A Plea for Purity

Sex, Marriage & God

By Johanna Arnold
Foreword by Mother Teresa
Moorings, $13

ISBN 0874860725

Call for True Revolution

Review by Haven Bradford Gow

According to Protestant theologian Johann Arnold, author of A Plea for Purity, today's pernicious moral/sexual climate is directly traceable to popular and misguided attitudes that identify sexual love with hedonistic and self-centered gratification. He observes that "Our age is a loveless age: relationships and hearts are broken everywhere, millions of lives are discarded almost before they have begun, thousands of babies are abused and abandoned, and fear and mistrust abound even in surprisingly healthy marriages. Love has been reduced to mean sex."

Clearly, in contemporary society, the most glaring assaults on the intrinsic moral worth and dignity of human beings are a result of popular sexual attitudes and practices.

A Plea for Purity points readers to the Judeo-Christian philosophy of human life as it affirms the sacredness of sex, marriage, and the family. True love within marriage means a husband and wife not only become two-in-one physically but two-in-one mentally, psychically, and spiritually as well. Each desires the genuine good and happiness of the other; there simply is no room for pursuit of a purely self--centered gratification.

In his plea for society to raise sex to the God-given level it should have, Arnold does not ignore abortion, divorce, and remarriage. A man of unflinching convictions, he nevertheless relies on the Savior's love. "Our hope is in God's coming kingdom. . . . Let us wait faithfully for that day." Arnold also gives an extensive reading list and notes at the back.

Haven Bradford Gow is a journalist and author from Eudora, AR.

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