Intimate Covenant Podcast
Intimate Covenant Podcast
Darwin, Freud, & Holy Sex -- Unmasking the Roots of Sexual Taboo in Christianity, part 3
We trace how Darwin and Freud shaped cultural ideas about sex and how these philosophies have infiltrated even modern religion.
- Darwin and Freud both rejected a divine order of the universe or a spiritual guide for moral and ethical living. Their influences profoundly shape the course of modern philosophy and our current society.
- Many modern Christians have unwittingly adopted influences from Darwin and Freud into their own theology, especially in how we approach sexuality and sexual desire.
- We must reject the idea that sex is purely biological or that sex is in contrast to spirituality. The Bible teaches that sexuality is created by God with spiritual significance, purpose and importance.
Warning: We cover necessary and important topics about the marriage relationship and sex. We use frank language without being crude or crass. Our approach is biblical and wholesome, but not intended for singles — especially not for children.
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Cherishing,
Matt & Jenn
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Intimate Covenant | Matt & J
Hey Jen, want to talk about Darwinian evolution?
SPEAKER_00:Uh, I'd rather just sail to a remote island and watch birds. Great.
SPEAKER_01:Today on the podcast, we're talking about the influences of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud on modern Christian views of sexuality. Let's do it. Welcome, friends.
SPEAKER_00:Welcome. We're Matt and Jen, and this is the Intimate Covenant Podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Where we believe the Bible and great married sex both belong on your kitchen table. That's right. We are talking about godly marriage and hot sex and emotionally fulfilling oneness, and we are so grateful that you've joined us.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thanks for coming along with us. If you'd like to find out more about us, you can do so by going to our website, intimatecovenant.com. And we would always love to hear from you. Feel free to email us at podcast at intimatecovenant.com.
SPEAKER_01:If you're new to the show, uh we again are Matt and Jen. We have been married for almost 30 years. Ooh, that sounds old. Uh yes, uh maybe, maybe, maybe too old. Um, but uh our passion is sharing God's plan for beautiful and holy sexuality, uh, especially within the marriage covenant. And you have found the Intimate Covenant podcast where we discuss God's plan for marriage and specifically we focus a little bit on the sexual side of marriage, um, because a podcast is a great place to do that, where I'm not looking in your eyes, you're not looking in my eyes. That's true. Uh, but we can have some conversations here that we just probably wouldn't otherwise have.
SPEAKER_00:And if you haven't picked up on it as of yet, this is a podcast intended for married people. Yep. If you're not in the covenant of marriage, thanks for being interested, but maybe pause and come back when you are a married person.
SPEAKER_01:There you go. Uh, and we do have some uh material that is appropriate for singles, so feel free to email us and we'd be happy to point you in that direction.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:So today on the podcast, we are talking about Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, and the modern church's approach to sexuality.
SPEAKER_00:Oh boy, that's gonna be a great episode, honey.
SPEAKER_01:That is a strange trio, admittedly. Uh, but I promise we're gonna pull all of that together in just a minute. But first, uh, we did want to provide you with uh maybe a personal update, we'll call it, uh, a life update. We probably owe you at least some explanation. If you're a regular listener, you know, uh, or you I well, I hope that you've noticed uh our absence um yet again. Uh this has been uh a challenging year and what was intended to be a monthly podcast. Um I think a little rough this year. Yeah, I think Jen uh realized that to this to date, we have put out uh now six episodes. I think um and we should be much further along than that.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah, given that it this is day one of the 11th month of the year, um, we did have some incredibly joyful um changes in our family this year. Our youngest daughter graduated high school um and started, um we moved her off to college in August, which any of you out there who are walking the road of like last one leaving the nest, you know that that is a place of incredible excitement and joy, and also some some little bit more bittersweet um feelings that go along with that. Um, the exact same week that our daughter moved into college in Florida, earlier that week, our son got married in California. Um, we literally went coast to coast in one week with some amazing, wonderful things. Um, and we have now a beautiful daughter in love that we are just over the moon in excitement and enjoyment of her. Um, so both of those things were huge and wonderful changes in our family that we're obviously adjusting to. Um, but it's also been a tremendously difficult year.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, on a number of levels. Uh well, we started out the year last year uh with this year. Yeah, within a few days.
