Hot stuff

JUST SEX
Is it ever just sex?
By Guy Brandon
IVP. 224 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-371-1

This is an original and very helpful study of human sexuality from a theological researcher at the Jubilee Centre in Cambridge.

It is original in its exploration of the sociological as well as individual implications of sexual choices and also because, although thoroughly biblical, it does not presuppose faith on the part of the reader and seeks to convince the secularists as well as the saints.

I am not sure that most unbelievers will be able to relate to it, but for the Christian there is a wealth of invaluable and wide-ranging material. Alongside the commonly-addressed topics of marriage, intimacy, divorce, pornography, singleness and, of course, homosexuality, there are discussions of other equally important but often neglected issues, including economics, taxation, commonality, building community, parity and rootedness – all of which are shown to have important implications for sexual well-being.

The author also shows great insight in recognising that because his focus is on society as a whole, rather than the individual, ‘some may see this as a hard-hearted book’. They will. It is, however, a necessary one and I would describe it as clear and hard-headed. There is little sentiment and much biblical sense that is greatly needed in the UK at this time when societal trends on sexual matters seem to be increasingly irrational and deeply undermining to social stability and flourishing.

On the back cover, Richard Cunningham of UCCF doubts that he ‘will read a more important or impressive book this year’. I wouldn’t go that far, but it certainly is a much-needed and valuable resource for which we are once again indebted to the Jubilee Centre.

Trevor Stammers
Chair, Christian Medical Fellowship

© 2009 Evangelicals Now
This item was originally published in the July 2009 edition of Evangelicals Now. It is published here by the kind permission of the editors. For a free sample issue or to subscribe to Evangelicals Now, click here.