the likelihood of pregnancy far greater. But this penetration is, in the purpose of the Holy Creator, far more desirable for the expression of God-blessed marital LOVE. And therefore there was, as always in what the Creator does, PURPOSE in designing the male member for arousal to rigidity.

The urethra extends from the bladder, pierces directly through the prostate gland, and continues down the lower or under side the full length inside the penis. Above the urethra, continuing through the shaft, are two spongy cavernous bodies, called corpora cavernosa. Along the underside a spongy portion surrounds the urethra. Through the length of the organ run blood vessels, and sensitive nerves. At the anterior end is the head of the penis, called the glans penis. The glans has a close network of peripheral nerves, and is the seat of erotic sensation in the male.

The corpora cavernosa are so called because they contain a system of caverns. In the flaccid, quiescent state, they are almost empty. But under sexual arousal, they become gorged with blood -- and also to a much greater than normal extent the spongy area surrounding the urethra. The organ then swells, and becomes stout and hard. In the erect condition, the size will vary from perhaps 5 1/2 to 7 inches in length and l 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and in some rare cases slightly larger.

It might be well, here, to correct two baseless fears that occasionally trouble (or perhaps formerly, prior to the "New Morality" advent did trouble) an otherwise happy "cloud nine" bride-to-be.

Some seemed to fear that a very large husband will produce abnormally large babies, making the delivery difficult or dangerous at birth. THE SIZE OF PARENTS HAS NEVER PROVED TO HAVE ANY CONNECTION WITH THE SIZE OF BABIES AT BIRTH.

Some young women became a little frightened, fearing that the penis of the future husband might prove to be too large for normal and easy penetration, and that this might cause pain during coitus. But the Creator designed the female vagina with great distensibility. It expands to allow the passage of the head and shoulders of a baby being born -- and no male penis is anywhere near that large. True, countless wives have suffered pain -- but only through ignorance. If we had come by evolution, we might have cause for all kinds of worries. But since a benevolent and all-intelligent GOD made us as we are, He simply took care of those things! GOD made no mistakes. Of course, through heredity resulting from transgression of God's laws, there may be, rarely, people born with abnormal conditions in the generative organs. But the average person need have no fears.

Difficulties in marital love result from ignorance, and from transgression of God's Laws -- never from inadequacies on the part of the Great Designer. It is the purpose of this book to dispel those ignorances, and to make clear the laws set in motion for human happiness and joy.

Before leaving explanation of the male organs of copulation, a word about circumcision.

The glans penis is covered with a foreskin, called the prepuce. The size of the prepuce varies. In many if not most cases, it is loose, and barely covers the glans. In rare cases the prepuce is longer, and its orifice so small and tight it imprisons the glans. Under erection the foreskin may not be able to slip back behind the glans -- or, if it does, it might, under the swelling of erection, bring about a sort of strangulation of the glans. The solution is, simply, circumcision.

Under the Old Covenant, God made circumcision obligatory under law in Israel. Under the New Covenant, circumcision, ordained FOREVER, is physically, but not spiritually, abolished. The apostle Paul instructs that circumcision, as a religious rite, is no longer physical but spiritual -- of the heart -- not of the flesh.

Yet, while it is no longer commanded by God as a physical religious rite, it most certainly is ALLOWED, and for pure physical and sanitary reasons, I do most strongly recommend it for all boy babies!

Between the prepuce and the glans of the uncircumcised boy -- or man -- is secreted a tallow-like substance, called smegma. Left uncleansed this may cause inflammation and trouble. It is, therefore, necessary, in the case of an uncircumcised male baby, for the mother to regularly push the prepuce back behind the glans penis, and wash it; and as he grows old enough, the boy must be taught to do this regularly. This very need for sanitation causes irritation of the very seat of voluptuous sensation. It is very likely to stimulate sex arousal, and lead to masturbation. This has been the chief cause of a serious "sex problem" in the lives of countless young men prior to marriage.

The prepuce forms a protective covering over the easily aroused sensation-producing glans -- yet, instead of actually "protecting" it, the cleansing need produces just the opposite. The glans of the uncircumcised boy or man is exceedingly tender and sensitive. After circumcision, the glans gradually loses much of its sensitiveness, until the touch or rubbing of underclothing over it produces no more sensitiveness than clothing does to any other part of the body. Still, the circumcised enjoy all the voluptuous pleasure God made possible in marital coitus.

Some uncircumcised young men, plagued by the masturbation habit formed earlier in life than they can remember, have either had themselves circumcised, or learned to wear the prepuce behind the glans -- giving them the same effect as circumcision -- so as to lose the tender extra-sensitiveness of the glans and thus lessen the tendency of arousal and constant temptation.

I repeat -- it is NOT now a physical religious command -- but when GOD circumcised Abraham at age 99, and commanded it FOREVER (Gen. 17:9-14), for his descendants -- both Israelitish and Arab -- it could not have been harmful. And even though the METHOD of the rite as a religious command is transferred from a physical to a spiritual means, I am sure I have the approval of the Lord in making the most urgent recommendation for circumcision, for sanitary, health and moral protection.

Circumcision, moreover, is coming to be widely practiced today for these very sanitary reasons. Whether or not the obstetrician advises it, I urge all parents to demand it.

Another thing -- it is becoming CUSTOM of obstetrical doctors today to perform the circumcision at time of birth. Do NOT PERMIT THIS! God instructs that it be done ON THE EIGHTH DAY -- the day the baby is eight days old -- which is eight days after birth, or actually the ninth day of his life. The baby is ONE day old on the second day of his life, not the first, which is the day he is born (Gen. 17:12)!

The only reason doctors are turning to the practice of performing circumcision at the time of delivery is THEIR OWN SELFISH CONVENIENCE! And so they simply reason around the idea -- and will so advise patients -- that it makes no difference. They simply do not want to be bothered the second time, on the eighth day. Perhaps I am a little blunt in saying this. But I have no patience with such selfish consideration only for self-convenience, and inconsideration for patient and child! Demand it, or go to a different doctor!

One other thing still. Some doctors today are cutting off too much foreskin -- or all of it. Simply tell the doctor to leave a little of it. If he asks you if you are taking it on yourself to tell him his business -- well, I think I'd simply decide he didn't know his profession and go to one who does! Perhaps I'm blunt. I do urge you to be courteous and diplomatic, of course -- BUT TO BE POLITELY FIRM! I do know whereof I speak! If too much, or all of the foreskin is cut off, the skin is drawn back from the point of joining with the glans on erection, and this causes undue arousal and temptation.

The external genital region of the female, or pubic region, is called the vulva. This term includes all the external genitals collectively -- all visible from without.

Connecting the womb with the external genitals is the vagina. The term means a sheath. It is a tube, or canal, the special copulative organ of the female, serving the specific act of coitus. The bottom rounded neck of the womb projects into the posterior end of the vagina. The direction of the vagina is downward and forward from the uterus, almost at a 90-degree angle with the axis of the uterus.

The interior walls of the vagina are corrugated in folds, making these walls elastic and subject to being stretched, especially during delivery of a baby.

Textbooks used by doctors half a century ago indicated that the vagina is six to seven inches in length. More recent texts list it as three to four inches in depth, but with the explanation that, during intercourse, the penis forces the womb upward -- the vaginal wall being sufficiently elastic to permit full entrance.

At the anterior opening of the vagina, the mucous membrane forming its lining continues as the membrane of the inner small lips, termed labia minora.

The semicavity inside the minor labia is termed the vestibule. Just above the vaginal opening is the orifice of the urethra, the passage from the bladder. Above the opening of the urethra, at the top of the labia minora, is the clitoris. This will be principally described later -- and its function.

Actually, the clitoris is much like a miniature male penis. It is subject to erection under sensory stimulation. It has a head, or glans, much like the glans of the penis, in miniature, filled with nerve endings. This is the seat of voluptuous sensation and sexual arousal in the female. Only the head of the clitoris is outwardly visible -- its body, an inch or so in length, being covered by the membrane over the top of the labia minora.

Drawing showing external female organs, collectively called the vulva.

Ignorance of this very small organ and its intended function is one of the three principal causes of unhappiness, wretchedness and utter frustration in countless millions of marriages through the centuries! This tiny organ, therefore, becomes an important matter for right understanding. And here, again, the modern "authorities" are in disagreement and in grievous error. This will be explained in a later chapter.

Finally, over the labia minora, and covering the female genitals, are the larger lips termed labia majora. They require no further description or comment here (see above).

The functions of the principal female organ of copulation, the vagina, are 1) to provide passage for the menstrual flow, 2) to receive the male member during intercourse, 3) to provide a receptacle for deposited semen and 4) to provide the passage for the birth of babies.

All these organs, and their functions, are GOD-designed for GOD-ordained purposes. It not only is an unmatched privilege to be able to possess human existence, with its awesome breathtaking potentialities -- it also is acceptance of a very grave RESPONSIBILITY to possess the marvelous organs and powers of sex. They may be used to bring happiness, pleasures and joys beyond our maximum anticipations -- if controlled and governed by GOD'S LAWS. But foolish or ignorant misuse, abuse or perversion, can impose severe penalties that far outweigh any temporary illicit pleasures or gratifications.

God's way is the only practical way, that "pays off" in rich dividends of true happiness and joy. If you use the Maker's INSTRUCTION BOOK as the BASIS of knowledge, and as the directive approach to all you think, and do in relation to sex, properly glorifying God in your body, great shall be your happiness, now -- and ETERNALLY!

WHAT IS THE REAL GOD-ordained use of sex in marriage? WHY have the millions of unhappily married never known either this WHAT, or the HOW? WHY is adultery, and other immorality, a SIN? Is it merely because a harsh God gave a command, or was the COMMAND given because its violation robs and harms humans?

WHY is premarital "necking" and "petting" wrong -- or IS IT?

These are the vital questions that demand plain and clear ANSWERS in this chapter.

We have shown the astonishing sex differences between humans and animals -- especially female differences.

Now we come to decidedly important sex-response differences between men and women. In coming to definite, inexorable ANSWERS to these burning questions, the Maker's INSTRUCTION BOOK is the guide and the AUTHORITY.

And let the answer come right here to the question of WHY God gave commands. Man is not to be punished for sin merely because a God gave an arbitrary command. But God gave the COMMANDS because these violations rob us of joys, and inflict automatic harm.

God's Laws were set in motion TO GIVE us happiness, peace, security in plenty, and thrilling radiant JOYS. God's Laws are the gift of His LOVE to us. God wants us to ENJOY the blessings they make possible. This is the plain and rational TRUTH! WHY has a rebellious mankind insisted on being willingly ignorant of that basic FACT of life?

We have covered the sacred MEANING and the divine PURPOSES of sex in humans. We have seen that sex in humans was given for incredibly glorious purposes that do not at all obtain in animals.

The three God-ordained purposes are marriage; reproduction, which, in marriage, involves the blessing of God-plane FAMILY life; and the expression of marital love and companionship to preserve the matrimonial bond and safeguard the home and family.

But now we come to the HOW of the marital love relationship.

The existence and function of the sex hormones have been briefly explained. They produce marked differences between men and women. These differences are mental, physical and sexual. They are responsible for that mysterious, elusive, yet fascinating something we call sex appeal.

Sex appeal causes a man to become romantically or lustfully interested in a certain woman. It also prompts a woman to become romantically interested in a certain man.

But what is sex appeal?

For one thing, I am convinced it is somewhere between 95 percent and 99 percent what one sees from the neck up! It is, mostly, what one sees in the face of the other which exerts the appeal. Of course voice and other factors contribute. And a most appealing face might be repelled by a seriously unappealing figure.

We think of it as mental -- taking place in the mind -- and being stimulated primarily by the face. But it would never happen if it did not actually originate in the generative glands! But, as explained, these are directly connected with the mind by the nerves. And the sex hormones which make a man masculine, and a woman feminine, pass directly from their "laboratories" into the bloodstream, and are carried to the mind as well as other parts of the body.

So, after all, the real origin of sex appeal is in these germinal glands, in cooperation with other vital glands.

This sexual love-stimulant causes a man to desire to take that one particular girl, not only as his wife -- to share his life's problems, troubles and successes -- to be his companion, and the mother of his children -- but also to desire to take that special little woman into his arms, and express his love in fond embrace.

The same sexual love-stimulant also causes that certain man to be romantically attractive to a girl -- not only to want to be his life companion, the mother of his children and the homemaker of his home -- his confidante -- but to desire to be taken into his arms and caressed and loved.

In the truly happy marriage, sex is the stimulus for repeated kissing and romantic embrace and lovemaking. But it also serves to provide that frequent supreme expression and consummation of love-embrace in the sexual relation.

THIS IS WHAT AN ALL-WISE, LOVING GOD INTENDED AND DESIGNED IT TO BE! This, in a marriage bound for life by the very Creator, is a most righteous, clean and HOLY relationship.

God made humans of physical matter, and equipped them with five physical senses. These may be expressed in a God-ordained right way, or in a sinful wrong way.

I repeat -- it is God-endowed and right that we enjoy the taste of delicious, wholesome health-building food; that we enjoy the sight of a beautiful English landscape or the breathtaking snowcapped Swiss Alps; that we enjoy the sound of beautiful and inspiring music.

And it is just as right -- and just as God-CREATED and God-ORDAINED -- that a husband and wife, joined in marriage by God Himself, receive perhaps the pinnacle of all enjoyment in the ecstasy of occasional coitus in marriage! This is the SUPREME expression of love between husband and wife. It is entirely too intense an experience through the senses to be indulged in to excess. As in all things, God's WAY for our maximum good is the way of intelligent temperance. Temperance is one of the fruits of God's Spirit.

Excess corrodes and makes common this supreme pinnacle of all physical expression. The newlyweds do often have a problem of adjustment to work out. But then, rose bushes have thorns. And the need for adjustment not only builds character and strengthens self-discipline, but renders the experience so much more precious, enjoyable and rewarding.

How often, then, is proper for this occasional supreme expression of marital love? The human "authorities" generally say two or three times a week for younger married people. The infallible Authority does not reveal any directions for proper frequency. God endowed us with minds and sufficient intelligence to arrive at proper values in this particular. Individual cases vary. Certainly, for maximum happiness and joy, the proper spacing increases the intensity and ecstasy of this ultimate in physical expression of love. It is worth reasonable self-denial.

In marriage, a loving embrace, a kiss, an affectionate caress is a loving expression that should, within bounds, be repeated often (I do not mean in public).

But when it comes to that more occasional ULTIMATE of love-expression between husband and wife, a second most important sex difference -- this one between human male and female -- must be thoroughly understood.

The first of these two vital differences -- between human and animal females -- was explained in an earlier chapter. But failure to understand the difference in stimuli and time required for arousal in humans has turned untold millions of marriages into tragedy. And here, too, the conditions functioning in HUMAN sex are totally different than in animals.

Before the supreme experience of coitus is engaged in, for mutual love and happiness, great changes must take place in both male and female sex organs.

The male penis must become enlarged, stiff, hard and rigid. But changes also must take place in the female genitals, or there will be tragedy. Many husbands do not realize this.

The vaginal walls are composed of a mucous membrane which is corrugated, in folds. In the quiescent condition, this skin is dry, and the folds drawn so that the inner cavity, or tube, is shrunken to a width of perhaps an eighth of an inch or less. It is, in this condition, totally unprepared to receive the enlarged and stiff male member. A great change must first take place. Arousal must be induced.

