Originally Posted by
Berserk
5. Sex before marriage is okay.
Yes, a big problem! But young evangelicals often claim the real issue is whether their sexual relationship is the equivalent of marriage in God's eyes. They point out that the confirmation of what constitutes a true marriage varies from cultural period to period in biblical history and that there is no reason to accept modern legal criteria as the basis of real marriage. That argument might have some merit if they had honestly pledged a lifelong commitment to each other. Also, evangelical pastors are influenced by this question: "Do I really want to confront young couples living together outside of holy matrimony and risk driving the, pit pf the church and away from God?"