Talking
Back
to Purity
Culture
Rediscovering Faithful
Christian Sexuality
Rachel Joy Welcher
foreword by scott sauls
To the hurting, the abused, and the angry; the weary,
the curious, and the skeptical. To those whose faith is
smaller than a mustard seed, and to those who, after
experiencing the rough and tumble of life, still cling to
the hem of Jesus’ robe: you will not be put to shame.
Contents
Introduction: It’s Time to Talk Back
1 From Rings and Pledges to Conversation in Community
2 The Idolization of Virginity
4 Male Purity and the Rhetoric of Lust
5 First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage
6 Problems with the Promise of Sex
7 What the Sexually Abused Hear
8 Submitting to God's Sexual Ethic as Embodied Souls
9 What Will We Tell Our Children?
10 Purity Culture Moving Forward
Praise for Talking Back to Purity Culture
More Titles from InterVarsity Press
Scott Sauls
It has been said that in and following the New Testament era, Christians were widely known for being promiscuous with their money and conservative with their bodies.
Their so-called financial promiscuity was directed toward the work of God and the needs of the poor, while their bodily “conservatism” reflected their belief in a vision for sex and marriage passed on to them by Moses, the prophets and apostles, and Jesus himself. This vision affirms the sometimes-scandalous belief that sexual intercourse—a glorious gift from God given chiefly for human intimacy, pleasure, and procreation—is reserved uniquely for marriage between one man and one woman.
According to many in our late modern times, such a limiting view of sex and marriage seems preposterous. According to one Harvard student in her impassioned defense of college hookup culture, “For me, being a strong woman means not being ashamed that I like to have sex. . . . To say that I have to care about every person I have sex with is an unreasonable expectation. It feels good! It feels good!”1
It may come as a surprise to some that ancient cultures were just as appalled by “Christian sexuality” as their twenty-first-century counterparts are. The sexual revolution is no recent phenomenon but is as old as time itself. Then as now, in most instances, the men fared better than the women.
From the earliest pages of Scripture, even highly esteemed patriarchs would pleasure themselves with prostitutes, accumulate multiple wives and concubines, and “spill their seed” on the ground in an act of loveless passion. Abraham, the father of all who have faith, offered his wife up to sexual predators in an effort to save his own skin. King David abused his power when he “saw” and then “took” Bathsheba, his next-door neighbor and wife of one of his closest, most loyal friends. Lacking in all subtlety, the disciple Matthew records that “David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife” (Matthew 1:6). In New Testament Corinth, a man ...
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About Talking Back to Purity Culture: Rediscovering Faithful Christian SexualityIt's time to talk back. The generation born into evangelical purity culture has grown up, and many have started families of their own. But as time goes on, it's becoming more evident that many still struggle with purity culture's complicated legacy—its idolization of virginity, its mixed messages about modesty and lust, and its promise of a healthy marriage and great sex for those who follow the rules. In Talking Back to Purity Culture, Rachel Joy Welcher reviews the movement carefully, examining its teachings through the lens of Scripture. Compassionate, faithful, and wise, she charts a path forward for Christians in the ongoing debates about sexuality—one that rejects legalism and license alike, steering us back instead to the good news of Jesus. It's time to talk back to purity culture—and this book is ready to jump-start the conversation. |
| Support Info | 9780830848171 |