Study Of Sex Report Urged

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31206, 2 November 1966, Page 1

Study Of Sex Report Urged

The working committee of the British Council of Churches, which produced the controversial 77-page report on sex and morality, “has refused to get itself into the position of saying that sexual intercourse after marriage is always virtuous, or that before marriage is always wicked,” said the general secretary of the National Council of Churches (the Rev. D. M. Taylor).

In a statement on the report yesterday, he said the one point at which the report was "immediately attacked” was "where it does not quote a Bible text concerning fornication, and conclude from this that all sexual intercourse before marriage is always and everywhere a mortal sin,” Mr Taylor said. Mr Taylor said he strongly i recommended the report for I careful study.

He had read page after page without finding a sentence with which to disagree, and it was only in chapter six that be found conclusions that could be regarded as controversial.

“Naturally, there is no chance of unanimity among Christians on some sexual problems of today,” said Mr Taylor. “Many conservative people will be shocked at the frankness of this report. Some who state that they believe in frankness will be horrified nevertheless that the installation of slot machines which provide contraceptives should be so much as mentioned. “The report points out how inadequate such an installation is in meeting needs, and how the act of installing such a machine in a university foyer would carry misleading implications.” The working party of 12, mainly lay people, had fulfilled its task of preparing a statement of the Christian case for abstinence from sexual intercourse before marriage and faithfulness within marriage, Mr Taylor said. "There are, unfortunately,

some ministers and lay people who have never learnt what St Paul meant when he taught ‘lf ye be led by the spirit, ye are not under the law,’” Mr Taylor said. “The report brings together, in concise form, contributions

from biology, psychology, sociology, anthropolgy, philosophy and Biblical studies, which help the reader to see sexual problems in proper perspective,” he said. "It is too much to hope that those publishers and writers who continually exploit sex will ever take the trouble to master the contents of the report. But the harm they can do can be counteracted if we build up a generation of sane, healthy men and women who have accepted insigthts from persons trained in different disciplines.” Mr Taylor criticised press reception of the report and hasty conclusions drawn on the nature of the British Council of Churches.

Newspaper reporters in both Britain and New Zealand had had a "field day” questioning ecclesiastical authorities on their reactions, and in New Zealand “some of our

secular weeklies tried hard to get sensational comments from churchmen before they had a chance to see the report itself,” Mr Taylor said. “Cables came from Britain, making the most of the controversy. One sentence quoted by itself seemed to be allowing such sexual freedom to unmarried young people that many readers were shocked,” he said.

“On the strength of the shocking statements alleged to be in the report, some people began to think of the British Council of Churches as if it were quite independent of the reputable mainline churches. This, of course, is nonsense. "The British Council of Churches consists entirely of delegates officially appointed by such reputable bodies as the Church of England and the Presbyterian Church. Its general secretary is the Rt Rev. C. K. Sansbury, formerly Bishop of Singapore, an honoured theologian.” The report is expected to be on sale at the Christchurch office of the National Council ,of Churches within a few • weeks.