SPEAKER_00:It looks like it's been way more than a year. Goodness. Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:With it within a few days of the new year, uh, Jen had emergency surgery and was hospitalized for a short period of time and had a pretty long and difficult um physical recovery um following that surgery.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So you you didn't really hear from us the month of January, February, thanks to that. Um and right when we thought we were gonna get our feet underneath us in the month of March, uh more troubles came our way.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Um we we faced some uh criticism, some uh opposition. Um I I think is maybe putting it probably mildly, but we've we faced some of that um from internally within uh some some of those whom we uh worship with. And so we we've we just had some difficulty in uh navigating that and some difficulties that really lasted for several months um in creating quite a bit of turmoil in our own personal lives and and uh uh with with a lots lots of those whom we love as well.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, this podcast kind of came under some scrutiny and and then um sadly some attacks. Um, those that um just didn't recognize the point of the podcast, the um the intended audience of the podcast, and and frankly, um have questioned whether or not a podcast like this um is is biblical, is something that Christians ought to be doing. Um and so we have spent we've spent the year trying to, we spent the year soul searching, obviously, um and trying to defend our work. Um, and it's it has been really hard. Um and then um just several weeks after moving our daughter into college and our son getting married, my dad passed away.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, in the beginning of September. And so that has just added to the difficulty that that we have faced. Um and again, um not that I guess we owe anybody an explanation, but we do feel like we want to explain to you um where we've been, what's been going on, and and why there's been such a a lack of podcast episodes this year. That's just more of that that has contributed.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, we we always say, you know, something about y'all being our friends, and that's because that's true. That's not just you know a a name we're throwing out there. Um we do feel like, you know, so many of you have become our friends, and um and because of that, we want to share with you both our joys and our challenges. Um, I had an amazing daddy and I miss him every single day. And I'm navigating what it is to live without my daddy here. Um and that's hard. If you've lost a parent, you know how very difficult that is. Um so it's been a hard year. It's been a really hard year. Um, despite these challenges, we had were able to still pull off, by the grace of God, pull off our marriage retreat, which happened just two weeks after my dad's funeral. Um, we we had a wonderful retreat, um, mostly to the credit of Matt, who uh bore the lion's share work, um, pulling it off this year. Um, but also because of the grace and just amazingness of the couples that were able to join us. And and even though it was um obviously a very, very difficult time for me, it was so healing um to be surrounded by all of those couples that were, you know, there together to work on their marriages, um, and just the hugs um and the the support meant a lot to me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we we did have a good attendance and so many great people. Uh so uh I'll just put that out there as a plug. I mean, you if you are not joining us at the retreat, um, you're really missing something. And this year was it's powerful. It's clearly no exception. It was a powerful gathering and um really a testament to the the good work that God uh is doing in all of you and uh the fact that so many of you were able to be such a blessing to us as well in that time. It was great. We had very good conversations. The material, some folks told us it was their favorite yet. So I'm not sure how that could be because uh I'm not even sure I was entirely mentally present for for the weekend, but um it it was uh good conversations, and we are doing it again next year. We are um stay tuned for the exact dates. We know that it will be in late September, um, as usual. And as usual, of also uh registration for next year will open on February 14th.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:Just a coincidental date.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:Um, I I think it's probably worth at this point also just acknowledging and expressing our gratitude for so many of you, not just those of you at the retreat, but so many of you who have noticed our um inconsistent uh presence on the podcast and have reached out um and just expressed your um condolences for those who knew of Jen's dad's passing, uh your uh expressions of sympathy and overwhelming support and love for those of you who uh are familiar with some of the difficulties that we've been facing um throughout the year. Uh it it has been I I tell people all the time, we have literally been overwhelmed with love and support uh and just an outpouring of um well wishes and prayers and thoughtful gifts and cards and emails and text messages. It's just been overwhelming, and we are so blessed to have so many good people in our lives.
