Whatever the later and earlier material that must also be taken into account, and in spite of the difficulties, the aim here is a ‘Pauline sexual ethic’ – an ethic grounded in the Pauline texts and already partially embodied in the ongoing life of the Christian community, yet requiring to be articulated anew in a situation in which it is exposed to previously unheard-of pressures and challenges. The ‘ethic’ that is to be articulated does not consist primarily in a set of prescriptions for sexual conduct. Not that it omits to prescribe, or consigns the whole area to individual freedom of choice so long as this is exercised in a manner respectful of the freedom of the other. It does prescribe – yet not in a vacuum, but out of an ethos which provides the underlying rationale for its prescriptions and makes persuasive and compelling what might otherwise seem arbitrary and repressive.

This Pauline ethos is that of a community in which men and women together participate in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the common life (koinoōnia) of the Holy Spirit. Here, the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us – a divine love that issues in a responsive human love towards God and the neighbour.