It has been explained, in an earlier chapter, that female animals come "in heat" at a regular rutting season. Between seasons it is impossible to arouse them for sex mating. These rutting periods come at regular intervals, or seasons, uncaused by the animals. When the season arrives, arousal for coitus is automatic. The animals do not cause or control it.

But in women, as previously explained, arousal must be produced. The time or season has nothing to do with it. A woman is virtually as susceptible to arousal at one time of the month as another. In humans, this arousal is self-allowed or self-induced. It is regulated by the mind.

But sex hormones cause male minds to function differently than female minds. Male hormones travel through the bloodstream to the brain, and evoke erotic desires in a manner different from that operative in female minds. Male minds are affected by stimuli different from female.

Male sex organs may be aroused by a dream, or by a picture, or imagination if the mind is allowed so to drift, by remembrance, thinking of a certain person, picture or experience, or by direct physical contact. Males are readily aroused by psychological stimuli; women primarily by direct physical stimuli.

The principal source of feminine arousal is the embrace, the kiss, the caress.

Upon physical contact, in embrace, male arousal occurs in a matter of seconds, and very few seconds, at that. It begins almost instantly.

Many girls, participating in "necking" on dates, do not realize at all that the boyfriend is sexually aroused, ready for and desiring coitus, in a matter of five or ten seconds' time. And some girls, devoid of right understanding and character, on learning this, deliberately resort to an embrace on the next date to "try out" their feminine powers. This is very foolish, very stupid and very WRONG! To any such girl, I say: "You have only the very same power possessed by all the other two billion females in the world! Every cheap prostitute also has this power. That is what she sells in her despicable trade. Don't be like her! Don't pollute and misuse this wonderful power! God endowed you with these charms to be preserved for the one man to whom He will some day join you -- to be used then in a wholesome manner that will produce blissful happiness. You will be required to answer in the judgment for the manner in which you use your God-bestowed power."

Sex stimuli are not only different in wives, but arousal normally requires more time depending on individual attitude regarding sex. Sometimes ten, fifteen minutes, or perhaps half an hour. Of course, as in other human characteristics, individual responses vary. And much depends on mental attitude. There are cases where the wife is more readily aroused than her husband. But I am speaking, here, of the normal average.

And, mark this well! GOD MADE THIS AS IT IS! There is a vital REASON!

God made man to be the leader -- to take the initiative -- to be the aggressor. But there is YET ANOTHER VITAL REASON!

For emphasis I repeat -- sex in animals serves only the purpose of reproduction. But in humans it serves also the purposes of marriage, love and family! God made it to express the intimate LOVE-relationship between husband and wife.

So now CONSIDER! If the wife were aroused as instantaneously as the husband, coitus would be concluded immediately. In fact, through ignorance, it generally and tragically is! This eliminates the LOVE-relation.

God intended coitus in marriage to render the REAL HAPPINESS OF TRUE LOVE. And that is WHY feminine responses are different -- yes, different from those of animals, and also different from those of their husbands!

However, if the divine PURPOSE of love-expression is to be fulfilled, husbands and wives must possess this KNOWLEDGE. God did not provide them with instinct.

The deliberate repression of this knowledge, under the diabolical sex-is-evil dogma, wreaked havoc on marital happiness for centuries! It reduced women -- potential HEIRS OF GOD -- to the level of dumb animals!

Of course, by the damnable heresy of evolution, Satan has invaded even the supposed "intellectual" and "educated" classes in his deception of leading humans to think they are nothing but animals! Satan does not want humans to know their true destiny as begotten, and, finally, BORN children of GOD!

But GOD designed sex in humans to EXPRESS LOVE in MARRIAGE!

Now UNDERSTAND THIS!

The very fact that the response in wives is generally somewhat slower -- the very fact that wives are aroused by stimuli different from their husbands -- by the LOVE embrace -- by the LOVE caress -- by the ardent love talk of their husbands, each telling his wife she is the most lovely, the most dear, the most darling woman on earth -- telling her she is the sweetest, the most honored, the most admired, the most precious of women -- all this sincere ardor and earnest lovemaking -- with the kissing and fondling of the one so dear and precious to him -- all this produces sex arousal in wives!

At a time like this, a husband realizes, IN HIS MIND, as at no other time, just how delightfully lovely and precious his wife really is to him.

How DIFFERENT is this marital LOVE from premarital promiscuity or a cheap and degrading relation with a prostitute! In either latter case, it is mere self-gratification, not the giving of love to THE ONE not only loved, but respected, admired and honored above all others -- THE ONE for whom he has the very greatest outgoing concern! Did you ever notice that the intense love-talk in Solomon's Song of Songs, expresses this outgoing admiration, not lust? It was written before his polygamous relapse.

To the unmarried, I say, this is such a precious thing it is a million times over worth waiting for! Any premarital sex -- any perversion -- mars this potential marital happiness -- puts irremovable SCARS on the marriage before it happens! That may sound extremely out of date in the decade of the eighties -- but it's TRUTH!

But under the stern sex-is-evil code, prior to the mid-twentieth century, none knew the delights of marital LOVE -- unless discovered by accident -- and then under penalty of a "guilty" conscience!

Deliberately, the all-wise, benevolent GOD created in women the very type of sex stimuli that requires love. And for man to violate this law, or bypass this love-need, is to impose the penalty of physical pain and emotional anger or resentment.

If a husband, immediately aroused, attempts to force the rigid male member into a quiescent and unprepared vagina, real disaster may result. As explained above, the vagina is shrunken, almost closed, and dry. Such a brutal penetration would tear the unlubricated dry membrane along with it, causing pain, and producing a mental sense of revulsion in the wife. And yet, even in the decade of the eighties reports come to me of a considerable violation of this law even by "Christian-professing" husbands! Some may quote I Corinthians 7:4, "The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband." They forget the rest of that verse, "also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife." He has no right to use his body to abuse her.

But God has provided a wonderful means of bringing about the happy coital love-union between husband and wife. This requires preliminary lovemaking.

The husband's quick arousal provides incentive for initiating the love embrace. But also it imposes on the husband the responsibility for the mental control of restraint against a too hasty procedure. It was meant for the husband to take the time to express his love for the wife God gave him, that she, too, may be aroused and properly prepared to share in the supreme and ultimate climax in love-giving!

This love-play preceding actual coitus produces feminine arousal. This love-giving thus produces the drastic change in the wife's generative organs, making them ready for the coital union.

And all this lovemaking -- this caressing, embracing, kissing -- this "necking" and "petting" as it is called in current slang vernacular -- is actually A DEFINITE AND MOST IMPORTANT PART of the act of sexual intercourse!

I must add, in this revised edition however, that the change in mental attitude of women toward sex, since 1950, has produced marked change in female sexual response. Some women in their twenties or thirties today will say they believe female sex arousal occurs just as rapidly as the male. This may vary with the individual.

Of all the books on sex available today, one especially that I have used as a text in my Principles of Living classes in our college, is, strangely, fifty years out of date in some biological respects. Nevertheless, for a general approach, I have found it the most satisfactory. The fifty-year-old biological errors are easily corrected and brought up to date.

This text describes coitus as ONE WHOLE, but composed of four parts, or acts, of the one drama -- four successive phases, one blending into the next.

And the first phase of sexual intercourse, this text explains, is the lovemaking stage. In other words, the very thing adolescents today indulge in freely on dates -- "necking" and/or "petting."

These two modern terms, of course have various meanings among various young groups. But I use them here as thus defined: By "necking," I refer to lovemaking primarily confined to the neck, face and shoulders. Only it is seldom LOVE! It is usually sensuous self-gratification; and on the girl's part it may be the same, or it may be merely what she's willing to give, in order to receive, as payment, future dates and favors. This latter puts it on the cheap and shameful basis of the prostitute, who merely exchanges what she gives for money, instead of dates and favors! By "petting" I refer to petting which descends below the shoulders -- to places where unmarried hands do not belong! And the term "heavy petting" is sometimes used for a sort of heterosexual type of masturbation, or, as many authors state it, "petting to a climax."

Today "necking" by teenagers has society's acceptance -- and even "petting" is not much frowned on. And premarital coitus has become prevalent, if not the rule.

But acceptance by society does not define righteousness or SIN!

MAN has no power to determine WHAT is sin. GOD has determined WHAT is sin. He allows man to decide only WHETHER to sin. And if he does -- even with society's approval -- he must REAP the PENALTY of sin -- ETERNAL PUNISHMENT of DEATH! It imposes curses here and now, and robs the sinner of the true happiness and joys a loving Creator made possible!

But, many a young person may exclaim: "Necking a SIN? Oh, come on, now! Doesn't everybody 'neck'? How can that be a sin -- if we know where to stop?"

The answer is TWO-fold: 1) God ordained this lovemaking to be the necessary first and most important part of sexual intercourse. It, therefore, deliberately breaks the Seventh Commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," when indulged in outside of marriage. That commandment includes premarital fornication, or any other misuse or perversion of sex. It is a CAPITAL sin. It imposes automatically, without court trial, the CAPITAL PUNISHMENT of the DEATH SENTENCE! And 2) the dating couple all too often don't stop.

As to WHY this is a sin, the answer will come later. It is a sin for the same reason that ADULTERY is a sin. It is NOT merely because the Great God said so -- He only said it because it is so seriously harmful to us HUMANS! God denies us NO PLEASURE -- no happiness or joy -- that is GOOD for us and for others!

God deliberately so designed male and female sex stimuli -- and timing -- so that humans might ENJOY the LOVE-relationship in marriage! It was definitely and intentionally done to prove the BOND which securely binds a marriage in happiness for life! It was purposely so designed in order to constantly increase a husband's love for his wife, and a wife's love for her husband.

That very private, very intimate, very personal and very precious LOVE relationship, never shared with any but one's mate to whom GOD bound one, does increasingly endear each to the other -- it makes them, truly, ONE! It preserves the HOME and the FAMILY for the welfare and the needs of the children. It protects the most basic and necessary unit of a right society!

But such God-endowed marriages are fast becoming a rarity. Promiscuity, before and during marriage, is rapidly destroying the marriage, and family structure. And a solid family structure is the very basis of a healthy society or nation. The Women's Rights Movement and prevalency of working wives also contributes heavily to breakdown of the family institution and threatens the destruction of the nation.

The very first woman to introduce and champion the "ERA" movement was the original mother, Eve. God created Adam to be the MAN and head of the family, but Eve decided to "wear the pants" (customary for all women today) -- took over the initiative, and led her docile husband into Satan's way in rebellion against the Creator God. Modern woman has reverted back to the ways of mother Eve! Is that "modern" -- or the utmost extreme of reverting to antiquated ways?

And all these are GOD-PLANE relationships!

WHY, then is UNFAITHFULNESS to this godly relationship a CAPITAL SIN? Because it violates and destroys a sacred CAPITAL blessing!

Adultery, fornication, masturbation, homosexuality are so COLOSSALLY SINFUL BECAUSE they violate, pollute, profane and destroy something so HOLY and so monumentally RIGHTEOUS in God's sight!

People today don't like to use God's plain-language term, adultery. When a husband or wife commits adultery, each uses a more modern less-sinful-sounding term, "cheating" or "having an affair."

I have explained in a previous chapter a case history typical of millions. A young man I knew was married to a lovely young wife. They had a fine little son. They were very much in love. Then he decided to "enjoy" the fascination of the "chase" after an "affair." He succeeded. Then another "affair." Soon he discovered that somehow his wife had changed. She was no longer so beautiful and attractive. She seemed no longer desirable. He couldn't figure what had happened to her. Of course nothing had happened to her -- it had happened to him!

As explained before, GOD set in motion a LAW! That law always works -- automatically! It worked on him. He was unfaithful to the union to which a loving GOD had joined him. He broke not only his marriage, but God's Holy Law. He defiled a GOD-PLANE relationship which even the angels are not given to enjoy! He divorced and married a self-centered, scheming woman. That marriage didn't last. How many others he has entered into since, I never knew. He did try to find solace in a false and deceptive religion, devoid of God's truth, and ignorant of the WAY to happiness.

Fornication before marriage, it has been stated before, also, puts a scar on the future marriage that can never be erased or healed. Many today commit fornication, and then marry the partner in fornication. I do not say such a marriage cannot be happy -- it may, and ought to be. But I do say that scar will always remain! It has taken something away from the marriage. Even though happy, it might have been happier!

Fornication never pays its participants!

GOD ordained that "necking" should be used only in MARRIAGE. But what does MAN do? He indulges in "necking" promiscuously before marriage, and then, too often, omits it in marriage!

Actually, believe it or not, IF God had made it beneficial and issued a command for all young people to "neck" promiscuously prior to marriage, NOBODY WOULD! Whatever GOD says "DO," people don't! Whatever GOD says DON'T!" people do!

And so a frequent deterrent to happiness in marriage -- to the very stability and security of the FAMILY and HOME -- is the misplacing of "necking" -- resorting to it in dating before marriage, neglecting it in marriage!

This is probably a serious source of marital troubles. The lack of this knowledge of differences in sex stimuli and timing, under a religious regime that forcibly withheld the information, wreaked enormous tragedy. Wives have been cruelly hurt -- virtually raped -- disaster resulted.

And even today, in this era of supposed newer physical enlightenment, the very mental attitude of many wives near or past middle age, reared in the sex-is-shameful teachings, prolongs tumescence, even when husbands do observe this first rule of marital coitus. If a wife has been "seared with the hot iron" of this unrighteous teaching -- feeling subconsciously that she is doing wrong -- or submitting to wrong -- her mind greatly retards the process of preparation.

Another VERY IMPORTANT deterrent is the wide-spread fear of pregnancy. This fear repels many wives. But let intelligence and love drive out fear. WHY should pregnancy be feared?

Is planned parenthood wrong? (A special chapter [Chapter 14] will be appended in this revised edition on this subject.)

The Roman Catholic Church has always responded, "YES!"

But if the BIBLE -- the Holy WORD OF GOD -- the Maker's INSTRUCTION BOOK to mankind -- be your true AUTHORITY, it says no such thing!

Another deterrent to marital happiness has often been a false view of the real MEANING of marriage. Many have been victims of the false notion that marriage bestows on husbands certain "rights" -- to satisfy a concupiscent selfish gratification -- without waiting for lovemaking and preparation for the wife's enjoyable participation. And this false idea assumes also that marriage imposes certain duties on the wife -- to submit to being virtually raped. Marriage confers no such "rights" and imposes no such "duties."

Conversely, some scheming women have supposed marriage conferred upon them the "right" to a man's money -- to take their half, giving nothing. Many women have married wealthy men for their money. Any such marriage is fraudulent in God's sight!

Another deterrent is "letting down" after marriage. During the dating and romance stage, both groom and bride-to-be put a "best foot forward." They are careful about manners, grooming, the courtesies. Then after marriage comes the "let down."

If you want a happy marriage, be far more particular about all such things after marriage than before. Be careful about your sleeping garments -- be sure they are neat, clean, attractive to the other. Be careful about your hair especially on rising in the morning. The very first thing I try to do on rising is to get a comb and brush, before my wife sees tousled and messed-up hair!

Wives, I do not exactly know the solution of pricking and stabbing a husband in the face with all those hairpins with which so many females think they must tightly bind their hair overnight. Don't just giggle at this -- I hope you wives may find a way to relieve suffering husbands, and still have your hair looking radiantly beautiful next morning.

Ever notice how people answer the telephone? A wife calls her husband at his place of business or work. He answers: "Oh, it's you. Well, I wish you wouldn't bother me now. I'm busy." But if some other woman might call on a matter of business, his voice is cheerful, courteous, warm and friendly. And of course it's the same when hubby calls the wife during the day. She's warmly cheerful and polite to all but him. She feels, "Oh, he's only my husband."

