Incest Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Christian=== {{See also|Incest in the Bible}} The New Testament condemns relations between a man "and his father's wife" (1 Corinthians 5:1{{ndash}}5). It is inevitable for Bible literalists to accept that the first children of Adam and Eve would have been in incestuous relations as we regard it today. However, according to the Bible, God's law forbidding incest had not at that time been given to men, and was delivered to Moses after Adam and Eve were created. Protestant Christians who adopt the Old Testament as part of their rule of faith and practice make a distinction between the ceremonial law and the moral law given to Moses, with the demands of the ceremonial law being fulfilled by Christ's atoning death. Protestants view Leviticus 18:6{{ndash}}20 as part of the moral law and still applicable, thus condemning sexual/marriage relations between a man and his mother, sister, stepsister, stepmother (if a man has more than one wife it is forbidden for a son to have relations with or marry any of his father's wives), aunt, granddaughter, or his brother's wife. Leviticus 18 goes on to condemn relations between a man and the daughter of a woman he is having relations with, and the sister of a woman he has had sexual relations with while the first sister is still alive. The [[Book of Common Prayer]] of the [[Anglican Communion]] allows marriages up to and including first cousins.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/|year=1962|place=Canada|title=Book of Common Prayer|chapter=A Table of Kindred and Affinity|chapter-url=http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/kindred-and-affinity/|access-date=26 December 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129094409/http://prayerbook.ca/resources/bcponline/}}</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] regards incest as a sin against the [[Marriage in the Catholic Church|Sacrament of Matrimony]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church 2388}}</ref> For the Catholic Church, at the heart of the immorality of incest is the corruption and disordering of proper family relations. These disordered relationships take on a particularly grave and immoral character when it becomes [[child sexual abuse]]. As the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' says: <blockquote>'''2388''' ''Incest'' designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage between them. St. Paul stigmatizes this especially grave offense: 'It is actually reported that there is immorality among you...for a man is living with his father's wife....In the name of the Lord Jesus...you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh....' Incest corrupts family relationships and marks a regression toward animality. '''2389''' Connected to incest is any sexual abuse perpetrated by adults on children or adolescents entrusted to their care. The offense is compounded by the scandalous harm done to the physical and moral integrity of the young, who will remain scarred by it all their lives; and the violation of responsibility for their upbringing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church 2388β2389}}</ref></blockquote> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page