More Information
Publication Date: 21 Jan 2021
Publisher: IVP
Page Count: 80
Author: Ed Shaw
ISBN-13: 9781789742831, 9781789743111

Purposeful Sexuality

A Short Christian Introduction
By Ed Shaw
With healthy and refreshing honesty, Purposeful Sexuality offers a Christian introduction to seeing sexuality as a nourishing source of hope and expression
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ISBN-13
9781789742831-grouped
Paperback
£8.99
eBook
£8.99
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Summary of Purposeful Sexuality

If God means for us to save sex for marriage, why doesn't he just zap us with sexuality on our wedding night? Why do most of us experience sexual feelings throughout our adult lives, not just in the safe confines of marriage? Is limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman anything but outdated prejudice? What is our sexuality actually for?

Today's culture overwhelmingly tells us that sex is essential for human flourishing. Far too often the church perpetuates the same message - as long as you are married. But far from being liberating, this idolising of sex leaves us even more sexually broken than before.

With refreshing honesty and clarity, Ed Shaw calls on the church to rediscover its confidence in the
Bible's teaching about our ability to experience or express sexual feelings. He points us to how God's word reveals that sexuality's ultimate purpose is to help us better know God and the full power of his passionate love. He shows us how this is surprisingly good news for all our joys and struggles with sexuality.
Related Posts 3
  1. John 17 and Sexuality in the Church: Clarity, Unity, Prayer John 17 and Sexuality in the Church: Clarity, Unity, Prayer If you follow the news or are active on social media, it’s probably not escaped your notice that the Bishops of the Church of England have managed to frustrate both sides and every shade of the debate over sexuality. 
  2. Purposeful Sexuality: Asking the Right Questions Purposeful Sexuality: Asking the Right Questions In this blog post, Ed Shaw explains why when we talk about sexuality, it is so important to be asking the right questions.
  3. The IVP January 2021 Releases The IVP January 2021 Releases 2021 starts with a bit of a bang from IVP - four great titles touching on vitally important topics. Read on to find out more.
Press Reviews

Compassionate, hopeful and biblical. This is a must-read for all Christians, and a great help as we navigate the vital issues around sexuality.

- Gavin Calver

A short, clear and often profound book on one of our generation’s most pressing subjects. Ed Shaw has served us superbly with Purposeful Sexuality.

- Andrew Wilson

This wise, sensitive book has a great deal to offer all of us as we attend to the desires, questions and struggles arising from our nature as sexual beings. Its contemporary frame of reference, combined with careful reading of relevant biblical texts, makes it all the more valuable.

- Julian Hardyman

We live in times when things we know and values we hold are changing and in flux. From our humanity to our identity, everything seems up for re-definition. Perhaps it’s at the point of our sexuality that this is most vivid and complex.
With brilliant clarity, grace-filled empathy, and biblical truth, Ed Shaw helps us understand the plan and purpose of our sexuality and wisely draws us back to the place of healing and redemption which we all truly need.

- Tope Koleoso

Whether you are confused or frustrated, scared or scarred, Ed Shaw's latest book will help you to find a renewed sense of joy and purpose for your God-given sexuality. Armed with a better understanding of God's purpose for our sexuality, Ed shows how we will be better equipped to navigate the trials and temptations of our sex-obsessed world. It's a book I will be recommending to people in all kinds of different situations.

- Ros Clarke

In this compelling short read, Ed Shaw poses the question, “What is the purpose of our sexuality?” With courageous honesty, he mines deep into Scripture and brings some incredible gems to light. He unearths how our sexuality is the most graphic imagery for the passion and potency of God’s love. Sheer dynamite!

- Rt Revd Dr Jill Duff

I am so thankful I am a sexual being! Ed's book is a much-needed hurricane of fresh air on the purpose of sexuality. As a single heterosexual woman, I am once more staggered by God's kindness in crafting me with sexual desire so that I may more tangibly appreciate his love for me. Ed's short book is beautifully biblical, richly pastoral and deeply evocative. A glorious vision of human flourishing is to be found within these pages. I am more for having read this.

- Kristi Mair

How can such a short book pack such a punch? With humanity and great humility, Ed Shaw shows us why our sexuality is such a good thing. That God in his kindness has given us a way to feel the passion of his love for us and yearn for more of him. And that this for all of us, in all our mess, whether or not we’re married.

- Mark Ellis

‘Sex is life’ advertising slogans hit us constantly. But what kind of sex really is ‘life’?
A colossal crisis in relationships and a profound loneliness seem to be the outcomes of this pansexual society. The so-called ‘sexual revolution’ has not brought the flourishing life it promised, but rather the opposite.
In this concise and clear book Ed Shaw shows how the biblical vision for sexuality is indeed a source of life and fulfilment. The book provides a lucid and solid framework on sexuality for everyone, but especially for those who are frustrated, confused and tired of the ‘paradise’ promised by the secular views.

- Dr Pablo Martinez

For a contentedly single heterosexual woman, I seem to be reading a lot of books about sex and sexuality these days. It is a vital topic, and something I need to have a clear, biblical understanding of as someone involved in pastoral work - and indeed as someone involved in human life!
Purposeful Sexuality is a brief but vital addition to the genre. In this excellent little book Ed reveals a deep understanding both of the questions surrounding sexuality and of the Bible's glorious, hopeful, life-giving answers. How is God's gift of sexuality good news for all of us, whatever our circumstances? Read this book to find out.

- Jennie Pollock