Raising Purity

After taking Gerald Hiestand up on his offer to read and review his book, I was glad to receive my copy of Raising Purity. While many authors will claim to have a biblical perspective on sex, dating, and relationships; they often end up spouting the hackneyed opinions of conservative Christianity. I could tell from the Table of Contents that his take could actually be different.

Hiestand takes a gospel view of this ball of wax and helps the reader think thoroughly through it. Starting by defining the gospel and examining the reasons God created sex, he also provides help by exploring biblically-defined relationships. This allows him, and us, to see how modern-day dating is covered by timeless scriptural principles. Of course, if you don't agree with the author on these first three items, you'll have a hard time swallowing the rest of Hiestand's book. But he is very sound in his examinations and explanations of these issues in the Bible. Any semi-serious reader will find much to chew on in this work.

I most appreciated the first two chapters and the second appendix. While the contents of the first chapter [Sex and the Gospel] are difficult for teens to grasp, they are powerful thoughts for parents and an excellent starting place for this discussion. As a youth pastor I found the three biblical categories of relationships in chapter two to be very helpful. That material can easily be used with teens. Hiestand's explanation of the severity of sexual sin in Appendix B is excellent! Well done!

This is not a standard 'don't-have-sex-outside-of-marriage' book because it spends so much more time on the foundational principles behind that statement. And in so doing, it provides more strength for living biblically in regards to sex, dating, and relationships. I highly recommend it to parents and youth workers. To go to the book's site, click on the book title at the beginning of this blog entry.