the beauty of sex: God's way

Sex is one of those things that people either don’t like to talk about at all, or they talk about it way too much, and generally not in the kindest way. And if we approach it from the standpoint that God is against sex, that sex is dirty, then we understand why it’s not something to talk about in polite company. The sad thing is that most people get their wrong ideas about God's take on the subject because of their religion. After all, the bible has a lot to say on the topic, generally in terms of ‘and if you do this, you get stoned to death.” And that’s the sad part, because God has more to say about sex than its bad. God created sex and saw that it was good. In fact according to Dan Allender and Tremper Longman III, God loves sex.

            And in the recently released book God Loves Sex: An Honest Conversation About Sexual Desires and Holiness (Baker Books, 2014), they show how the Biblical take on sexual activity, as God planned it, is actually not as bad as most of what we learn in our Sunday school classes.  But there is a catch, sex as God planned it is good. When people were getting stoned because of sex throughout the Old Testament, when they were getting chastised throughout the New Testament, it’s because what the people were doing had nothing in common with God's plan.

            This book is two books in one: an exegetical study of the Song of Songs and a fictional account of a small group/bible study about, yep you guessed it, sex. One part of the book, as we might expect covers the commentary on The Song, but the other part takes a slightly different twist. The small group consists of 2 couples, 2 single women, and a single man. Each of them is at a different place on his or her Christian walk, and all of them bring their hang-ups to the table. The fictional part covers their feelings, their baggage, and the progress they make learning to deal with their God-given identity as sexual beings.  

            As each of the 7 confront their past, they learn to deal with their present and look forward to a future which doesn't have to be full of guilt.

            Longman is a scholar of scripture and has written several books, including a commentary on the Song of Songs. Allender is a professor of Counseling Psychology. Together they make a great team, and have written the book that helps us recognize our identity as men and women designed to be in relationships with God and with other people.

5/5

Disclosure: I received this book free from Baker Books through the Baker Books Bloggers www.bakerbooks.com/bakerbooksbloggers program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.