📖 Biblical Definition
Scripture honors virginity both as a practical gift for undivided devotion to the Lord and as a moral expectation before marriage. Paul commends singleness as a gift that allows undistracted service: "The unmarried woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit" (1 Corinthians 7:34). Sexual purity before marriage is assumed throughout Scripture; fornication is consistently condemned (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4). The virgin birth of Christ exalts virginity as the means through which the Son of God entered the world (Matthew 1:23).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Maidenhood; the state of having had no carnal knowledge of man.
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VIRGIN'ITY, n. Maidenhood; the state of a person who has not had sexual intercourse. Webster's definition is straightforward and assumes the moral framework Scripture teaches: sexual relations belong within marriage alone.
📖 Key Scripture
• 1 Corinthians 7:34 — "The unmarried woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit."
• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 — "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality."
• Matthew 1:23 — "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Virginity is either mocked as repression or idolized as the ultimate measure of worth.
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The sexual revolution dismissed virginity as prudish repression, treating it as something to be discarded as quickly as possible. Modern culture mocks sexual purity as naive and unhealthy. Within certain evangelical subcultures, however, the opposite error emerged: an idolization of virginity that placed a person's entire spiritual worth on their sexual history, creating devastating shame for those who had fallen. Biblical balance is needed. Virginity is honored but not idolized. Sexual sin is serious but not unforgivable. The gospel offers both the standard of purity and the grace of forgiveness. A person's identity is found in Christ, not in their sexual history.
Usage
• "Virginity is a gift to be honored, not a commodity to be traded — and its loss is met by grace, not condemnation."
• "The culture mocks purity while the church sometimes idolizes it; the gospel holds both the standard and the remedy."