This is absolutely not true. This was the view of some luminaries of the early church (most notably Ambrose, Jerome, and Tertullian) who concluded that intercourse involved some measure of sin regardless, but it was absolutely NOT the view of the church throughout history and was especially not the view that came out of the Reformation.The Puritans of all people considered this doctrine unbiblical and some even called it the work of the devil. William Perkins called marital sex a due debt or due benevolence. Thomas Hooker wrote, The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves, he dreams of her in the night, hath her in his eye and apprehension when he awakes, museth on her as he sits at table, walks with her when he travels and parlies with her in each place where he comes.So significant was the Puritan emphasis on romantic love and intercourse in marriage that C.S. Lewis said, The conversion of courtly love into romantic monogamous love was largely the work of… Puritan poets. On top of that, the Puritans treated the failure to extend marital benefits on the part of either party as a matter to be resolved through church discipline. The Puritans!
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