SPEAKER_00:And and quite honestly, that has been life-giving in a year that has been so full of difficulties to open up our emails and see someone who is essentially a stranger to us, you know, share with us their story, the the the way that this podcast has impacted them or our work. Um, that is uh I don't I don't even have the words for what that is, other than life giving to to read those. And so thank you all so much for sharing um with us in the the trials of this year, but also being there to hold our arms up and be willing to to stand with us in a very, very difficult year.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. Um, and speaking of um strangers becoming friends, yeah, uh in in uh just a few weeks ago in October, uh we went to Bloomington, Illinois. Uh we met lots of new friends.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we had a marriage uh day there. That one had been like on the books for quite a while.
SPEAKER_01:And I think we started planning this one like three years ago, it feels like yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And given the events of the year, it was obviously very uh tempting to just bow out, and yet we chose not to. Yeah. So glad to. And again, so so thankful because it was also life-giving. It was so good. Um, you know, hopefully uh some of our new friends are listening and we just want you to know that whatever you got out of that, out of that weekend, we got more. Um, it was it was a very needed weekend for us as well.
SPEAKER_01:God God's timing there um was was apparent. Uh we were we were very much encouraged by that weekend.
SPEAKER_00:And it helped us remember the joy in this work that we do and the joy it is to be surrounded by other couples who also are desiring to have not just a good marriage, but a great marriage. And being willing to put in that work. Um, there is something so powerful that happens when you get a room full of those kind of couples together.
SPEAKER_01:Unquestionably. Yes, it is it's palpable. Uh, and so because of the joy that it is to be with you in your own communities, we want to make a special offer. Never, never before have we made an offer like this, uh, but we are just so motivated. We have decided that for the next three groups that book a date with us for 2026, that is a date for us to come and to uh share God's plan for marriage in your community, for the next three groups who book with us, we are going to waive our speaking fees.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Meaning, if you can get us there by taking care of our travel and our lodging uh and whatever uh you know costs uh uh that are uh that occur in putting on a uh a day like that, if you can get us there, we will be there.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And and we will be there no matter the size of your group. If you want to plan for 10 couples to meet in your living room, great. If you can get a community center and fill it with 50 couples, great. You plan it, we will come. Um, again, because it is such a source of joy for us. And um and and we just love it. We love getting to meet you. We love getting to make new friends, and we love getting to share God's beautiful plan for intimate marriages with you in a personable, one-on-one kind of way that the marriage day provides.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So reach out to us. Let's figure out how we can make that happen. Uh, we want to do that with you and for you in your community.
SPEAKER_00:And you might be wondering so, what's happening with the podcast? Again, we've only put out a handful of episodes this year. Um, but we want to assure you um that we we want to continue this podcast. Um, we believe in the power of this podcast. We hear your stories. Um, we know that the the glory is not ours, it's God's. Yes. And we recognize what he does with this podcast. And so if he wants us to keep serving in this way, we want to assure you that it is firmly our our plans to continue to do that if he puts this work before us. Um for the rest of the year, though, we've decided kind of the easiest thing for us is going to put out, be to put out a couple of QA episodes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Obviously the holidays are a busy time for you and us. Um, and we're looking forward to some good times over the next couple of months to maybe shift the uh tone of the the last uh little bit of the year. But we we uh are gonna put out a couple of QA episodes before the new year. That is the plan.
SPEAKER_00:Some content from our retreat and from our most recent marriage day.