When I am at my office I do have to be shielded to a certain extent from constant telephonic interruption. But there was one voice that always got right through to me -- Mrs. Armstrong's. All my secretaries and switchboard operators were instructed that I was never too busy to be interrupted by her! Little things like these are some of the reasons our marriage was so happy for nearly 50 years.

If you must be cross, discourteous, or appear tired before someone, let it be anyone else -- but never your husband or your wife! Don't ever utter the alibi, "Oh, but we're married, now." BE LOVERS, as long as you live!

And always REMEMBER: Love is an outgoing concern; "Love is very patient, very kind ... is never rude ... never irritated, never resentful" (I Cor. 13:4-5, Moffatt). That is God's definition of LOVE. God ordained that husbands and wives should be that kind of LOVERS!

The all-wise and all-loving CREATOR designed sex for MARRIAGE, and for the expression of LOVE in marriage as well as the bringing of children into the FAMILY. He designed marriage to be a LOVE-relationship.

This first phase of the sexual act is the most important, because it is the most abused.

Some books dealing with the physical details of marriage may devote many pages to the next three phases. For our purposes here, a brief few words will suffice.

The textbook alluded to, which I have used in classes, lists the other three phases as 2) the union of the organs, 3) the motion of the organs and 4) the orgasm.

The following comments are very important in regard to the second. Never come to this second phase until the first is thoroughly accomplished -- until the wife is fully prepared. When she is sexually aroused, the shrunken folds of the vaginal walls will loosen up. There are lubricating glands which will provide adequate lubrication for the easy and comfortable penetration of the penis.

Just outside the vaginal entrance, inside the labia minora, are lubricating glands called Skene's glands and Bartholin's glands. During sex arousal these glands exude a lubricating fluid so necessary for any enjoyment in coitus by the wife. It means the difference between pain and pleasure.

Even after arousal, with blood filling the generative region, the vagina softening up and lubricated, in some cases there may be some pain caused the wife by entrance of the male organ. In such case, the penetration must be gentle, slow and careful. The husband should hold more or less still, and the wife do the "pushing."

Also, in the case of the first act of coitus by a newlywed virgin (if any, today), absolutely no effort at union of the organs should be made until the wife is sexually aroused and prepared. Then let the husband hold rigidly still, and the wife do what pushing or make what motions are necessary for breaking the hymen. This may be a little painful -- but the wife knows how much pain she can stand -- and if she does the pushing and breaking, she knows precisely when it is coming. Full instruction regarding hymen-breaking is given in Chapter 15.

How is the husband to know when his wife is fully aroused, and ready for the second phase? She must let him know! She should not be too shy with her own husband to tell him. But if she is, she may simply cease resisting at this point!

And now it becomes necessary to say a few words about a small feminine organ which is of great importance.

The clitoris, previously described, is simply a miniature of the male penis. This is not generally realized, because only the glans (head) is visible. The small shaft, or body, of this organ is covered with the skin just above the upper end of the labia minora.

The nerve-endings in the clitoral glans are even more acute than in the glans of the penis, so that, even though much smaller, it is the seat of female sexual arousal.

Inside the labia minora is the region termed the vestibule. In the case of a wife who is not sexually stimulated to complete preparatory arousal by normal kissing, and caressing in loving embrace, it may be hastened by allowing the organs to come together -- but without penetration of the vaginal canal. Instead, let the position be such that the glans penis is placed in the vestibule -- but in the upper portion, in contact with the clitoris. A continuous gentle movement, in this position, with kissing, will hasten arousal. But the wife should be careful NOT to allow this means of stimulation to proceed to the point of orgasm. As soon as sufficient arousal is attained, she should immediately withdraw from this position, and proceed at once to the second phase -- the union of the organs.

Now we come to the third phase, and just one point is of VITAL IMPORTANCE here. Unless this is realized, and care taken, the position of the bodies may be such that no contact is formed with the clitoris.

For this very reason, millions of unhappy wives, through the centuries, have never realized that women are intended to ENJOY the pleasure of love in coitus, the same as their husbands.

In fact, probably millions of women have been married, become mothers and grandmothers, and finally died never knowing they possessed such an organ as a clitoris. Of course, at the other end of the pendulum, many little girls accidentally discover this, and start masturbating. Mothers should be diplomatically watchful for signs of this. Just about every so-called "authority" whose book I have seen, and the medical associations, universally chorus the minor discordant error that masturbation does no harm. I say to you on authority of Jesus Christ and the Word of God that it does do harm -- not only physically (even though temporary), but psychologically, emotionally, mentally, and, most of all, MORALLY and SPIRITUALLY.

Masturbation is not so prevalent among girls as boys, but nevertheless a too-large percentage indulge in it, either occasionally or habitually.

Most boys and men practice masturbation to a greater or lesser extent. In many it becomes an almost unbreakable HABIT. This would never be if parents realized their RESPONSIBILITY, were vigilant, ever watchful imperceptibly, and took proper means to protect their children from this CURSE!

AND DON'T BE TOO EMBARRASSED! It's your responsibility as a parent! You are not fit for parenthood if you feel too embarrassed to protect your children!

BE SURE to read the full instruction about masturbation in Chapter 12.

But back, now, to that all-important little organ, the clitoris. We had come to the third stage of this marital coitus.

It is vitally important that the bodily position of husband and wife be such that contact is established with the clitoris. If the husband's body is placed too low in relation to the wife's, there will be no contact. The male body must, then, be a little higher in relation to hers, so that the base of the penis, near the abdomen, is in contact with the clitoris -- the seat of female sensation.

When proper contact is established, the clitoris will be almost directly between the husband's and wife's pelvic bones.

I am well aware that many "authorities" today claim that a clitoral orgasm is immature, and that orgasm should be produced by vaginal contact alone. One doctor, a professor in a very large university, goes as far as to recommend that the bodies of husband and wife ought to be across each other, forming a cross -- instead of face to face.

If GOD be our Authority, and the Bible our approach, it refutes and voids all such nonsense immediately. It is not through ignorance, but on AUTHORITY, that I say dogmatically, marital coitus should be in the general position of the love embrace, face to face -- since God ordained this act, for humans, to be that occasional supreme expression of love.

It could well be concupiscent LUST, in the manner certain authors recommend in this flood of sex books available today. But God made it for LOVE. Perhaps by now the reader understands WHY we are unable to recommend any existing book -- WHY this book had to be written!

This illustration shows relative size of quiescent, unprepared vagina (shaded area) compared to erect penis (heavy black outline). If a husband attempts to force erect penis into shrunken, dry, unlubricated folds of tender vaginal membrane, the wife may suffer great pain being virtually raped. Feminine arousal prepares and lubricates vagina to easily receive male member without pain. This illustration shows also the point at which contact must be made with clitoris.

In most of these books much is said about the many possible bodily positions. I do not deem it necessary to comment on that here. All married people know the two most natural and commonly used positions. Sex can become a matter of lust, perversion or plain SELF-gratification and concupiscence, even in marriage. Any such experimenting with abnormal positions and unnatural or perverted ways of performing coitus should be avoided.

The author mentioned here calls this third phase of sexual intercourse "the motion of the organs." The organs of both husband and wife should engage in this motion. If the husband is above, he should be careful to avoid resting his whole weight on his wife, by largely sustaining himself on elbows and knees. This allows her to lift her hips up and down slightly, or sway them from side to side, or swing in a circling motion, as she may choose. This is better made possible by the wife placing her heels, from outside her husband's legs, in the rear knee-hollows of his knees, also clasping his body with her arms. This gives her leverage to draw toward him and so gain contact with the clitoris -- and with whatever pressure she may desire.

Nothing more will be said about this third phase of the act, except that both husband and wife, in full assurance that this entire drama of lovemaking is God-designed, and God-blessed, should strive to make an art of it. Learn to move gracefully. And each try to please the other. In a God-bound marriage, rid your mind of all inhibitions. Wives should learn to "let go" -- giving themselves in utter and loving blissful surrender to the husband with whom God has made them ONE.

Now we come to the climactic fourth phase of marital intercourse -- the orgasm. This possibly is the most intense physical sensation possible, delightful beyond description if not too frequently indulged. It need not be further described. But several things do need to be said about it.

Every husband and wife should strive for one objective, here. That is to arrive at this climax simultaneously. I said strive! It will take striving -- and perhaps time and experience. Perhaps never will any couple be able to perfect this technique to a point where orgasm is simultaneous regularly and every time. But it is a goal worth striving for.

This may require mental retarding on the part of the one arriving at this climax faster -- concentrating the mind on something else temporarily, and complete abandonment of all inhibiting or interfering thoughts on the part of the other.

At the instant of orgasm, the semen is thrown in repeated jets from the penis into the vagina in the region of the cervix.

However, orgasm on the part of the wife brings no corresponding emission of fluid.

Many mistaken ideas abound in regard to pregnancy, at this point. Some have supposed that unless the woman experiences orgasm, there can be no pregnancy. THAT IS FALSE! Orgasm by the wife has absolutely NOTHING to do with conception, one way or the other!

Then WHY do (or should) wives experience orgasm at all? This voluptuous explosion in women was designed by a Holy GOD for one purpose only -- for her supreme pleasure, delectation and delight, in the LOVE embrace with her husband! It has nothing to do with conception or reproduction! It is something animals know nothing of! Animals reproduce -- but they do not marry, or express the delights of LOVE in marriage! WOMEN DO!

Yet for centuries, millions of women were denied even the knowledge of this, by the suppression of information during those dark-age years of prudery and repression!

Millions of women have borne and reared their children, never knowing that WOMEN are supposed to experience the joys of orgasm the same as husbands! Yet, now, today, under the avalanche of "New Morality" "enlightenment" millions of teenage girls learn all about it in premarital SIN! Thank God, Jesus Christ is soon coming to straighten out this crooked, ignorant, mixed-up, God-defying world -- and bring it peace and real HAPPINESS!

There are other misconceptions about pregnancy.

Some think there can be no conception, as long as the female hymen is unbroken and no male penis has ever entered the vagina. But again hundreds of thousands of babies have been conceived in this very manner. Young unmarried couples, "necking," going as far as they think they dare, short of "the limit," go far enough to let the organs be in contact -- but only in the vestibule -- not penetrating the vagina. Weeks later the girls notice their skirts are becoming too tight. One mentioned this to Mrs. Armstrong.

"You're pregnant," explained Mrs. Armstrong.

"But I couldn't be," exclaimed the girl. "I'm still a virgin!"

"Well, you'd better see the doctor," replied Mrs. Armstrong. "Perhaps you'll believe him." The girl and the young man married immediately -- they were in love and engaged, anyway. They repented. Of course God forgave, upon real repentance, and their marriage has been happy, with additional children -- but that scar will always remain! It just can't be erased! Some mistakes are SO PERMANENT!

A single drop of semen deposited anywhere in the outer vulva may easily lead to an unwanted pregnancy.

But to return to the desirability of simultaneous orgasm. Once complete sexual arousal has taken place, it is somewhat -- at least temporarily -- injurious to break off without proceeding to the climax of orgasm. This orgasm is a nervous release of built-up tension.

Husbands and wives should restrain caressing and lovemaking in between the times of full intercourse, to a point short of such complete arousal. The very fact that the male penis becomes erect in a matter of seconds does not mean that this full and sustained arousal has been reached. It is something that builds up, more and more, to a state of tension, IF physical contact is continued. Kissing and embracing for a moment or two may be enjoyed several times daily, without this built-up, fully charged, nervous condition. Yet, in times of full coitus, if husband and wife enjoy the close bodily contact of full love embrace for as much as 30 minutes or more before the second phase of the act is entered, there are some evidences that indicate this sustained bodily contact, up to 30 minutes, actually produces a healthful relaxing of nervous tensions, and a stimulus to mental and physical well-being, when climaxed by orgasm.

But when this full tension of arousal has been generated, there must be the release of orgasm, or nervous tensions continue.

Many a wife suffers all night long, with unsatisfied desire, her generative organs tumescent, her nerves "unstrung" -- because of premature ejaculation, and on achieving orgasm her husband selfishly turned over and went to sleep!

Whichever party reaches this summit first is DUTY-BOUND to continue until full release of tensions is gained by the mate, through orgasm.

Yet, after this climax, tensions relax, interest is gone, and a desire to turn over and go to sleep seizes one. On the part of the husband, the penis will gradually lose its stoutness, and after a few moments it will be impossible to keep it in coital contact. If this should happen, a considerate husband could, if necessary, set the alarm clock for later and then finish his duty to his wife. See also under "Sexual Dysfunctions" in Chapter 14 on birth control.

All rose bushes have thorns. This one of marital sex will present its problems. They require KNOWLEDGE -- they require the INTELLIGENCE of human minds -- and they require love, consideration, patience and CHARACTER to work out.

But they pay the richest, most happy and joyous dividends possible in the physical lives of humans made from the dust of the ground! And they are only a TYPE of the incomparably greater sexless but SPIRITUAL joys which we may inherit FOREVER!

DATING PROCEDURES HAVE undergone radical changes in the past seventy-five years. But has it been beneficial progress -- or has dating become a lost art?

What about "going steady"? What about "necking," "petting," premarital sexual experience?

It's time to come truly up-to-date-with the facts and with the TRUTH!

Let's have reasons, for or against, that are rational and that make sense!

First, look at today's teenage world. Realize how it has changed!

NOT ONLY is a moral revolution in cyclonic progress around the world. There also is a teenage revolution. It is, of course, a large part of "the New Morality" as a whole.

There are those who, in their self-confident uninformed optimism, assure us that today's adolescents are no different -- and certainly no worse -- than those of past generations. But the facts prove otherwise.

Human nature is the same. But we simply live in a different world today. The emergence of the phonograph, the automobile, the motion picture, radio and television and other productions of the machine age have brought new influences and changing customs. Human nature, adapting to changing times, expresses itself very differently today.

Some would hush up the naked FACTS. But the welfare of our youth is at stake. The adolescents, drifting with the immorality tide, are speeding past their elders in the downward plunge. There is a trend. It is an immoral trend. It is speeding up at accelerated pace. It is only natural for young people to follow the trend. They want to belong. It's time to face the facts squarely.

People are like sheep. They all follow the leader to the slaughter. But they don't know they are being led to the slaughter. They are just a little stupid. Yes, quite a little! But they still want to belong! It's natural to just go with the group.

Look how times have changed -- and moral standards with them!

When my mother was of dating age, in the middle 1880s, chaperons were in vogue. She wore long sleeves, high necks and skirts that dragged in the dust. Young men didn't know what girls' legs looked like. In her embarrassment, my mother, I remember as a boy, called them "limbs." When a young man began dating a young lady it was called "courting." There was little or no caressing -- only when the young couple could give the chaperon the slip. It was then called "spooning" or "sparking." And even on such rare occasions, the very proper young ladies quickly drew the line.

A generation later, when I arrived at adolescence, the chaperons had disappeared. But in the earlier years of dating -- after age sixteen -- this caressing, today called "necking," was not yet the general practice. Or if it was, I must have been highly ignorant.

I distinctly remember one incident -- after I had passed twenty. A girl I frequently dated and I were being driven to her home by a young man with his girl friend. In those days all cars were completely air-conditioned -- they were open cars. It began to rain. We buttoned on the side-curtains. To hold the curtain down, on my girl friend's side, I was obliged to stretch my arm over the seat behind her. I shall never forget the difficulty I experienced in keeping my arm far enough to the rear to avoid any contact with the back of her neck. I was terribly afraid she would think I was "fresh" if any part of my arm touched her!

