Paul the Feminist

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote, it is well for a man not to touch a woman. - 1 Corinthians 7.1

Paul gets a bad rap. 

Careful Bible scholars and casual Bible readers alike often dismiss him as a crabbed old chauvinist who relegates women to the back of the biblical bus and tolerates marriage only as a concession to uncontrollable randiness. 1 Corinthians 7.1 presents a case in point as the Apostle to the Gentiles seems to echo that great theologian, Norm Peterson of the television show "Cheers," who once quipped, "Women: Can't live with 'em, pass the beer nuts."

Roy E. Ciampa, professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary offers an insight that might cast Paul in a new, even radical, light. Ciampa has uncovered twenty-one uses of the Greek verb "touch" as a synonym for sexual contact. He sorts them into nine categories:

• sex for the sake of pleasure alone
• using people, such as household slaves, for one's sexual gratification
• sex with a defenseless woman
• sex with a virgin placed under one's care
• sex with a woman during her menstrual cycle
• pederasty 
• incest
• rape
• adultery

Dr. Ciampa draws the following conclusions: First, it is never fruitful; it is never used of procreation. Next, it is never mutual; it is something a person in power does to, not with, the object of desire.

In this light, Paul's "It is well for a man not to touch a woman" takes on the same tenor as our modern prohibition, "Don't drink and drive." We all understand the implication: coffee yes, Mad Dog 20/20 no. Paul does not forbid or even throw shade on sex within marriage as some sort of concession to human frailty. Instead, he says:

• No sexual harassment in the workplace.
• No purchasing sex from a powerless victim. (Addendum: In all purchased sex, the one purchased is powerless. Prostitution aggravates adultery by adding exploitation.)
• No rape.
• No child molestation. 
• No forcing sex on a spouse who is not physically responsive. (Yes, "I have a headache" is a valid objection. Yes, spousal rape is a real thing.)
• In general, no sex that is not both marital and mutual.

This is a needed word in a day of rampant sexual harassment and exploitation, but I think we can make an even wider application. In general, Paul prohibits the unilateral use of power in any way that harms the less-powerful person in the exchange; indeed, I would add, without the consent of the less-powerful person in the exchange. The proper prepositions to govern power are always "for" and "with," never "to." What that might mean in the workplace, the home, and the church, will take some prayer and pondering.

(For more information, see "How is the Euphemism of 'Touching' Used in Greek?" by Roy E. Ciampa.)