SPEAKER_01:And then 2026 is to be determined. Now, what is not to be determined is whether we're going to keep doing it. Okay, to be clear, like Jen said. But we are considering some format changes, um, maybe a little bit different ways to do this, a different approach. And we are looking for your feedback along those lines. So um, if you are of an opinion, we would love to have it. So, what we want to know from you is is a monthly podcast enough? Is it not enough? Do we need to be doing this more frequently along those lines? Are you more interested in more frequent but shorter episodes versus the longer format that we have done traditionally? Um, another option that's been thrown around is perhaps doing weekly episodes in bursts, like doing a season of you know, many uh several episodes in a row with designated breaks in between them. Yeah. I think it's unhighly unlikely that we will be able to commit to doing weekly podcasts forever. But we could do them potentially. Yes, we could do them potentially in some seasons. Yeah. Um, and so again, maybe that's a better strategy. Um I don't know. I I don't know what it looks like. Help us decide.
SPEAKER_00:Y'all are the listeners. So um, I mean, this this podcast is very listener-driven in that we are frequently just tackling uh uh subjects uh from questions that you all send us. So let's let's together decide what makes for the best when it comes to these episodes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and and what kind of content is missing? What kind of content um have we not explored yet that you are interested in covering? Or maybe what do we need to cover again, perhaps in a different um from a different perspective or in a different format. Uh we'd love to hear from you about what uh what what your what is your vision for the podcast? Again, like Jen said, this podcast is pretty meaningless without listeners. Um, and so uh we want to hear from you about that. So we are very excited um for what we hope 2026 will hold for Intimate Covenant and for us personally. Uh, but for the rest of this year, Jen is gonna be stepping away to take some time for healing, which um she needs, and I'll just say that I think she deserves. Um, and so she's gonna step away from that uh for a little bit. You'll hear from me uh for the rest of the year, along with well, you'll hear Jen's voice and some of the QA uh responses, uh, which we all look forward to. But um Jen will step away from it for an intimate covenant in general. And so that means you're stuck with me uh for whatever that's worth.
SPEAKER_00:I like being stuck with you. So thank you guys. Thank you for your love, thank you for your support. Thanks for creating the space and the grace to allow me to step away and spend some time healing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, appreciate that. Now, there is no segue to get into the content, no good segue uh to get into the content um for this episode. But we are finishing our series on the historical philosophical influences on our modern Christian view of sexuality. And for some, it probably feels like this series has moved at an evolutionary pace. See what I did there. Um, but today we are finishing up this discussion by looking at two of the most influential men in modern history. The influences of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud on society are not limited to just modern atheists. The modern church and most Christians, even you and me, have unwittingly adopted some of their philosophy into our own theology of sexuality. And that's what we want to uh discuss today is the influences of Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, uh, and how that has shaped the church's view and and really most modern Christians' view of sexuality uh and what that looks like in our own ideas and our own behaviors uh as a church. So starting with Charles Darwin, Charles Darwin, of course, um was uh lived in the late 1800s. Well, I guess mid to late 1800s is when his uh most of his influence came about. He was a naturalist from England, uh, and uh his work fundamentally changed the scientific understanding of life on Earth. Uh he's obviously famous for his theory of biological evolution. Um, and uh his work really laid the foundation for modern genetics, for ecology, for evolutionary science, profoundly shaped uh scientific thought. But his scientific work uh really had its biggest influence in modern philosophy, modern theology, and even modern culture in ways that we really probably take for granted. We could probably spend the rest of this episode uh just talking about Darwin's influence just on culture itself. But we're gonna limit our conversation uh to some extent uh in talking about what his ideas uh have done to the shape the modern view of sexuality, particularly from a Christian standpoint. But Darwin's theory of natural selection paved the way for modern society to reject God's order and to reject God's design and to reject God's spiritual purpose, to reject morality based on any kind of theologic ideas. And so um what that all kind of