Today's bold young people will get a real laugh at this. Yes, indeed -- TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

Later I knew of an experience involving a young man about twenty-one whom I knew very well. He and a twenty-one-year-old chum were double-dating two girl chums. The other couple had begun "loving up" as the younger generation then termed it. So this friend of mine began to fear he would be considered "slow," or behind the times. "Loving up" was then beginning to be considered the thing to do, after the first two or three dates. So this fellow began cautiously putting his arm around this girl's shoulder. She didn't shove it back. A date or two later, he worked up enough courage to kiss her. She made no objection. He remained very proper, otherwise.

The girl's father was dead, and her stepfather was a dealer in Buick automobiles. He and his wife often took the young couple out on Sunday afternoon rides. Very few families owned automobiles in those days. The young people sat in the back seat, and his arm usually was around the girl's shoulders. There was no objection from her mother or stepfather. It seemed to be accepted as normal.

One night, sitting in a front-porch swinging seat, the girl began to tell this young man how much money her father had left her. It was not a fortune, but a few thousand dollars. She began suggesting what they might do with it.

"Wait a minute!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Just what are you getting at?"

"Why," she replied, "I thought we ought to begin to plan what we will do after we are married."

"Married!" he exclaimed, in sudden alarm. "Who said anything about getting married?"

"Why," she came back, equally surprised, "what have you been loving me up for, if we're not going to be married?"

The flabbergasted young man then explained that he had never indulged in "loving up" before, but had begun to feel out-of-date, supposing it was expected. The girl burst into tears, jumped up and ran into the house, slamming the door behind her. Next day the boy tried to contact her by telephone. Her mother answered the telephone.

"Lucille told me all about it," said the indignant mother, icily. "She never wants to see you again." And she never did!

But in those "loving-up" days, prior to World War I, girls were kept "decent." Actual sexual intercourse was "unthinkable." The girl who did submit to it "lost her honor."

Have times changed?

The question sounds ridiculous today. Full premarital coitus is the rule -- except the word "premarital" is a little out of date. Even marriage is on the way out.

Few people stop to realize to what extent the teenagers have taken over. They pretty well dominate the world picture.

Isaiah foretold this day. Here is a portion of the prophecy: Speaking of our people -- TODAY -- in these very last days -- God says: "And I will make boys their princes [Moffatt translates it, "I will make mere lads their leaders"], and babes shall rule over them ... the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the base fellow to the honorable .... My people -- children are their oppressors ... the daughters of Zion are haughty [we continue with Moffatt] holding their heads high as they walk, and ogling with their eyes, walking with their mincing steps ..." (Isa. 3:4-16, RSV). And this latter expression, about ogling eyes, when properly translated, actually refers to painted eyes -- makeup on the face, and sensuous manner of walking to arouse boys.

Now look at the facts!

WHY do so many radio stations turn to a "rock-and-roll" or disco format today? Because the rating agencies will show that they have the highest "ratings" -- that is, the largest listening audience. But WHO is listening? Nearly altogether just "kids" in the lower or middle teens. But the rating agencies do not show the time-buyer WHO is listening -- only how many! Big business and local "little business" consequently spend billions of dollars for radio time on the stations with the "highest ratings."

But then, they say that these youths pretty well dominate the nation's consumer SPENDING!

WHO determines what is "popular music" today? The "teens." Even the radio stations who do not go to rock and disco music, in the main, play what is called "popular" music. But is it MUSIC? Or is it a moan, a groan, a wail, a dirge, and a screech?

WHY did ten-, twelve-, and up to fifteen-year-old little girls go virtually INSANE, and actually invite demon-possession, over the British "Beatles"? That could never have happened fifty years before.

Adolescents determine dancing trends, motion-picture themes, radio formats, and even advertisements and most fields of entertainment!

What many do not realize is that this teenage influence on the whole society is predominantly sexual influence. There is much more intense preoccupation with sex during these years than in later maturity.

Therefore SEX became the basic formula for motion pictures -- along with violence and crime, including murder.

In the past twenty or thirty years teenagers have come to recognize that there are advantages in organization and numbers. Actually it started back in the twenties, with the sheiks, the flappers and the Charlestonites. Then came jitterbugs, bobby-soxers and then actual sex-clubs and gangs. In Britain, there were the Teddy-boys, succeeded by the "Mods" (Moderns), and the "Rockers" (Rock-and-Rollers).

In many communities, police and citizens alike have been shocked at the exposure of existing "non-virgin clubs." Many disguised themselves as "teenagers' social clubs." They played "sexual games." In some clubs, partners were drawn by lot. Club rules required illicit relations not less frequently than once a week. Girl members were initiated by sacrificing their virginity in a "ceremony" witnessed by all members.

There have been teenage drinking-and-sex parties. Also, marijuana or "pot parties" -- where drugs and "free sex" are passed around. There have been hippie rock festivals and "love-ins" where nudity and sex are commonplace.

Teenage morality and respect for decency have plunged to an all-time low. Many youths express the attitude that there is nothing wrong with illicit or promiscuous sex.

And WHY?

Take one typical example. A nineteen-year-old boy had been in a certain town only six months. He named to police eleven girls with whom he had engaged in illicit sex. Many from "the best" families. "You can 'make' almost any girl in town, on your first date," he said. In this particular scandal, which got into the newspapers, revealed facts were significant.

Of all involved, not one had received any formal sex education -- boys or girls. Every boy had engaged in premarital sex before age fifteen. Not one was close to either father or mother. The police chief exclaimed that it was too bad he was unable to take a horsewhip to the neglectful parents!

One of the mothers whitewashed herself of blame, saying: "You can't blame me for Janie's predicament! Why, you can rest assured she never learned a thing about sex in my house. The word was never even so much as mentioned!"

The fast-growing surge of teenage immorality, drugs and violence is WORLDWIDE! Accompanying sexual promiscuity, news dispatches pile up an avalanche of reports of wreckage, destruction of property -- especially schools -- pillaging, arson, violence and often MURDER!

There are facts and statistics on teenage immorality and juvenile delinquency to fill this entire book many times over.

But WHY? What is the cause?

The world doesn't want to hear the true answer!

The world refuses to face the tragic TRUTH!

The TRUE answer is this: Something has been taken away from this earth that sorely needs to be restored! That "something" is knowledge of, respect for and obedience to THE GOVERNMENT AND THE LAW OF GOD!

But will any like that answer? Most want to go on rebelling against their Maker, trying to find some other solution to their problems. There is no other!

Once there was peace, happiness, orderliness, joy, on this earth. You don't have to believe it, but it's TRUE. Angels inhabited the earth. The Almighty GOD had placed a top-ranking archangel, Lucifer, to administer the Government of God on the earth. Lucifer was a brilliant cherub. He sealed the sum total of wisdom and beauty. It went to his head. He became vain. Vanity gripped him. His mind swelled with resentment because he ruled only this earth -- a mere speck in the universe -- while GOD ruled all the universe.

A third of the angels followed him in warlike aggression to knock God off His throne, and take over the UNIVERSE rule. But they were driven back to the earth. Physical chaos struck the earth as a result of this stupendous mutiny. In six days God restored the earth, and created MANKIND upon it (Ps. 104:30).

God made man mortal, of material substance. But He gave man MIND power. When man chose to disobey God -- to do evil, his mind became hostile toward God. He imbibed Satan's attitude of SELF and rebellion. This became HUMAN NATURE. Human nature includes the attitude that had become Satan's (Lucifer's name now changed to Satan). Human nature is a PULL, like the power of gravity, in the direction of vanity, greed, self-love, and spirit of competition, hostility, indifference, resentment or hatred, toward others. That is man's natural attitude and tendency. It is a constant PULL on man in that direction. It is the WAY THAT COMES NATURALLY. Because a subtile Satan, still on earth's throne, begins injecting that attitude during the first year of infant life.

Let's understand the real basic reason for these present problems. Basically, it is simply human nature.

Yet God endowed man with MIND power, capable of recognizing the error of this WAY, if willing. Adam could have obeyed God, resisted Satan and qualified to replace Satan as earth RULER, administering the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. But Adam disobeyed God, succumbed to Satan. His children have done so ever since.

Jesus Christ obeyed God, kept God's Commandments, resisted Satan, never allowed what we call "human nature" to enter Him. He conquered the devil, and qualified to administer the world-ruling GOVERNMENT OF GOD. Then He ascended to heaven to officially receive this world RULE. The heavens have received Him UNTIL -- notice it, Acts 3:19-21, only "UNTIL the times of RESTITUTION of all things" -- that is, the RESTORING of what had been taken away -- THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD!

That time is almost upon us NOW! This very outburst of universal VIOLENCE is one of the signs! "As it was in the days of Noah," said Jesus, "so shall it be," just before the days of Christ's return to RESTORE THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and bring us PEACE! Just before the Flood, there was illicit sex and VIOLENCE! It was not thus sixty years ago. IT IS A TIME OF ILLICIT SEX AND VIOLENCE TODAY!

Can't we see the handwriting on the wall?

WHY all this violence -- this immorality?

HERE IS THE CAUSE! HUMAN NATURE -- WHICH IS VANITY -- without any PURPOSE, and absence of parental training and discipline!

There is no sense of PURPOSE today. We are told we must adjust to living in a world of problems with no solutions! Nuclear war -- the erasure of human life from the earth -- appears to be just around the corner -- liable to strike us any second.

Young people today are given NOTHING TO LIVE FOR! No HOPE! No FUTURE! They are more prosperous than ever before. THEY ARE BORED! They are rebellious. The spirit of REVOLT is in the air! They resent all AUTHORITY!

Yet VANITY within them seeks to exalt itself!

WHY did Lee Oswald shoot and kill President Kennedy? Frustrated VANITY! He sought status. He sought it the wrong way. America turned him down. Russia turned him back. He was a little man, incapable of greatness, yet he desperately craved to do something that would make him stand out in history -- make the world take notice of him!

Even the Warren Commission could find no other motive!

WHY do aimless, purposeless, bored, yet prosperous teenagers resort to violence? Says an article in "Reader's Digest": "Boys explode into violence to prove they are grown up. Some, unable to succeed in school ... seek status through hooliganism."

There it is -- "TO SEEK STATUS" -- plain VANITY, but minus any constructive or healthy PURPOSE!

Their parents have FAILED!

One father said of his boy in police trouble: "It isn't my fault! Why, I've always given him everything he wanted. I can't understand WHY he did this terrible thing!"

Yes, this father gave him MONEY. But he failed to give him right teaching, training, a PURPOSE in life, proper discipline, instilling in this boy a sense of responsibility and respect for authority! And he probably denied him love and true father-son-companionship! Also he failed to teach him the TRUTH about SEX!

It is not exactly a paradox that millions of teenagers have had considerable sex experience, and yet possess little sexual knowledge. It is largely because of ignorance -- or lack of right instruction in the right manner at the right time -- that adolescents seek to satisfy curiosity by experience. And, of course, they are "sheep," and when it becomes a trend -- when "it's being done" -- human nature wants "to belong." So they go with the crowd -- and parents know nothing of it.

Even when growing children and adolescents do receive some formal sex education, it is always presented from the physical, the material, and therefore the sensual approach.

If teenagers had been properly taught what they needed to know about sex, from the very first and second years of their lives, by informed and loving parents, the frightful tragedies of teenage and premarital sex would have been reduced to the barest minimum.

Today, if you tell a teenager that "necking" is WRONG -- that it ought never to be indulged in -- that it is a definite SIN -- that it robs their future marriage of much of its possible joys, delights and blissful happiness -- the young man or woman will probably look at you rather pityingly, wondering how you could be so naive!

He would probably reverse the truth and exclaim: "Oh, you poor, ignorant jerk! Why, where have you been, that you don't know the facts of life yet? WHY DON'T YOU GROW UP? This is the twentieth century!"

Actually, it is the adolescent who is naive, ignorant and untaught in the TRUTH about the facts of life!

The basic cause of today's immorality, of course, is HUMAN NATURE. Human nature is the basic cause of all violence, war, crime -- all our troubles in this present evil world!

But, as stated in the beginning of this chapter, human nature expresses itself in different ways, and adapts itself to changing times.

Human nature is, simply, the subconscious pull of a definite attitude of mind. It is the attitude that became Satan's. It is the natural attitude implanted from infancy by the invisible Satan. It is the attitude of vanity -- of self-concern -- of lust and greed. It is the attitude of hostility to others, and resentment of authority over it. Of course, the self, as explained before, expands into the "empirical self" -- which includes those with whom individual self is associated, or connected. This may include one's family, his club, his gang, his church, his country.

Patriotism is an example of the "empirical self" expanded to include one's country. But patriotism is expressed in the form of loyalty to country, as opposed to OTHER countries. It includes an automatic hostility toward other countries -- either passive or active. The Bible (Moffatt translation) classifies this as "party-spirit" (Gal. 5:20) and one of the "deeds of the flesh" -- as opposed to the "fruit of the Spirit."

The natural tendency to want to belong is merely the expression of this phase of human nature. This leads to the desire to want to go along -- with those one accepts as his peer group, team, gang or whatever. This nature expresses itself in young people by the natural pull to want to go along with the teens, as opposed to their elders. If the teens have a new custom, frowned on by their elders, then self associates with the teens, and feels automatic and natural (from human nature) hostility and resentment toward the opposing elders.

Now what about "going steady"? This started several years ago as an American custom. The custom spread. It is a new way started by those in the middle and late teens. But when eighteen- and nineteen- year-olds began "going steady," sixteen- and seventeen- year-olds desired to emulate (Gal. 5:20) and to go along. Then fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds responded to the pull to go along, and today even the twelve- and thirteen-year-olds are beginning to "go steady."

This subject has been discussed before in this book. Going steady brings familiarity, and familiarity breeds a certain contempt -- in this instance, contempt for chastity, virtue and honor.

This going steady is simply the natural response to the pull of human nature. Human nature is essentially lazy. When a boy or girl goes steady he feels assured of dates. The boy is spared the embarrassment of asking new girls for dates, and the possible humiliation of being turned down. The girl feels a sense of security, knowing she will have dates.

The very familiarity of steady dating makes it easier for the boy to make bolder advances in "necking," and then going on further into sexual intercourse. It makes it more difficult for the girl to say "NO." It tends to lower bars of resistance, and increases the temptation to carry intimacies to the limit.

The FRUITS of going steady are definitely not good !

It is one of the most difficult things in the world to convince an adolescent of the wisdom of doing what he ought to do, instead of what he wants to do. But yielding to what one wants to do is surrendering to human nature. It is traveling the road to sin. And sin is man's greatest enemy, inflicting on him every pain, heartache, suffering and anguish he ever experiences. It inflicts unwanted penalties. But, again, it is hard for people to understand why they can't put their hands on a red-hot stove and not get burned!

If a parent has not taught his child basic rules of character from infancy, it is a little late, by age fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen to convince him he ought not to "go steady." He is now too big and set in his ways to listen readily, and his mind is still too young and immature to recognize TRUTH. But "going steady" is not good -- for those who do it!

Now what about "necking"?

To even ask the question, "Is 'necking' wrong?" would sound rather silly to the average adolescent today.

WHY?

Because of ignorance! Because of wrong teaching, and a lack of right teaching! Because there are some of the facts of life they have not yet learned!

