Real Sex

by Winner, Lauren F.

• ISBN13: 9781587431975
• ISBN10: 1587431971
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: BAKER

Summary

SEX. Splashed across magazine covers, billboards, and computer screens--sex is casual, aggressive, and absolutely everywhere. And everybody's doing it, right? In Real Sex, heralded young author Lauren F. Winner speaks candidly to Christians about the difficulty--and the importance--of sexual chastity. With honesty and wit, she talks about her struggle to live a celibate life. Never dodging tough terms like "confession" and "sin," Winner grounds her discussion of chastity first and foremost in Scripture. She confronts cultural lies about sex and challenges how we talk about sex in church. Her biblically grounded observations and suggestions will be especially valuable to unmarried Christians struggling with the sexual mania of today's culture. Real Sex is essential reading for Christians grappling with chastity and a valuable tool for pastors.

Author Biography

Lauren F. Winner (PhD, Columbia University) is the highly acclaimed author of the memoir Girl Meets God. She is assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, and has written for the New York Times Book Review, the Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Christianity Today, and Christian Century. Visit her website at www.laurenwinner.net.

Table of Contents

1. Unchaste Confessions: Or, Why We Need Another Book about Sex	9	(20)
Part One: Talking about Sex
2. Real Sex: Creation, Scripture, and the Case for Sex in Marriage	29	(14)
3. Communal Sex: Or, Why Your Neighbor Has Any Business Asking You What You Did Last Night	43	(18)
4. Straight Talk I: Lies Our Culture Tells about Sex	61	(24)
5. Straight Talk II: Lies the Church Tells about Sex	85	(18)
Part Two: Practicing Chastity
6. On the Steps of the Rotunda: Line-Drawing and Formation	103	(20)
7. Chastity as Spiritual Discipline: Conforming Your Body to the Arc of the Gospel	123	(10)
8. Communities of Chastity: What Singleness Teaches the Church	133	(16)
9. Responding to M.: The Practicalities of Repentance	149	(14)
Notes	163	(10)
Discussion Guide	173	(8)
Acknowledgments	181	(2)
Author's Note	183