Porn: The ultimate idolatry?

Pornography is defined as ‘sexually explicit media that are intended primarily to sexually arouse[1].

‘Sexually explicit’ representations include images of female or male nudity or semi-nudity, implied sexual activity and actual sexual activity (literary or graphic).

Let’s look at porn from the viewpoint of Genesis 1 and 2. Here we get a Bible based, God focussed understanding of sex as a gift from a good and gracious God.

Male and female, embodied and relational: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27).

Male and female together, given the command to have sex and make babies: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number’” (Genesis 1:28):

The man Adam’s ecstatic expression of desire for his mate Eve: “The man said, ‘this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman”, for she was taken out of man.’” (Genesis 2:23)

Adam and Ever were to use our bodies to have healthy relationships with God and each other. The relationship of sex is the most intimate of the earthly relationships. Sexual arousal and orgasm cements a body soul and spirit bond between partners: “a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” (Genesis 2:24-25). A God ordained Oxytocin and Vasopressin brain attachment.

This was what God saw as “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

What does porn do?

Satan, cleverly disguised as porn takes the created goodness of  the human image and the wonderful gift of sex and twists and perverts it to seduce our fallen nature. We see:

1. Destroyed Human Image:

Porn presents pseudo-images of humans, caricatures of normality. These human images have enhanced body parts and unrealistic sexual prowess and insatiable appetites.

2. Perverted Sexuality:

Porn portrays sex as non-relational act, a quick fix for sexual desire, with no romance and just the minimal effort of the tap of a key or flick of a switch.

3. Ruined Relationships:

We the image bearers of God, made to worship him and serve our partners in a marriage relationship, turn our lustful longings to pornified travesties of humanity.

And sex, God’s gift meant to be the sacramental glue that holds a man and woman together in marriage – becomes the brain high of a masturbatory climax to a porn video.

And so in using porn we live a Romans 1 lifestyle where: “… (they) exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is for ever praised.” (Romans 1: 23-25)

Porn is the ultimate in Idolatry.