boils down to again from specifically a sexual standpoint is that Darwin convinced us that our sexuality was the result of millions of years of random genetic adaptations. And as such, then, um, in in his uh philosophy, is that we are at the mercy of biology, and so we are no longer beholden to divine moral instruction when it comes to um our sexual desires and our sexual behaviors. According to Darwin, our behaviors are driven by biology, and so they are neither moral nor immoral. So we just do what we are programmed to do. Our uh biology dictates what we do and how we behave. And on the surface, Christians ought to reject his ideas outright. Obviously, any system which eliminates a creator is by nature diametrically opposed to Christianity and opposed to God himself. And yet we often treat people, especially men, as if their sexuality is a biologically uncontrollable monster. We teach them to fear sexuality rather than to view it as a beautiful part of God's creation. We have adopted a view of sex which separates biology from the spiritual. We believe Darwin's lie. And as such, we have taken God out of sexuality. There are so many terrible consequences to this. Um when we uh when we believe the idea that sex is only about the body, when we believe the idea that sex has nothing to do with spirituality, that you cannot be sexual and spiritual at the same time, when we believe that, there are so many terrible consequences. But one consequence to this is that our shame about sex has given Satan the only voice of instruction that our kids receive. We have let the public education system indoctrinate our kids about evolution, and we have also allowed the public education system to indoctrinate our kids about sexuality. And so they learn more from their friends, they learn more from internet pornography than from the Bible about their sexuality. And let me just tell you that the church is way behind on this. Way behind. We're already losing this battle with our children and with uh men in general. We're losing this battle um among the the uh young young people as they grow up. We've already lost this battle for some. And so we have to be more vocal about this. We have to be more vocal in the church about the God-given beauty and the spiritual purpose of sexuality. We've got to help people understand, we've got to like crit help Christians understand that sexuality is more than about your body. Sexuality is a God-given spiritual uh endeavor, it is a part of holiness. And we'll talk more about that even as we dig into um Sigmund Freud's teachings. But speaking of Sigmund Freud, um he uh came about uh a uh maybe 50 years or so after uh Darwin. He uh lived around the turn of the 1900s. He was an Austrian neurologist, and he is the founder of psychoanalysis. Now, I don't need you to know what psychoanalysis is. I'm not sure that I know entirely. None of us are philosophers or psychologists or scientists here. We're just you and me, we're just sharing these ideas. But we do know that Sigmund Freud developed this theory that unconscious drives, that is, uh sexual instincts, aggressive instincts, that these are what shape behavior, these are what shape personality, these are what shape uh uh crazy behaviors, uh neuroses, or uh other behaviors that uh are atypical. Um but uh again his idea is that it's these unconscious drives that things like sexual drive, sexual um desire, uh aggressiveness, those kinds of things are what shape uh what we do. Now, to be fair, his work transformed psychiatry, it transformed psychology. And just like Darwin, Freud's influence went way beyond the realm of his study. Uh Sigmund Freud's influences uh transformed even art and literature and philosophy and even cultural ideas. He really shifted, uh, he really moved the needle in terms of the way that society understands itself and the way that we attempt to deal with problems in society. But he he shifted the understanding, really fundamentally shifted this understanding of human behavior from moral explanations and religious explanations toward psychological uh explanations. And so he really laid this foundation uh for psychotherapy and really laid this foundation for a new way of viewing this inner self, the the psychology of self. So from uh specifically speaking, at least in terms of sexuality, uh Freud taught that sexuality is central to the self. It is central to um who I am, and it is the fundamental driving thing that shapes personality. It's a fundamental uh drive that shapes motivation, it's a fundamental drive that shapes emotional life. But sexuality is really central to all of that. And his ideas really laid the groundwork for modern psychology to extend this idea uh to this idea that sexual identity is what defines personal identity. So, in other words, who you are sexually, they would say, is fundamentally a part of who you are, and really a uh it really is not just a part of, it is who you are. That sexuality is who I am rather than simply what I do. And you we see this played out um in in modern times, even today, where uh folks really gain so much