Sex. Our world loves it. Our TV shows are filled with it. Our movies are saturated by it. Our political parties split over it. Our churches are silent on it. And few people correctly understand it. Denny Burk, professor at Boyce College in Louisville, KY, hopes to correct this. By writing this new book, What Is The Meaning of Sex, Burk seeks to lay out an explicit, comprehensive biblical sexual ethic, looking at everything from sexuality, gender, marriage, and contraception, in order to correctly place God’s purpose of sex as revealed in Scripture within the hearts and minds of believers everywhere.
What is the meaning of sex? What is the purpose of sex? Answering that question is the purpose of this book. Burk says that, in short, “Sex exists for the glory of God. Consequentially, all sexual morality must be measured by its ability to achieve that purpose” (12). Certainly, there are subordinate purposes for sex, such as the consummation of marriage, procreation, the expression of love, and pleasure, but all of these take a back seat to the ultimate purpose of sex: The Glory of God!
I love how Burk structures the book by placing the glory of God at the absolute front and center in the whole discussion. After introducing the book and giving a brief overview of different approaches to ethics, Burk lays out a comprehensive biblical sexual ethic in 8 chapters:
- Glorify God with Your Body
- An exposition of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 in which the central command of believers is to glorify God with their bodies. Honestly, this may have been them most instructive and impactful chapter to me!
- Glory God with Your Hermeneutic
- A corrective to the misunderstanding of pitting Jesus and Paul against each other in a “hermeneutical cage match” until “one or the other says ‘uncle'” (62).
- Glorify God with Your Marriage
- “The aim of this chapter is to establish a definition of marriage that is rooted in the text of Scripture and that can serve as a norm by which we might be able to evaluate sexual behavior” (88).
- Burk discusses throughout the chapter how God made marriage to be covenantal, sexual, procreative, heterosexual, monogamous, nonincestuous, and symbolic of the gospel.
- Glorify God with Your Conjugal Union
- An exposition of 1 Corinthians 7:1-6, where Paul teaches not that couples may come together in regular conjugal union, but that they must come together (111). Also in this chapter is a critique of Mark Driscoll in his book, Real Marriage, and a discussion of divorce and remarriage.
- Glorify God with Your Family Planning
- A discussion of birth control, natural family planning, and the “morning-after pill” from a Biblical perspective.
- Burk quotes Mary Eberstadt when she says, “No single event since Eve took the apple has been as consequential for relations between the sexes as the arrival of modern contraception” (139).
- Glorify God with Your Gender
- A discussion of manhood and womanhood, both similarities and differences, and the challenge of intersex.
- Glorify God with Your Sexuality
- A discussion of homosexuality, including the major arguments and Scripture in the debate around the issue.
- Glorify God with Your Singleness
- A discussion of both Jesus’ and Paul’s teaching on singleness. Also included in this chapter is the single’s call to chastity, which includes discussions on masturbation, pornography, and fornication.
In the conclusion, Burk calls for Christians to think seriously through these issues, because how we live and how we proclaim the truth about sexuality will affect both the world’s understanding of us as Christians and their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He says,
A Gospel-shaped worldview must proclaim and embody the gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that God’s design for gender, sex, and marriage is clear and compelling. That will require both a counter-cultural message from churches and countercultural living among individuals and families in those churches” (232).
I would strongly encourage everyone to buy this book, read it, and think clearly about these issues. No issue is more central and more debated in our culture today than that of sexuality. I must admit that I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. However, as soon as I picked it up and read the introduction, I had trouble putting it down. It is very well written, engaging, clear and concise. In fact, I think it may be the best book out right now clearly outlining a biblical sexual ethic. Pick up a copy today for yourself, your pastor, your youth pastor, your family, anyone you can think of. As Christians, we all need to think seriously through the meaning and purpose of sex.
In accordance with FTC regulations, I would like to thank Crossway Publishers for providing me with a free review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Longing 4 Truth 