Is the Bible an out-of-date Book? If it is, how does it happen that it so accurately foretells today's WORLD NEWS -- so understandingly pinpoints human nature? It says, "The carnal mind is hostile toward God." And that is certainly true. Where God says, "Remember," everyone immediately forgets! When Jesus said, "Think not I am come to destroy the law," everyone proceeded to think He DID destroy it! If God, in the Bible, said, "OBSERVE CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR'S AND EASTER," then nobody would!

GOD CREATED HUMANKIND male and female. GOD blessed humans with the wonderful God-plane marriage and family relationship. GOD designed sex, to bring indescribable delights and joys with His blessing, IN MARRIAGE! In His great wisdom, GOD created men so that sex arousal and desire often takes place more rapidly than in their wives -- and He designed women so that they are not physically or mentally prepared for actual coitus until arousal is brought about by the love embrace -- by caressing -- by the love-talk and endearing words of the husband! In other words, by "necking" and "petting."

There was vital PURPOSE in this!

Had God made women to be aroused by the same means and the same quickness as their husbands, sexual intercourse in marriage would seldom -- if ever -- be that supreme expression of LOVE that God intended -- in order to BIND and HOLD TOGETHER the marriage and the home and family! Marriage would be robbed of its blessings -- of its supreme joys!

But when boys and girls engage in premarital love-making, called "necking," "petting," and even "heavy petting" (these terms are defined in an earlier chapter), it is NOT the love that binds more firmly that which GOD has bound for life. It is mere sensual gratification. It is LUST, no matter what you wish to call it! IT CHEAPENS, TARNISHES, CORRODES the entire, wonderful experience God intended as a repeated lifelong experience IN MARRIAGE! And it detracts from, and robs the participants of the full happiness they might have had in a future marriage!

This lovemaking -- this "necking" or "petting" -- this caressing -- is all a PART OF, and actually the most important part of, SEXUAL INTERCOURSE IN MARRIAGE!

Therefore, when indulged in prior to marriage -- or outside of marriage -- IT IS A CAPITAL SIN!

Teenage CUSTOM does not determine what is SIN!

College-campus practices do not define right and wrong!

Acceptance by society does not decide what is SlN!

GOD ALMIGHTY HAS ALREADY DETERMINED WHAT IS SIN!

God does not allow humans to decide WHAT is sin -- but He forces us to decide WHETHER to sin! He has called me to lift up my voice and show people WHAT is sin. That is what I am doing here. I did not devise that LAW, or set it in dynamic, living, if invisible MOTION -- GOD DID!

How can you prevent the tragedy of a premarital pregnancy? How can you prevent the disgrace and terrible predicament of venereal disease? By knowing when to stop? NO! By simply not starting the "necking" in the first place!

If it were GOOD FOR young people, God would have instructed them to engage in it. But SIN is not good for people -- SIN HARMS PEOPLE!

In an earlier chapter we described how people are drawn into sin. It is explained in James 1:14-15: "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth SIN: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth DEATH."

The temptation is not a SIN. Sin is when the MIND harbors the temptation -- retains it -- keeps thinking of it -- keeps desiring it, UNTIL the desire conceives into the ACTION of SIN. How does one avoid sin? By NOT RETAINING THE DESIRE! By pushing it out of mind immediately!

But to start in the action of sin, and think you can "draw the line" -- that you know "when to stop" is to COMMIT SIN!

The time to PREVENT SIN is before it starts!

This world's society and its customs are based on human nature -- which is to say, on SATAN'S ways -- and are diametrically CONTRARY to God's ways!

Go along with the crowd, and you are stumbling along with the other dumb sheep TO THE SLAUGHTER! Why be one of the CROWD? Why not stand out from the crowd of ignoramuses and weaklings, as one who has knowledge, wisdom and CHARACTER! Any old dead fish can float downstream but it takes a live one to swim against the current!

This is not prudish talk. It is not "old-fashioned" talk. It is intelligent, rational UNDERSTANDING, based on the instruction of the Creator!

What a shame that the adolescents of today were not taught properly by their parents from babyhood!

It is THE GOD-REQUIRED DUTY of every parent -- a responsibility for which parents will be held accountable IN THE JUDGEMENT -- to properly teach and inform their children of the FACTS of sex.

This teaching ought to begin while children are still small.

Has dating become a lost art? It would certainly seem so. Certainly there is no "art" to the manner of dating today.

It seems young people no longer know what to do with themselves on dates. Perhaps most dates today are spent either in a car, parked by the roadside in a dark and secluded spot, where the time is spent in "necking," or in sexual intercourse, or else in a darkened motion picture theater letting their minds drift with a ready-made daydream.

Dating is no longer stimulating mentally, upbuilding socially and intellectually beneficial. It tends not to build but to destroy character.

Some dating, of course, is spent at various kinds of dances. Some of these may be invigorating physically and at least somewhat mentally. Some are downgrading and morally and mentally harmful -- depending on environment and character and quality of participants.

In my dating days, I had a "system." I was unconverted, and the motive undoubtedly, in part at least, was vanity. But I did try to date only top-level girls. Of course we sometimes went to the theater, occasionally to the motion pictures (it was during the "silent" days), occasionally to a dance -- but never to a public dance. Public dances, then, were not in good repute.

But usually our date involved a walk, a scintillating and enlightening conversation, and possibly a soda or sundae at an ice cream parlor. I devoted considerable time in public libraries, in the philosophical, or travel, or biography departments, acquiring knowledge for interesting conversation.

On a first date I analyzed and sized up the girl. I didn't know how a fellow "fell in love," but I supposed it might happen unexpectedly in some mysterious way. And I didn't want it to happen to me in the case of an unqualified girl. If my first-date appraisal of the girl indicated definitely that, should I "fall" for her, she would be unsuitable as a wife and the mother of my children, there was never a second date.

I was taking no chances on "falling" overboard with the wrong girl to the point I might be so blinded by love I would be unable to see it!

I remember one girl, pretty, attractive, good conversationalist. She got a second date. But then I discovered she was lazy, would not help her mother with dishes, making beds and housework. I never dated her again.

I dated two or three girls, frequently but not regularly or like "going steady" in any sense, who had absolutely no "sex appeal" for me whatsoever. There would have been no temptation to "neck" as teens call it today. Of one I said I would as soon have my arms around a cold iron lamp post. Yet I dated her on occasion because she was an unusually fine girl whom I respected highly and an interesting conversationalist.

Dating can, and ought to be made a real art. Some thinking and planning ought to go into the preparation for a date. A date should be an event which adds to the mental, social, moral and spiritual character development of both boy and girl. Such a date is so much more rewarding, and leaves a far more palatable feeling afterward. In today's warped and perverted thinking I suppose that suggestion seems very old-fashioned and naive. But for those who have a little sense and understanding, it would be wise to heed it.

Dating should be made interesting. But a date can be both interesting and at the same time stimulating, uplifting and a contribution to the very PURPOSE of life -- character-building.

If my "system" did nothing better, it protected me until the Eternal God brought the finest little woman in the world and me together. Our dates were stimulating, challenging, dynamically interesting. They still were, more than 49 years later!

Sex instruction should begin as early as little minds begin to show curiosity about little bodies -- and that might be as early as age two or three.

The "birds and the bees" method has been ridiculed -- but it is a sensible way, nevertheless. To little children, explain first about GOD. Explain about creation. Explain how God created the plants, the flowers, the birds, the bees and the animals.

Then explain how God is a SPIRIT Being, who looks like a man -- who has a face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth -- who has a body, and hands and feet -- only GOD is composed of SPIRIT, and His eyes are like flames of FIRE; and His face shines as brightly as the SUN -- so bright no human could look at Him without having his eyes blinded by the great light. God has ALL POWER, and so He caused all these things to come into being.

Then explain how God decided to make MAN in His very own likeness -- not like animals, or birds, or plants -- and to give us MINDS like His -- only He made us out of matter, and so we do not know as much as He, or have as much power. But, just as all plants and animals were created to be male and female, and to reproduce their own kind, so God made humans male and female so we could have little babies who become children and grow up to be just like Daddy and Mommie.

Then explain how wonderful it is that even a little baby starts from a tiny "seed" or "egg" which is kept, as it grows, where the mother can best protect and watch over and nourish, as it develops. You'll be able to fill in the details -- I won't attempt it here. And show how HUMANS can be a loving FAMILY, like God -- and how a baby has a HOME, and a mother and father to love it -- and not have to be out all by itself, like baby animals. Connect it all with God, and with LOVE, and with FAMILY RELATIONSHIP.

And above all, explain to your child that YOU will answer all his questions, and instruct him to come to YOU with all questions, but never to talk about this very wonderful but private subject with other children.

Of course you cannot tell a two- or three-year-old more than a small part of sex knowledge. But as the child grows older, explain more from time to time. Keep ahead of the "gutter."

One of the greatest SINS, CRIMES, TRAGEDIES of this world's society, is that great sin of OMISSION -- the neglect of parents to teach their children.

Not only about sex. Most parents neglect to teach their children -- period!

But first, before you attempt to teach your children -- especially about sex -- EDUCATE YOURSELF! To enable parents to do that is a major purpose of this book. After you have finished it, go back and read it all again!

Always give your children an abundance of LOVE. Show your affection. Then, from tiniest infancy, by loving but unquestionable insistence, bring your child to absolute recognition of your AUTHORITY -- and before he reaches the end of his first year! If spanking is necessary, use it -- always being careful not to injure the child, yet making it smart enough to get results. Most mothers spank too lightly -- that may do harm rather than good -- especially psychologically.

Some fathers spank, beat or paddle too hard. Make it hurt -- enough to accomplish the purpose -- but without injury. The main point in spanking is to apply the principle of the adage that "the stitch in time saves nine." Do not spank your child into obeying you.

One mother couldn't understand why her spanking never got results -- she spanked only in final desperation -- to force the child to do what he was told. She told her four-year-old boy it was time to go to bed. He didn't want to. She threatened to spank. That was her first mistake. She should immediately have spanked him FOR DISOBEDIENCE. Instead, she threatened. He was accustomed to the threats, and knew by experience she probably would neglect to carry it out. Ten minutes later, she threatened again, a little impatient -- a little angry. Then, another ten minutes and it was repeated. Finally, half an hour after her first command, she forcibly spanked him into bed. And wondered why this spanking had to be repeated so often!

Never spank in anger. Always be sure your child UNDERSTANDS your command or instruction. If this is made sure, then spank -- crisply enough that the child doesn't want it repeated! -- for DISOBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY. The parent who hesitates is LOST! Do it immediately! First be sure the child UNDERSTOOD! Second, be sure you TEACH -- get in the lesson -- make plain, and in love, WHY you are spanking! Third, spank without delay!

Don't say, "This is going to hurt me more than it will you." Make it hurt him enough (without injury) that he won't want to disobey again -- but make him understand he made you do it -- not because you wanted to, but because he made you. Don't be afraid of what the crackpot child psychologists fear -- to make him feel "guilty." When a child disobeys, he is guilty, and must be made to realize it!

When we disobey GOD, He tells us plainly, in the Bible, that we are GUILTY! Yet God loved us enough to give Christ to die for us, that the sin may be forgiven, upon repentance.

So let the child know he is guilty -- but he can be forgiven upon repentance -- which means to change from the spirit of rebellion to an attitude of willing obedience.

But, don't humiliate your child -- especially before others! The most cruel thing one person can do to another is to make him feel whipped, or to cause him to lose all confidence, or induce an inferiority complex. True HUMILITY is required for right godly character -- but one can be HUMBLE and still properly confident. True confidence is not self-confidence, but FAITH in GOD.

Space does not allow more along this line in this work.

NEVER lie to your child. NEVER refuse to answer questions about sex. NEVER say, "You're not old enough to know that yet." Always find a way to give a right explanation in a right manner, and within the understanding and capacity of your child.

NEVER reproach your child for asking questions about sex, by accusing him of interest in "indecent" things. Be sure you represent sex, as God ordained its right uses, as decent, good and actually something sacred and pure -- and to be kept that way! Make your child understand, early enough, that GOOD THINGS may be put to sinful USES.

When the little child asks his mother, "Where did I come from?" tell him the TRUTH. Let the mother say, "You grew into a baby inside of me, here under my heart," and she can point.

In teaching little children to keep pubic regions covered, never talk about it being "indecent," in a way to give the impression sex is indecent. But explain it is not proper to be exposed to others -- sex is something God wants kept private. If a little boy and his little sister ask about sex differences, it's certainly time to begin instruction about sex, and why God made it so.

Answer! Don't tell your child the "stork" lie.

One little fellow said to another little boy: "I found out that all that stuff about the stork bringing my little sister, and about Santa Claus, isn't true -- and so now I'm going to look into this Jesus Christ story, too!"

Doctors report cases of twelve- and thirteen- year-old girls being brought to them by distraught parents, on the occasion of their first menstruation. The parents didn't know how to explain. And it was too embarrassing!

This should never be! If children have been properly instructed about sex, gradually as they grow up, all girls should have been fully instructed about menstruation before they reach the age of puberty.

Any mother can and should completely explain what is found in the early and last portions of Chapter 9 in this book, in a manner to cause her daughter to consider with reverence and awe how wonderfully God has designed her body and its functions -- especially of the marvelous "laboratories," the ovaries. If the mother is dead, the father should have no difficulty in explaining this with the help of Chapter 9, and other portions of this book.

Every boy should be completely instructed before he reaches the age of puberty. And the proper explanation is found in Chapter 9 -- especially the middle portion.

A boy reaches puberty when he discharges semen in his sleep. Every boy should be fully and properly instructed about this before he reaches this stage of physical maturity. He should be made to understand that night emissions -- termed nocturnal emissions -- are natural and normal -- the natural "safety valve" which God designed to eliminate the excess semen as it develops, so that neither masturbation nor premarital sex experience is necessary -- and neither should ever be resorted to.

Nearly all books about sex -- produced by the medical doctors, psychiatrists and others from the purely physical approach -- assert that masturbation is not harmful. THEY ARE WRONG!

WHY must humans -- even the "professionals" -- always go to one or the other extreme, as far from truth as possible?

On the one hand, many boys have been told, falsely, that masturbation causes insanity, loss of virility, sterility, pimples, etc., etc. This is not true. Scaring boys with lies is not the thing to do!

On the other hand, masturbation is a form of PERVERSION. It is a SIN! It does harm the boy -- or the man -- physically, over a period of twelve to twenty-four hours by dulling the mind, even causing a partial blurring of sight, and acting as a partial anesthetic to the memory. Often a boy will experience absent-minded proclivities following masturbation.

It is harmful psychologically! The mind is on self -- on sex -- not on a lovely wife. Invariably it produces a guilty conscience, and destroys normal confidence. Sex experience belongs in marriage! The mental attitude is the all-important factor. God intended it to be that sacred and WONDERFUL relationship of expressing LOVE in that most intimate and personal of all human physical and psychological experiences, which binds husband and wife together truly as ONE FLESH! When sex is expressed in any other way, it ROBS one of a portion of that blissful, delightful and truly WONDERFUL God-ordained experience! Remember LOVE IS giving -- an outgoing concern -- as well as sharing. Masturbation is neither.

Masturbation is either plain LUST, or else a desire for relief. But God provided for relief, through the means of nocturnal emissions during sleep. If such natural relief is needed, the boy or man may induce it by sleeping on his back.

Most boys and many girls get into the habit of masturbation at an age so young they simply cannot remember its beginning after growing up. It is a nasty habit, often almost impossible to break. There is no greater plague!