of their identity in who they are attracted to sexually. So that's just where the the trans movements come from. This is where the LGBTQ plus movements come from, that these folks um are so motivated by these ideas, they are so motivated um by their sexual identity uh because they feel like their sexual identity is their personal identity. The problem is uh that uh this has been adopted into even Christianity, and and I would say even in conservative Christianity, uh, in that many conservative Christians mirror this philosophical shift by treating sexuality as the most important aspect of moral identity. Uh and this goes back all the way to the purity culture, and you can go back and even reference our um podcast episodes on purity culture, but this goes back to this idea that purity is almost always defined by sexual activity. Uh when we speak about purity in the church, what we mean by that is sexual purity, at least in many cases, rather than viewing purity as a holistic idea of Holiness and sanctification of the entire self, we really mean it in a sexual sense almost exclusively. And so um sexual sin becomes the ultimate measure of a person's holiness when we view it that way. It overshadows other virtues like humility or justice or mercy. Again, this was really the part of the damage that was done in the purity culture movement, although, again, probably well intended, uh, sexual purity began to overshadow all of the other ways in which we manifest righteousness and holiness. And so people with sexual struggles, people that are in bondage to pornography or people that have same-sex attraction, are often then defined primarily by those struggles. We talk about homosexuals, and um that's how we want to define it, rather than helping folks understand that yes, sexuality is a part of how I live out holiness, but it's certainly not the only part. It's not the only way that I live out holiness. Um, the in in so doing, then, the sexual self becomes this battleground of sanctification, as if sexuality is at the core of one's relationship with God. Now, obviously, we haven't taken Freud's ideas all the way, but we have at least, on some sense, uh incorporated this idea that sexuality is central, and it simply is not. Sexuality is a part of who we are, it is fundamental to who we are, but the way that we live out our sexuality is not, does not define our relationship with God entirely. There are is so there are so many other ways in which we ought to be grappling with holiness. The Bible defines identity in our relationship with God. And this is the contrast. Our identity is not in our sexuality, our identity is in our relationship with God. We are image bearers of God, whose sexuality is a part of our created humanity, but it is not its essence. Again, it is our sexuality is not the fundamental thing. The word Christian, in fact, describes our identity as one who follows and is united with Jesus. Our identity is not in our heterosexuality or in our maleness or our femaleness entirely. More importantly, our identity is in Jesus and in united being united with Him. Sexuality is meaningful. Sexuality is sacred, but it is not ultimate. Our holiness is in relationship with God. Our holiness is not merely in our sexuality. Freud also saw religion and sexuality in tension. He saw them as opposites. As Freud saw it, religion suppresses sex. And if sex is fundamental to who we are, uh in his mind, religion was oppressive to the expression of self. And liberation and living in uh the tr a true sense in his mind meant leaving behind the guilt that religion um brought about. So I don't think he was necessarily observing this incorrectly entirely, because religion and uh relationship with God should cause us to be feel guilt when we misuse our sexuality. But I would suggest that Freud probably saw and understood a poor version of religion, and that is why he reacted with such a bad idea about sex, and he was reacting to, because he was reacting to very bad sexual theology. That said, again, his ideas really strongly emphasize this dichotomy of spirituality and sexuality. And that has been internalized by modern secular thought as well. Those who dismiss God and those who dismiss religion and those who dismiss relationship with God see religion and sexual expression as opposing forces. And ironically, conservative Christians also often reinforce this false dichotomy, this false dichotomy that sexuality and spirituality are at odds with each other. Sexual desire is often treated as dangerous or sinful, or it's pure and holy, depending entirely and almost exclusively on your marital status. There is no acknowledgement in this conversation of the intended spiritual purpose of sexuality and sexual desire for single folks. There's no room in these conversations at times for singles to investigate or to understand this divine purpose for their God-given sexual desire. The only room in conversation for the sexual desire of a single person is simply to repress it or to get married. That's the only options that are given to those. There is no conversation