Have you ever wondered how it would look to live out a Christian sexual ethic amid the varied and confusing sexual messages that are part of modern culture? Does the Christian tradition provide us with a way to think about and act on our natural, God-given sexual desires? Honoring God with Body and Mind invites readers to consider these questions--and some ways of answering them--by guiding them into a conversational style of moral reflection.
Unlike many books about Christians and sex, this one doesn't simply tell you what to do (or not to do). Instead, you will be led to think about how the meaning of sex can provide sexual boundaries, but also how the relational dimension of sex and the virtue of sexual integrity can provide a context for sexual decision-making.
Informed by many years of conversations with college students, the author also invites you to think about practical questions such as these: Can men and women be friends without the complications of sexual attraction? If I haven't always included Christian values in my sexual practices and carry some painful memories and regrets, is there any hope of healing? What is lust? Is masturbation sinful? Can virginity be reclaimed?
Steven D. Hoogerwerf is Associate Professor of Religion at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he has taught since 1992, and is the recipient of several teaching awards. He is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America and previously served as a youth pastor, hospice chaplain, and associate minister.
“It is with great pleasure that I commend Steve Hoogerwerf’s book. It is obviously a book long in the writing. The argument—a description that itself commends the book—is pursued with a clarity and humanity unusual for those who write on this topic. This is a book about sexual behavior, but it is also a book that displays how ‘to do’ Christian ethics. Highly recommended.”
—Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law, Duke University
“Honoring God with Body and Mind shows a master teacher at work. Distilling almost three decades of conversations with undergraduates about sensitive issues of sex and the Christian life, Hoogerwerf accompanies students as they navigate their own questions and the often confusing or inadequate formation provided by youth ministries and congregations. Deeply engaged with the literature, this book provides Christians with a wise, pastoral, and at times humorous starting point for the life-long process of discerning what it means to faithfully embody one’s sexuality.”
—M. Therese Lysaught, Professor at the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Care Leadership and the Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University Chicago