Even a baby may discover a pleasurable sex sensation. It could and often does happen accidentally. Even before one year old, some babies may discover this and start masturbating. The parent should be constantly on guard. Treat it, in infancy, in the same category as thumb-sucking, or putting a finger in his nose. Teach the child that he should not play with parts of the body. Do not frighten him. Do not lie to him. Just tell him his thumb, or his penis, or his nose, was given him for a different purpose -- and he must not misuse it. And back up your teaching with discipline -- and punishment if necessary!

And don't assume that only boys and men masturbate. It is a perversion practiced by girls -- and grown women -- also. The difference in sex is only relative. A higher percentage of males practice it, but more females are guilty of it than commonly realized.

This will require constant vigilance! DON'T NEGLECT IT! It is a serious parental responsibility!

The matter of circumcision was treated in an earlier chapter. At cost of repetition, it should be mentioned in this connection.

As a religious rite, as the apostle Paul explained, circumcision under the New Testament is spiritual -- of the heart and not of the flesh. Although it is NOT TODAY A RELIGIOUS RITE, nevertheless, it is urgently recommended for all male babies, for purely physical reasons. Check the index, turn back and reread what was written before on the subject. Circumcision will greatly lessen the danger of masturbation.

IGNORANCE ABOUT SEX IS NOT, OF course, the only cause of unhappy marriage and divorce. Many causes contribute. Religious difference is one. The Roman Catholic Church is very emphatic in restraining its members from marrying non-Catholics.

Neither should a truly converted Christian ever marry a non-Christian. God commands Christians: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (II Cor. 6:14.)

That fellowship of a Christian with unbelievers should be avoided, even in dating. For dating too often leads to marriage!

In different ways, according to varying customs, dating has been practiced as far back as history records. But, as in all things, dating has a right and a wrong use. The right kind of dating has become virtually a lost art today -- especially in America.

Enough has been said, in Chapters 11 and 12, in regard to the almost universal modern custom of "necking," "petting," "heavy petting" and premarital intercourse. These immoral practices dominate modern-day dating. Most dates consist of either this sort of thing, or a ready-made daydream watching a motion picture.

Enough, also, has been said about "going steady." This should not be done by teenagers. After one is mentally, emotionally and spiritually mature, and qualified to assume the responsibilities of marriage, steady dating with the most likely choice for an engagement to be married becomes a different matter.

But until then, avoid "going steady." Date different ones. Let the dates be on a higher mental, intellectual and ethical plane. Let the dates be up-building, contributing to mutual self-improvement.

When I was a young man, a date was a challenge. My effort was to make the date mentally stimulating, and enjoyably beneficial. Of course, some of them included dances, the theater, an occasional "movie." But often they included ice-skating or other such interests, and often simply going walking -- with a scintillating conversation.

In Ambassador College we encourage dating. But we very definitely discourage "going steady" -- until the middle of the senior year.

And remember this: It is GOD who joins together in marriage a husband and a wife. Therefore it ought to be -- in your own interest -- GOD who selects for you the husband or wife you are going to marry! And GOD will do this, if you ask Him, and then refrain from getting in a hurry and taking it into your own hands! This may require self-restraint and patience, yes, and also FAITH. But if you rely on God, He will not fail you. And if HE selects your lifelong mate, you'll have the RIGHT ONE!

I didn't realize this before I was married. Yet I have always known that, in His mercy, God did select for me the young woman I married. And now, more than a half century later, I am more sure of it than ever before!

If you are a parent of one or more teenage children, should you try to force your children to date only converted young people -- or those of your choice? YOU'LL DRIVE THEM DIRECTLY THE OTHER WAY, IF YOU DO! Your responsibility is to TEACH your children the TRUTH -- and teach them, as they grow up, gradually to assume more and more responsibility themselves. Of course, this teaching ought to begin during their first year of infancy. For many of our readers it will be too late for that, now. Then USE TACT. Your children may now be past the age where you can guide their lives. They have minds of their own. But, in sympathetic understanding and tact, try to induce them to be willing to counsel with you in regard to general principles and truths. But NEVER try to pick for them the one they are to marry. If you have a choice, above all, NEVER let them know it -- unless they voluntarily ask your counsel and advice. Otherwise, you'll drive them the opposite direction!

But, in my nearly fifty years of counseling in the problems of unhappy marriages and divorces, the overwhelming majority of cases involved couples who married too young.

Thousands have asked us, "What is the best age for marriage?" An article on this subject has appeared twice in "The Plain Truth." The answer to that question is so vitally important, it simply cannot be omitted from this book. Therefore, it is here reprinted to complete the remainder of this chapter.

Some 20 years ago I officiated at a wedding in stately Memorial Hall at Ambassador College in England (now closed). My next-to-youngest grandson, Richard David Armstrong II, then age two and a half, thought the ceremony so very nice, he said:

"Mommie, I want to get married!"

"Well!" answered his mother, a little shocked -- a little amused, "and whom do you want to marry?"

"Karen," replied little Dicky promptly.

"But Karen has just been married. She can't marry anybody else, now."

"Well then," decided Dicky, "I'll marry Sheila." Sheila is a very nice Irish colleen, and was then a student in the college.

"But Sheila is grown up now, and in college," protested "Mommie." "What if she won't have you?"

"Then I'll marry you, Mommie," came the quick decision.

We may smile at the idea of a two- or three-year-old's getting married. It would be a bit irregular! Marriage is not for children! Marriage is for ADULTS. Marriage is pretty serious business!

Marriage entails the assuming of very serious responsibilities. Children do not realize this, of course. Marriage is a lot more than romance. It is more than daydreams about a "Prince Charming," or floating around on "cloud nine," or being in a lover's arms.

But when do we become adults?

Are not boys and girls adults at around age fourteen? No. Far from it! Let's understand WHY!

Human beings know nothing at birth. We have to learn, or be taught -- EVERYTHING! Without any knowledge, or with erroneous knowledge, we are helpless -- as newborn babes. But there are some things many fail to learn. One of these is the right age for marriage.

Whatever an adult knows, true or false, has come into his mind since birth.

It may sound surprising or incredible, but a person actually learns more during his first year of life than in any succeeding year. If a one-year-old baby could talk plainly with complete and adequate vocabulary, you'd be completely amazed at how much he has learned that first year!

The second year he learns a trifle less than the first, and the third year a little less than the second. Gradually, his capacity for learning decreases year by year, if only slightly. This is hard to believe for the simple reason that a two-year-old adds his second-year acquisition to what he learned the first year, the third to that, and so through the years his total store of knowledge increases continually.

But a person past sixty cannot learn something new in a field new and strange to him as readily as a young person of twenty-two or twenty-three. Does this mean that a well-educated man of sixty knows less than a young man of twenty-two? Of course not. Other things being equal, he knows significantly more -- because he has accumulated knowledge of all those years since age twenty-two added to what he knew then -- and he has learned much by experience. That is one reason wisdom comes with age!

But a two-and-a-half-year-old cannot delve very deeply into the study of advanced mathematics, philosophy, nuclear fission, business administration, economics or child rearing. He would have very different ideas on the latter than he probably will have when he becomes a parent!

The first five or six years of life are, so we believe from experience, most profitably spent in learning the basic things of infant and child learning -- how to walk, talk, eat, run and play -- knowledge about lots and lots of things. The little child learns what an automobile is -- an airplane -- he learns about animals -- many things.

He may even be taught to count, and part or all of the alphabet. However, the kind of knowledge taught in school (kindergarten excepted) seems most effectively taught beginning age six. At that age the child can learn to write, to read and to spell simple words. In some countries he begins to learn a second language at that age. For the next ten years he acquires gradually all the foundational elementary knowledge, and during the last two of the ten perhaps a bit of preparatory knowledge for higher education.

All these years the normal individual has been learning rapidly. There is a great deal to know before maturity, and he is not mature yet! Many, in their own minds, know more than Dad or Mom. You see, what they do not yet know, they don't know that they don't know! But there is still much to learn.

But by age sixteen the average normal young person of good mind is ready to begin a little more advanced study into more solid fields.

But along in these early and mid-teenage years, usually twelve to fourteen, the physical body suddenly speeds up its growth and development. The teenager at this point sprouts up much taller within a single year, with bodily changes from child to man or woman.

Suddenly the young person feels "grown up" -- adult. He usually does not realize that at this stage the body makes a rather sudden leap toward maturity, while the mind makes no corresponding advance! The mind continues on at only the same year-to-year gradual development. The mind is still more child than adult. Its interests are still mostly "having fun," games, entertainments. Sexual maturity is suddenly reached, long in advance of mental, emotional and spiritual maturity.

A human being is not a mere body. The married state needs maturity of mind, emotions and spiritual qualities as much as physical adulthood.

A boy or girl is physically able to become a father or mother years before he or she is qualified to assume the responsibilities of parenthood.

But, suddenly becoming taller and physically developed, the boy or girl feels mature. A new awareness of the opposite sex is present. What the child of this age does not yet know, I repeat, he usually fails utterly to realize.

The attraction of the other sex acts as a magnet. The girl dreams of her Prince Charming; desire is awakened in the boy to hold an attractive girl in his arms.

The girl often falls in love with love, a certain boy being the focal point of her fantasy. Of course she only sees this particular boy as she imagines him to be, not as he really is. She is dead sure she is in love. And no one can awaken her from this entrancing dream. There are many facts of reality about this puppy-love affair of which she is totally unaware.

But, again, what she doesn't know that her parents see so plainly, she simply doesn't know that she doesn't know! She simply has to outgrow it! The very fact that she is not mature enough to recognize her immaturity is proof that she is still too immature for marriage.

At this stage, the parents have a problem on their hands, and need great wisdom to deal properly with it.

I repeat, marriage is not for children.

But when does a child become an adult? When is one ready for marriage?

Marriage is in itself a career. One is not ready to enter upon any profession or career until after full preparation. This preparation may be divided, roughly, into three stages. First, that of infancy, preparing the child for school. Second, elementary and preparatory schooling prior to, thirdly, more advanced education and specialized training for the adult life's work.

There are really three stages, roughly, of mental development that parallel these stages of preparation. First, the change from babyhood to boyhood or girlhood around age six. Then the mind, as a rule, has absorbed enough elementary and semi-mature knowledge, by age sixteen, to begin more mature thinking and learning. Age sixteen is a crucial year in mental development.

Prior to age sixteen the average youth has little awareness of the seriousness of life, of world conditions, of human problems or the purposes of life. In our American public school system, he enters senior high school, or the last two years of preparatory school at about this age.

But the mind does not really become mature, on the average, until age twenty-five. At age twenty-five a more definite adulthood of mind, attitude, interests, is reached. The mind becomes more "set" in its ways.

The years between ages sixteen and twenty-five are the vitally important years of adult preparation for life's work. These are the crucial years of PREPARATION. During these years the mind is capable of acquiring faster than at any other stage of life the advanced knowledge needed before beginning one's adult career -- whether it be business, profession, occupation or marriage. Before age sixteen, the mind has not acquired the basic elementary knowledge needed as a foundation for entering more advanced study -- and the mind has not developed in serious comprehension to the level of advanced knowledge. After age twenty-five, the mind which has stagnated since age sixteen finds it difficult to enter upon more mature study.

Before age sixteen, the mind simply is not mature. At age sixteen, it is merely prepared to begin acquiring the more mature preparation for either career, business or marriage.

It should be borne in mind, I am speaking of average ages. There are, of course, exceptions -- but in my experience about ninety-nine in one hundred follow this pattern.

Another stage of maturity seems to be reached at about age thirty. I have noticed that, although most young people reach a certain mental maturity at age twenty-five, a far more complete maturity of mind, personality, performance and influence on others is reached at age thirty.

By age thirty the man or woman has added five years of practical experience, in addition to further study, to the preparatory knowledge and final reaching of mental maturity attained at twenty-five. Prior to twenty-five, the young man is often called just that -- "young man" -- by older men. I can remember how, in my carnal preconversion vanity, I smarted under being spoken to as "young man" by business executives I dealt with. This expression simply meant they did not accept me, yet, as a fully mature man, and I knew it.

Somehow, the vanity in a young man of eighteen and older makes him want to be considered mature -- as a completely adult, fully experienced MAN. He wants to be considered older than he is. But as soon as young women are past twenty to twenty-five, female vanity usually causes them to want to be considered younger than they are!

The fact that a man attains a more complete maturity of personality, leadership and influence by age thirty seems fully recognized by the Eternal God. In ancient Israel the Levites were ordained to full priesthood at age thirty -- although they were put into military service at age twenty.

Jesus Christ, our Example, did not begin His active ministry until age thirty. All years prior to that were years of learning and preparation.

Yet in ancient Israel men began actual service, adult work, and even military service, at age twenty. This, however, does not mean that they were fully and completely educated at that age. Actually, their first years of service were those of apprenticeship -- training, preparation. They probably were not accounted fully prepared for adult responsibilities until twenty-five, though the exact facts are not given.

Apparently God has not given specific and direct instruction or command as to the proper age for marriage. God did not even count people in the census, as adults, until age twenty. While there appears to be no punishable prohibition against marriage prior to age twenty, there is every indication that on God's instruction juveniles were considered children until twenty. At twenty they were considered "of age." This by no means implies they were expected to marry by age twenty! Rather that they were expected not to marry until at least twenty -- OR MORE.

Based on actual experience, my judgment is -- and I think it is sound judgment guided and approved by God -- that until out of the "teens" a boy or girl is too young to marry! And it is also my judgment -- and I think it is sound and approved by God -- based on lifelong experience counseling on marriage problems of hundreds of people -- that even twenty is too young to be the best age for marriage.

Two factors are the major causes of broken marriages, or of unhappy problem marriages, in the hundreds of cases that have come to me for advice and counsel: sex ignorance and marriage prior to age twenty. Quite often these two are merged in the same case. A great majority of all unhappy or broken marriages that have been brought to my attention were those of people who married too young!

Only too well I know that teenagers who think they are in love will not listen or heed. That very FACT proves they are too young for the responsibilities of marriage. Marriage is so much more than romance, necking, lovemaking and immature emotional bliss. Thousands of young people have gone ahead heedless, and been sadly disillusioned to learn that lesson -- TOO LATE!

But in my judgment, except in rare cases or circumstances, even twenty is too early an age for marriage. I can only give my judgment. But is based on experience. It is based on facts and knowledge. It is based on what biblical revelation God has given us. It is based on hundreds of case histories.

But here it is, and young people will do well to heed it -- and later be glad they did! The best age for a man to marry is around twenty-four to twenty-six, after he has devoted those top aptitude years between sixteen and twenty-five for mature education, experience and preparation -- after he has acquired the knowledge, preparation and preliminary experience to assume adult responsibilities -- after he is able to assume the responsibility of supporting a wife -- and family! And the best age for a girl to marry is between twenty-three and twenty-five when she has utilized those top aptitude years for preparation, and is prepared to assume the duties of wifehood and motherhood -- the responsibilities of planning, decorating, arranging a home, keeping it, and being a help and inspiration to her husband.

I sincerely believe, in view of what God has developed, that He brought about circumstances and influences to shape my early life, and also my wife's, as a preparation for a very great worldwide work He willed to accomplish. I believe I was steered and guided by His unseen Hand in ways I did not realize then. And Mrs. Armstrong and I were married when we were both twenty-five. We were mature enough to assume the responsibilities.

Our marriage was most happy, and blessed beyond words to describe. And, after all those years during which God blessed us with four fine children, equally fine sons- and daughters-in-law, and eleven fine grandchildren, our marriage was still happy beyond words to describe. In fact it was happier then than ever before, because it had grown constantly more and more happy. WHAT A BLESSING!