about how God intends for me to understand my sexuality as a single person. And many Christians feel discomfort, whether you're married or not. We feel uncomfortable integrating our spirituality and our sexuality. We have a hard time believing that holiness and physical pleasure are not somehow at odds. We have a very difficult time believing that we are allowed to feel physical pleasure, sexual pleasure, and also be spiritually holy at the same time. And again, those ideas don't come from Freud entirely. Those ideas, unfortunately, um, like we've talked about in the last two episodes, those two ideas come from historically bad theology and started even before Christ. But um here we are. And uh Freud's ideas really re-emphasized that tension between spirituality and sexuality in modern thought, and um that has all the more re-emphasized that in modern Christianity. Scripture, though, presents no such divide. God created sexual pleasure and he called it very good. When he created all of us with all of our parts, and he created that potential for sexual pleasure, he called it very good. And in fact, it you don't have to read very far in the Bible. You can simply look at the complex and incredibly beautiful design of even the human body. And you realize that the biologic design of the human body reveals God's intention for sexual pleasure. He created body parts for which there is no other purpose than sexual pleasure. The Song of Songs and even sections of the Proverbs celebrate erotic love without shame as long as that celebration is happening within the context of covenant marriage. Um, biblical sexuality is integrated into who we are as people. It is not compartmentalized. It is not set, it is not set aside. Sexuality is not something that you just hide under your bed and pull it out when God's not looking. Biblical sexuality is not something that is separate from a spiritual walk with God. Biblical sexuality is integrated into who we are as human beings. Sexuality is integrated into our walk with God and in reflecting his image. We are made in his image and we are also made male and female. That those statements are made in the same breath, in the same sentence in Genesis chapter one, that we are made in his image and that we are made male and female. And so our sexuality is intended to be something that is celebrated, something that is lived out and can be and should be lived out in a way that glorifies God in his image. Sexuality, just like every other aspect of our physical human existence, must be handled in a way, though, that reflects God's glory and brings him praise. We cannot glorify God with our sexuality, though, if we are covering it in shame. We cannot glorify God with our sexuality if we are attempting to repress our desires. We cannot glorify God if we are ignoring teaching about God's beautiful design and his beautiful plan for our sexual desire. We cannot glorify God if we refuse to talk about the sexual pleasure and the goodness of covenant love in the covenant of marriage. Sexuality and spirituality are not opposed to each other. And that is in opposition, and truly in opposition to Darwin. If we want to if we want to teach our kids about the falsehood of Darwinism, that has to be part of the conversation. If we want to truly reject Freudian psychology, that has to be part of the conversation. Darwin and Freud both rejected a divine order of the universe. They both rejected a spiritual guide for moral and ethical living. And their influences, unfortunately, profoundly shaped the course of modern philosophy and our own current society. And unfortunately, also, many modern Christians have unwittingly adopted these influences from Darwin and Freud into their own sexual theology. They have adopted Freudian and Darwinian ideas into how we are approaching sexuality and sexual desire, and we must reject the idea that sex is purely biological. We must reject the idea that sex is in contrast to spirituality. The Bible teaches that sexuality is created by God with spiritual significance and purpose and importance. And so that's the episode rejecting Darwinian and Freudian sexual psychology and philosophy and rejecting it even as it has infiltrated our own modern Christian and biblical belief systems. So uh I would love to hear your feedback. Contact us by emailing the podcast. Uh, you can email us at podcast at intimatecovenant.com, or you can submit anonymous feedback and questions. Go to intimatecovenant.com slash podcast, and you can click a button there that will allow you to submit an anonymous submission form. Thank you to all of you as always for listening. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for sharing the podcast. We are truly, truly humbled by all of your encouragement, by your support. And we thank you especially uh to our Patreon subscribers for coming along us in a very real way. If Intimate Covenant has blessed your marriage, we would love to have you join us over on Patreon as well. You can subscribe at patreon.com slash intimate covenant. Till next time, keep striving and don't settle.