Wouldn't you like yours to be equally so? Then heed! Use wisdom!

What has been written above applies to a first marriage on reaching adulthood. Marriage was ordained by God "until death do us part." My first marriage was broken only by the death of my beloved wife after fifty years.

But what about a second marriage of a widower or a widow? In such a marriage age is not an important factor. It is not so necessary to be like-AGED as to be like-MINDED!

One in God's Church should never marry outside the Church. There should be like-mindedness spiritually and secularly. There should be physical appeal and harmonious companionship.

IS PLANNED PARENTHOOD WRONG? Is the use of contraceptives contrary to God's biblical teachings?

The Roman Catholic Church has always responded, "YES!"

But if the BIBLE -- the HOLY WORD OF GOD -- the Maker's INSTRUCTION BOOK to mankind -- be your true AUTHORITY, it says no such thing!

Sometimes the case of Onan is cited, in an effort to sustain the false dogma against intelligent planned parenthood. But that incident upholds no such teaching.

Judah, father of the Jews, had three sons. Er, Judah's eldest son, died, leaving a childless widow. By Israelitish law, it then became the legal duty for Judah's second son, Onan, to marry the widowed Tamar, for the very purpose of begetting a son to bear the deceased brother's name. The legal statute involved here is stated in Deuteronomy 25 (RSV trans.): "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside the family to a stranger; her husband's [unmarried] brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead" (Deut. 25:5-6).

Now continue the story of Onan:

"But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother" (Gen. 38:9-10, RSV).

So God destroyed Onan. WHY? Not for planned parenthood -- not for intelligent spacing of the arrival of children in a happy family. Onan's purpose in preventing conception was nothing of the kind. He prevented conception because he knew that the son born would not belong to him -- he did it "lest he should give offspring to his brother."

Onan's SIN was not planned parenthood. There is no biblical law forbidding planned parenthood. His sin was his refusal to OBEY THE LAW which required him to beget a son to bear his brother's name. His disobedience of THAT LAW was his sin. No such law pertains to New Testament Christians.

Animals do not practice planned parenthood, because they have no MINDS to do the thinking, reasoning and planning. With animals conception takes place as a result of instinct. It is automatic. Reproduction is the sole purpose of sex in animals.

NOT SO with humans. Sex serves the wonderful purpose of LOVE-giving in marriage. Humans are endowed with MINDS. Humans were placed on earth for the express PURPOSE of developing godlike CHARACTER -- learning to make right decisions, with prayerful guidance from God and His Word, and to exercise the self-direction to rightly act on those decisions.

Planned parenthood violates NO LAW OF GOD! Planned parenthood is a definite contribution to this supreme purpose of character building. It entails, of course, the responsibility for right and wise planning.

Any teaching or legislating which violates this divine PURPOSE of God -- which instills in wives the dread and fear of pregnancy -- is a religious heresy, and/or a violation of the higher Laws of Almighty GOD!

No wife should ever need to suffer the fear of pregnancy. It is natural for every wife to want to become a mother. To prevent having children and producing a FAMILY would be a direct violation of God's command, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." But to PLAN a family in an intelligent manner, as to the time of the first arrival, and the time-spacing of other children -- that is a different matter. Nothing in the Bible forbids this. MUCH in the Bible, in principle, supports it!

At this point, I STOP! I had intended, in this revised edition, to include a chapter dealing with the subjects of contraceptives, and of sexual dysfunctions. A certain percentage of marriages are troubled with sexual dysfunctions, either on the part of the wife or of the husband.

But on further thought I have changed my mind. I deliberately avoided giving technical contraceptive information in the two previous editions of this book. It was offered free to our "Plain Truth" subscribers. I felt the book might fall into teenage hands -- and I felt it should. But also I knew that, prior to marriage, they should not be in any rightful and moral NEED of contraceptive knowledge. Of course many of them have that knowledge already -- only many of them get it "dirty" from other kids -- and improper knowledge.

I do not wish to encourage premarital sex by supplying such knowledge -- and in this book it could serve such a purpose. Therefore I will say simply that married people who need such information may find it available in books that may be purchased at bookstores.

On contraceptives I will mention two.

One is "Conception, Birth and Contraception -- a Visual Presentation" by Robert J. Demarest, Department of Anatomy, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, and John J. Sciarra, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Gynecology, University of Minnesota. Publishers, the Blakiston Division, McGraw Hill Book Co.

The other is "The Birth Control Book" by Howard I. Shapiro, M.D., published by Avon, a Division of The Hearst Corp., 959 Eighth Ave., New York.

As to sexual dysfunctions in the male and in the female, such as premature ejaculation, or orgasmic dysfunctions, "The New Sex Therapy" by Helen Singer Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D., head of Sex Therapy and Education program, Cornell University, and Payne Whitney Clinic, the New York Hospital. Published by Quadrangle, the New York Times Book Co.

The most generally recognized authorities on sex instruction are Masters and Johnson of St. Louis. They began their researches several years ago at Washington University, St. Louis. They are William H. Masters, M.D., and Virginia E. Johnson (who is Mrs. Masters). They now head the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation of St. Louis. They have published several books, and I think almost any bookstore would procure for you one of their latest books.

ONCE A COUPLE IS ENGAGED TO BE married -- then what? What should be their standard of conduct?

Virtually everybody, today, would assume that "necking" is completely within the bounds of propriety after a definite engagement. But is it? Let's look rationally at facts unconsidered in the almost universal assumption.

What about premarital sexual intercourse between engaged couples? Does it help prepare for adjustment in marriage -- or does it prevent or make more difficult that adjustment? What are the true facts?

The "New Morality" trend has changed the thinking -- and the behavior -- of most juveniles and adults under thirty. Perhaps the overwhelming majority. These "emancipated" moderns view premarital sex as entirely acceptable between engaged couples. Such experience has come to have general public acceptance even where there is no engagement.

It seems so hard for humans to realize that whatever is becoming customary is not necessarily good. But there is a LAW! Put your hand on a red-hot stove, and your hand will be painfully burned! But people can't seem to understand WHY they can't put their hands on red-hot stoves, and not be burned!

These inexorable LAWS are GOOD, not bad! They are THE WAY to well-being, happiness, enjoyable living! People can't seem to believe that.

Of course the "educated" and "scientific" world rejects all knowledge of the invisible but living LAWS of God. It seeks answers by purely physical, experimental and research expedients. Research studies have attempted to arrive at the final answer to the question, "Does premarital experience affect later marital happiness -- and if so, how?"

They have found that those who had indulged in sex relations prior to marriage were less well-adjusted in marriage than those who married without previous experience. But they found so many complicating factors they could arrive at no "scientific" conclusion. Premarital experience nearly always must be carried on under very unsatisfactory conditions, as to environment, need for secrecy, psychological disturbances, fear of pregnancy and/or possibility of venereal disease, and many other impeding and unsatisfactory factors.

A couple in a large university a decade ago, began "going steady." Since premarital sex was the accepted custom, they indulged in "the usual." The girl, a brilliant all-A student, became pregnant. They decided immediately they had to marry. But they didn't tell their parents about the pregnancy.

Both parents objected violently. The young man's parents were socially prominent, the girl's were not -- though the girl's parents were actually of superior intellectual level. The girl had career ambitions, expecting to continue on in graduate school to work for a Ph.D. Of course her career dreams were now shattered. It was only after the students confessed the pregnancy that the parents consented to the marriage. These particular parents were a bit "old-fashioned." To them the illegitimate conception was a stigma and a disgrace.

The marriage was never happy. The young wife was bitterly resentful of being unable to continue her career. She resented her baby. She allowed this resentment to be transferred to her husband. Although she had consented to sexual intercourse before marriage -- because it seemed to be "the thing to do," she became frigid in marriage. The young husband began going elsewhere for sex. The marriage ended in divorce, and -- unhappiness!

"We're going to be married, anyway," argue many engaged people. "So what's the difference?"

What's the difference! It's the difference between SIN and righteousness -- between RUINING the marriage, and SAVING it for a true God-plane relationship -- between corroding and seriously detracting from this lifelong companionship, and keeping it clean, pure and full of joy.

An engagement, as considered today, is not a marriage. It is merely the understanding or agreement between a man and woman that they intend to become married. But the engagement does not involve the marriage vow.

Sexual intercourse prior to the actual marriage vow is FORNICATION, and the law of God is inexorable -- it will exact the penalty -- CAPITAL PUNISHMENT! It is, in the sight of God, as great a crime as MURDER!

All government is based on law -- or a foundational constitution. That underlying law is a "way of life."

Few know it today, but only the law of God -- a spiritual law -- defines the way of life -- the "life-style," if you prefer -- that is good for the participants. It is the law that will finally judge you and me.

That law says fornication and adultery are bad for those who do them. That law will judge you in the final judgment for ETERNITY! To break it is harmful for you now, and in the final judgment you face the DEATH PENALTY!

God denies us NOTHING that is for our good. God LOVES us!

Read again Chapters 4 and 5. Catch anew a vision of the sacredness -- the supreme God-plane blessing of the marriage and family relationship, bestowed on no other creatures or kind of life except human!

It ought to be looked forward to by the bride as the very PINNACLE of human experience! A bride should -- and a few still do -- have dreams of the coming marriage so idealistic and lofty they touch heaven!

To commit fornication prior to that wedding is to profane that sacred state of marriage -- to drag it through a filthy cesspool into the depths of degradation. Any man who would suggest, or make advances toward, such a defiling of his marriage is not fit to enter that sacred relationship. And any woman who would submit to it is not fit to be the mother of her husband's children!

But what about plain "necking"?

This, it has been made plain in the 11th chapter, is a PART -- and the most important and necessary part-of sexual intercourse! Therefore IT IS FORNICATION!

What, then, are the true facts? They are far different from modern immoral customs! The engaged couple should be doubly careful to avoid any form of love-making by physical contact in any way! Doubly careful because of the temptation to say, "Oh well -- we're going to be married anyway," and so be unable to resist the temptation to continue on into fornication.

This is not to say that a fond embrace and a kiss -- if not prolonged -- are wrong. But remember, the male is sexually aroused in five to ten seconds -- or less. Any such embrace or kiss ought never be prolonged sufficiently to produce arousal and desire. This is the time to practice self-restraint. This is the time to demonstrate honor with power of WILL.

These facts in themselves argue strongly against prolonged engagements. It is far better for young people resolutely to put thoughts of marriage out of mind until they are qualified to assume the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood. Until you reach this status, date different ones. But avoid "getting serious."

There are certain fallacious ideas held more or less generally by those not properly informed.

Some young men and girls believe that the relative sizes of sexual organs may become a serious problem in sexual adjustment after marriage. They wonder if they are properly mated sexually. They may be tempted to experiment to be sure. This is an UTTER FALLACY!

God Almighty placed the female hymen at the orifice of the vagina to protect young ladies until marriage. Do not assume the female hymen "just happened to grow there." It was deliberately planned and designed by our Maker for a purpose -- to be a warning and a protection against sexual experience until marriage! To protect girls from what society has forgotten is CAPITAL SIN -- indicting with CAPITAL PUNISHMENT!

Try to laugh this truth off because of human society's falsely accepted codes at your peril. GOD IS NOT MOCKED! He loves us, yet if we gloss over His law of love now, we shall be judged by that law in the end!

God has set a LAW in living motion that makes fornication a CAPITAL SIN. Would an all-wise, all-loving GOD have made people so that they cannot be sure whether they are mated, unless they commit a CAPITAL SIN to find out?

You may be SURE that God, in His wisdom, made no such mistake. True, sex organs, like hands, ears, feet or other parts of the body, do vary slightly in size and shape. But size has nothing to do with being properly mated! No adjustment will be necessary because of any size variations! The smallest vagina is made so that it will stretch sufficiently to allow the passage of a baby's head and shoulders when it is born! And no penis is ever that large! Also the smallest penis will fit perfectly into the vagina of a man's wife -- regardless of whom he marries!

You do need to be sure you are properly mated -- mentally, socially, religiously, emotionally, and that you are IN LOVE! But forget the sex until you are married. The GREAT GOD has seen to it that you'll be mated in that one category in which HE forbids premarital experimenting!

Many a bride of pre-"New Morality" years became nervous as the wedding approached, in real fear that she might discover that the husband's penis was so large it might cause severe pain. THAT IS AN UNFOUNDED FALLACY!

The only reason some wives -- and they have been MANY -- have experienced severe pain upon penetration of a husband's penis, is because both have been IGNORANT of the need of the preparation that comes with preliminary LOVEMAKING. If they will be careful to follow the instructions in Chapter 11, and the husband will be careful, considerate and gentle, there will be no cause for concern. Even then there may, occasionally, be a case where entrance must be slow, careful and gentle. But any considerate and informed husband can cooperate to avoid any difficulty.

Some boys believe that continence will reduce sex vitality. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE. Total refraining from sex intercourse, masturbation or other sex outlet DOES NO HARM WHATSOEVER. But the self-discipline of continence develops character!

Many boys and young men think they can detect a homosexual by his appearance, or manner. That is FALSE. Some homosexuals are effeminate. Others are not. Even the Bible recognizes the two kinds. In the 6th chapter of I Corinthians, quoted in an earlier chapter, speaking of those who shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, we find: "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind ... shall inherit the kingdom of God" (verses 9-10). The "effeminate" are one type of homosexual. The "abusers of themselves with mankind" are another type -- not effeminate in manner. GOD, in the vernacular, "has their number." Homosexuals reveal themselves only by their behavior!

Some girls, and some wives, believe that if females do not reach orgasm there can be no pregnancy. THAT IS A DANGEROUS bit of ignorance! Orgasm, as previously explained, has absolutely nothing to do with pregnancy. All that is necessary for pregnancy is the presence of male semen in the vagina, uterus or Fallopian tube. Thousands of women have become pregnant through artificial insemination when no man was near, and no sexual arousal occurred. Others have become pregnant when a bit of semen was left outside the vagina, but within the labia majora.

A very general false conception is the idea that premarital intercourse is a good and necessary test of marital sex compatibility. JUST THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. It not only is a CAPITAL SIN -- it will give a WRONG ANSWER! Girls by thousands today are losing emotional stability, moral security, the happy and joyful anticipation of GIVING THEMSELVES to their husbands as virgins on their wedding night -- and also risking premarital pregnancy and venereal disease -- by following this modern FALSE idea.

Although statistics supplied by the National Research Council indicate as high as 80 percent of brides, since 1950, enter marriage as nonvirgins -- and the percentage today is much higher -- it is believed that a higher portion of those who shall read this book will be virgins at the time of marriage.

This study conducted by this Research Council, however, is shocking. And though the figures are somewhat higher than those provided by similar reports, they definitely show how times have changed. The study indicates that prior to 1912, 82 percent of brides entered marriage as virgins -- only 18 percent of all women had "lost their honor," as it was termed in those days. By 1922, 26 percent had lost their virginity. By 1931 it was 49 percent. The immorality curve soared upward until by 1937, 68 percent of brides entered marriage having lost their virginity! And by 1950 an incredible 80 percent of brides were no longer virgins on their wedding day! And conditions are getting worse!

Nevertheless, a few, even though a minority, still become brides in full retention of their moral HONOR! And for them, and their well-blessed bridegrooms, some important instruction must be given.

What a WONDERFUL, blessed and thrilling event it ought to be for a young woman who has kept herself a virgin to give herself, at last, to the man of her dreams -- the man whom she dearly LOVES -- the man to whom GOD has just joined her in holy wedlock FOR LIFE! Most assuredly this is the pinnacle of human emotional experience for a right-minded young woman of high ideals!

The wedding night will be a spiritual, as well as a physical experience. But the crux of the physical experience is that of defloration -- the removal of the hymen. By now it shall have served its purpose.

There are two ways of accomplishing the defloration. One is by stretching, the other must be by rupture.

In a very small percentage of women the hymen is sufficiently flexible that it may be stretched during the first experience of intercourse, without the necessity of being broken. In such cases -- and they are somewhat rare -- if the penis is very slowly and carefully introduced, it may be wedged in gradually. There will be a certain drawing pain, but if preceded by preparatory caressing and lovemaking until arousal is experienced, and a sexual desire has been stimulated, this pain will be mixed with sensations of pleasure.

It may take several minutes, under careful pressure, but it may thus be possible to produce complete penetration of the penis without tearing the hymen -- merely stretching it. This may need to be repeated several times in the same manner, and finally the hymen will completely relax. The defloration will have been completed in a bloodless and comparatively painless manner.

But in most women, the opening through the hymen will be too small to allow this stretching process. In such cases, the penis must be thrust with sufficient power -- but not necessarily rapidly -- to break open the hymen. Yet the husband ought not to do the thrusting -- but the wife -- as we shall explain.

Both men and women often have ridiculous and unfounded ideas about this act of defloration. Many a bridegroom has worried for fear he may be unable to accomplish it. But every normal man will have a penis of sufficient stoutness to break the hymen. Besides, he should not do it -- but the bride.

Some women, on the other hand, are seized with fear of being "torn apart." This is due to ignorance! It seems too bad that the 80 percent plus of unmarried nonvirgins didn't worry more about it -- or the approximately 99 percent of males who have had premarital experience!

There need be only slight pain to the bride -- and that, in such manner that she may control it, as well as when and how it occurs, herself!.

On this particular night, of all times, there should be no direct contact of the sex organs until after there has been lovemaking in abundance. The preparation must be fully carried out, first. The bride must be brought to arousal and desire. The vaginal area must be thoroughly lubricated.

Then, when the wife is ready, let the penis be placed at the entrance to the vagina. A new bridegroom may not know where to find it. The wife should not be too timid to guide the penis to the right spot. Then, the husband should remain rigidly STILL! He should not attempt to plunge on through the hymen -- for that might really cause pain. Instead, while he holds rigidly still, the wife should do the pushing. She will soon learn whether the penis can be slowly wedged in. Probably not! And if not, it must be powerfully thrust on through -- but while the husband remains rigidly and firmly still. She knows what pain she can stand -- and when she does the shoving, she knows when the pain is coming! In most cases, it will not be great. And it will be accompanied with great joy, and also with pleasurable and voluptuous sensations and delights!

In very rare cases, the hymen will prove too thick and stubborn to be broken in this manner. If success is not attained the first night it is attempted, try again the next night. And, if necessary, a third. If it appears that it is going to be impossible, then go to a physician, and he can open the hymen with a very simple, harmless and probably painless surgery. But by all means avoid the surgeon if possible.

Some "authorities" recommend going to the surgeon for this defloration prior to marriage. But we answer, NEVER!

Sixty years ago many young men would discuss the idea of whether they should not wait a night or two after the wedding before approaching their brides sexually. The theory was that a bride would be so nervous after her wedding that she ought to be given a day or two of quiet and relaxation. But times have changed. The average bride, today, wants her husband to approach her sexually on the wedding night.

But, unless the bride is completely done in, and upset with nervousness, the husband surely ought to take her into his arms in bed, and quiet her nerves with LOVE! It is certainly to be recommended that he do this first, and delay any questions about deferring the sexual contact until LOVE has been expressed -- unless she herself asks otherwise.

Every bridegroom ought to realize the bride's psychological situation on her wedding day. It is her greatest hour! In many cases she will be leaving her parents and her home. She is embarking on a new and different life.

If there is a reception following the wedding ceremony, the bridegroom (and, of course, also the bride) should be careful, if any alcoholic beverages are served, either to abstain, or to partake with extreme temperance. He must retain complete mental and physical alertness. He may be driving a car immediately afterward. He must be completely sober as he takes his bride into his arms on the wedding night. To ruin this night might be to ruin the marriage for life.

Above all, he must now show consideration, tenderness, kindness and love as never before to the girl he has married -- and this must continue into the wedding night. He should realize solemnly that the purpose of this night is not to give him pleasure. Only a selfish ignoramus would consider it so. This should be her night.

Many a wedding is wrecked for life on the wedding night. Many a bride has been cruelly raped by a self-centered, ignorant lout who was seeking only his own gratification.

This, above all, is the night to be gentle, tender, considerate and loving. This is perhaps the most critical night of his life -- and hers! The fate of the lifelong, or divorce-short marriage is at stake! First impressions are lasting. Make your bride's first impression of sex one of respect, admiration of her husband, and of God -- ordained LOVE and TENDERNESS and consideration!

And, finally, a few very necessary cautions.

The bride-to-be should, of course, be careful to set the wedding shortly after a menstrual period -- being very careful in her calculation -- and leaving a safe margin for error, or irregularity due to the nervous tension of the time.

The bridegroom should REALIZE, and NOT FORGET, that on this wedding night above all, he must not embarrass his bride. If she wishes to undress in privacy, give her the opportunity. When ready for bed, REMEMBER, nearly all women want either darkness or very subdued light. That's one of the differences between human male and female.

Remember, too, that although the Maker of us all made the female body to be attractive, beautiful and even sex-arousing to the male, the female mind is altogether different. No man should display his body, or especially the pubic region before the new bride -- above all on this wedding night.

The fact that God talked to the first man and his wife in their complete nudity -- that they were not ashamed (Gen. 2:25) and God made no effort at that time to cover them -- does indicate that God imposes no command that husband and wife always be covered before each other. It is after the public -- other people -- "ALL LIVING" -- are mentioned, in Genesis 3:20, that God (verse 21) clothed them. This would indicate that there is no prohibition against nudity between husband and wife in the privacy of their own bedroom. But, REGARDLESS, no bridegroom ought to embarrass or shock his new bride by displaying his body, or demanding that she display hers, on this wedding night.

Take plenty of time to get used to one another! As you value your future marriage together, BE CAREFUL -- avoid embarrassment -- take time!

Read again the instruction given in Chapter 11 about how a husband and wife ought to appear before each other in bedroom privacy -- the bedclothes, undergarments, careful grooming.

The new husband should not think of this wedding night as a night of sensual pleasure -- but a night of LOVE! This is the most critical night of his life! The fate of a lifelong marriage could be at stake. The experience of this night may determine the bride's attitude toward the sexual relationship for life! And her attitude is the ALL-IMPORTANT thing! She has, in all probability from girlhood, had an idealistic picture in her mind of marriage and husband. Don't destroy it!

The CURSE of so many millions of marriages through the centuries prior to 1914 was the attitude of wives toward it -- and toward the sexual relation. This attitude, of course, was formed by false repressive teachings, and by ignorance.

The reader of this volume is blessed with the right and proper teaching, and with true and wholesome knowledge.

Still, much of the entire lifelong marriage relationship depends on a right attitude on the part of the wife.

The properly instructed bride, with a correct view of love and marriage, looks forward to this moment -- the wedding night -- as the fulfillment of the purpose of her youth. She has accepted the right man. He is her ideal. She is in love. She doesn't fear him as a stranger. As he now takes her into his arms, she happily and impulsively embraces him.

She must now realize that he is the complement of her mind and body. Alone, she has been incomplete, imperfect. He is the stronger of the two. Now they are to be joined as ONE. His strength is to be added to -- combined with -- her weaker physical nature.

This is the moment for her to simply give herself to him -- to surrender herself to him -- in loving embrace, and in the pleasure and ecstasy of the moment.

As one writer has stated it, this surrender to her husband is a modest tribute to be paid for the present and future happiness of marriage and motherhood!

In final conclusion, remember that sex, in humans, was designed and created by the ever-living, all-wise GOD as the symbol of LIFE (for through it human life is begotten) and the expression of LOVE.

The Eternal God is working out His greatest and grandest PURPOSE here below. That purpose is the reproduction of His own Kind -- holy, righteous and perfect CHARACTER in the divine FAMILY of the ever-living God! Humans, physically begotten and born through sex, may be spiritually begotten and divinely BORN of GOD -- entering the ETERNALLY LIVING GOD FAMILY!

As physical reproduction is the type and forerunner of spiritual begettal and glorification, so marital LOVE is the type of Christ's LOVE for His Church, and our love for Christ.

The wife's giving of herself, in the ecstasy of love and in obedience, to her husband, is the type and physical counterpart of those in God's Church giving themselves, in love and obedience, to the Christ who bought and paid for us with His life's blood!

God Almighty is the source of LIFE, and of LOVE. Human sex is the symbol and physical counterpart of both -- the source of physical LIFE, and marital LOVE.

These are holy, righteous and sacred things!

The marriage and family relationships are GOD-PLANE relationships, which God shares with humans, and humans only!

A perverted, hostile devil has deceived his world into two extremes away from this beautiful and central TRUTH. First, he represented sex -- physical sources of LIFE and marital LOVE -- as something degrading, shameful and evil. Today he leads people to the opposite extreme away from TRUTH, into accepting the perverted and profaned and lustful uses of sex as being acceptable and good.

In this volume those lying, foul, deceptively false attitudes have been exposed, and the blessed TRUTH made plain.

But remember, the all-important thing is MENTAL ATTITUDE!

Few indeed ever think of the supreme importance of mental attitude in relation to the sex response. But before concluding this book REMEMBER THIS BASIC ALL-IMPORTANT TRUTH!

God created people after the GOD kind, not after the cattle kind, the horse kind, dog kind or any other animal kind. Stamp in your mind the vast difference between the purpose and use of sex in animals compared to humans.

In both animals and humans sex provides the means of reproducing one's kind. But God designed and created sex to serve an altogether DIFFERENT purpose in humans than in animals.

And directly associated with it is another vast DIFFERENCE! Animals, like humans, have brains. But animals were not created with the MIND POWER of the thinking process -- of free moral agency -- of responsibility for direction, right choices, rational direction and performance. Animals have brains, but NOT the spirit that operates in conjunction with brain in man. They are endowed with instinct, but not with the MIND power of the human spirit functioning with the human brain to function as MIND-POWER.

This spirit in humans, plus the fact that man was designed and made in the image of GOD, endows man with the supreme privilege of access to direct contact with God and ultimately sonship of being born a divine Son in the God Family as a very GOD BEING!

How transcendently important!

Now see where this spiritual endowment leads to a vast difference in sexual response.

God gave us humans the privilege of expressing outflowing LOVE -- a spiritual expression -- through sexual union, something entirely foreign to animals. BUT -- this very divinely endowed privilege carries with it a stern character-building responsibility. In humans this spiritually INTENDED RIGHT use may be directed in the opposite direction of LUST.

That is a part of the awe-inspiring human prerogative for which we are charged with accountability!

God is the great GIVER! God's LAW -- His basic way of life -- is outflowing LOVE. But Satan has led a deceived world to call lust "love" -- to call sin OK -- to call wrong right -- to turn GOD'S values upside down. Therefore I simplify the basic way of GOD'S LAW. I term it the way of GIVE as opposed to the way of "GET."

In His love for His prospective children, God gave us humans the physical sensations of exotic pleasure -- in a manner animals know nothing of. By the sense of sight we may ENJOY beautiful landscapes, gorgeous sunsets. We may enjoy beautiful melodic and harmonious music. We may ENJOY the fragrance of beautiful roses, the TASTE of delicious health-building foods. Or, we may turn these senses of sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, into thinking we enjoy the LUST of pornography, the beat and Satan-inspired rhythm of rock-and-roll or disco, the smell of tobacco smoke, or the taste of health-destroying rich foods or desserts.

Likewise God intended the sexual expression to GIVE us (God is the GIVER) -- the extreme delightful sensations of the sense of feel that surpasses ANY enjoyment of the senses, in the GIVING of sincere and genuine LOVE to a husband or wife to whom GOD has bound one for LIFE!

The MARRIAGE union should be the most exquisite and delightful and rewarding experience of human life -- unless it be the JOY of the arrival of one's own baby -- (and the one is preliminary to the other, though God intended the sexual union to provide ecstasies in wholesome marital LOVE repeatedly IN ADDITION TO the function of reproduction).

God in His Word to us speaks of having our senses exercised by use to discern both good and evil uses (Heb. 5:14).

Even the unconverted person who has not received the Holy Spirit to dwell with the human spirit has the MIND power to discern the difference between good and evil uses of the human five senses -- their selfish gratification or wholesome enjoyments.

God INTENDED to bestow upon us humans the pleasures and delights of wholesome and RIGHT uses and enjoyments. And RIGHT enjoyments that are beneficial and lasting gravitate in the direction of GIVING, and destructive and (to us humans) NON-beneficial uses stem from motives of "GETTING" -- lust, covetousness, vanity, self-indulgence.

Self-centered lustful pleasures corrode, injure and tend to destroy the indulger. A first injection of heroin will produce in one sensations enjoyable momentarily -- get one "high" -- but that one leads to a desire for a second, and before it is realized the simpleton who yielded to it is "hooked" where it no longer produces such exhilarating sensations, but the body requires feeding the habit even to get back to normal!

All physical sensations used lustfully or in a manner of self-indulgence do not prove as physically and devastatingly destructive as certain hard drugs. But in the end they prove JUST AS FATAL!

God GAVE us humans five senses. He intended them to be ENJOYED -- to give us wholesome and healthy PLEASURES! But they also may be put to WRONG USES! God gave us MIND-power for sensual discernment. He holds us responsible for our conduct in utilization of that mind-power in our human behavior. The way BEST FOR US is the way of "GIVE" -- outflowing LOVE to God and LOVE to fellowman.

The very PURPOSE OF OUR BEING is the development of righteous perfect spiritual CHARACTER until finally we may become GOD BEINGS, immortal as Sons of GOD in the very supreme GOD FAMILY!

Even the unconverted DO HAVE the human spirit! They have this marvelous MIND power. They are held accountable for its RIGHT USAGE!

And it's all a matter of ATTITUDE!

Most marriages are rendered unhappy by wrong attitudes. Most people marry for selfish purposes. They think only of what they can GET from the other. They want to extract gratification, pleasure, money, security or something for SELF from the mate. True outgoing concern and LOVE is usually lacking.

It is hoped that this volume shall have brought to many thousands a right knowledge of the TRUTH -- helped thousands to a changed and right attitude toward sex, toward wife or husband, toward life, and toward God.

God's Law is THE WAY to every happiness -- whether in marriage, in business -- in LIFE.

If you are one whose marriage has not been happy -- perhaps "on the rocks" -- change your attitude. Follow God's LAWS. Avoid the penalties of unhappiness, troubles and curses. Reap the joys of divinely intended blessings!

If you are unmarried, follow these living inexorable LAWS -- seek God's wisdom and guidance in the selection of a mate when the right time comes -- trust the Living God. He has a deep and tremendous outgoing concern for you. Get your attitude toward sex cleaned up and in harmony with the Maker's purposes. Avoid every misuse or perversion. Reap the glorious rewards a loving God has intended and made available!

The editors and producers of this volume wish God's richest blessings on every reader -- and they will be yours if your attitude and your actions are in harmonious obedience to God's Laws and His TRUTH!

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