Good Christian Sex

What you thought was naughty may actually be holy. That's the message of Good Christian Sex, Bromleigh McCleneghan's attempt to free Christians from shame about having premarital or extramarital sex. --Religion News Service, Jonathan Merritt: On Faith & Culture. Refreshing. In a very healthy and beautiful way, McCleneghan views sex as an extension of God's grace, an expression of living the Christian life...Good Christian Sex is a good read - and an important one, too. McCleneghan's voice is an important weight to balance out the noise. --Patheos Jerseygirl, JESUS blog Bucking against conservative Christian tradition advising against extra-marital sex, the Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan says single Christians can have sex as long as it's 'mutually pleasurable and affirming.'...For McCleneghan, single Christians don't need to abstain from sex to remain pure since being chaste is about moderation. --The Christian Post Crucial to [McCleneghan's] theology is this: always put first respect for the autonomy, humanity, and wishes of the partner...so much wiser than a great deal of traditional theological ethic-izing on the subject. --Huffington Post Novels of Sex and Spirituality blog Theologically thoughtful, ethically coherent, narratively interesting, and accessible. I can't wait to hand it to members of my church. --Fidelia's Sisters Magazine I've read books with sex and Christian in the title before and know the formula--dish out mortal shame, add fanciful gender stereotypes, and mix in some unrealistic puritanical expectations. But McCleneghan defied my worries with Good Christian Sex and left me with a faithful celebration of intimacy and pleasure. --Carol Howard Merritt, Pastor and Columnist for the Christian Century Good Christian Sex shows what openminded, sex-positive encounters with the holy can and should look like. McCleneghan's tour de force is a reckoning with Christian tradition and an absolute delight to read. A must-read for anyone who wants to engage their heart, soul, and bodies. --Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, author of The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism In seminary, a professor asked where we'd learned about sex. Nobody in that group of churchy young adults mentioned church. McClenehgan has written the book we've needed all along; it's funny, honest, vulnerable, intelligent and challenging, and loving. It's for friends, lovers, partners, spouses, pastors, parents and very likely, you. --Rev. Heidi Neumark, Trinity Lutheran Church, and author of Hidden Inheritance: Family Secrets, Memory, and Faith McCleneghan might surprise you. She's like an uncommonly wise, witty, and faithful big sister, telling you just enough of her story to help you figure out the contours of your own. I can't imagine a more liberating invitation for Christians to receive the good and gracious gift of sexuality. --Katherine Willis Pershey, Associate Minister of First Congregational Church and author of Any Day a Beautiful Change and Very Married: Field Notes on Love & Fidelity Good Christian Sex is an important corrective to the unhealthy ways we imagine bodies, pleasure, and sin. Our conceptions of sexuality are mostly tied up in the traditions of religion, and Bromleigh is a wonder at untying difficult knots. I will be passing this along to friends. --Rev. Julian J.Kwest DeShazier, Senior Minister at University Church Chicago, Adjunct Professor at University of Chicago Divinity School and at McCormick Theological Seminary McCleneghan offers a provocative alternative to the tired conversations about sex in Christian culture. Read Good Christian Sex if you desire a broader, practical conversation about sex, and a redemptive way of living out intimacy in all our relationships. --Rev. Mihee Kim-Kort, author of Yoked: Stories of a Clergy Couple in Marriage, Ministry, and Family McCleneghan offers ways to rethink biblical passages and find a compromise so that faith and embracing human sexuality don't have to be mutually exclusive. --Publishers Weekly When we attempt to repress or sublimate our desires and human needs, accept the shame or condemnation of our humanity as embodied creatures, this does not connect us with God. In fact, this is when we begin to run into trouble, McCleneghan explains. --Beliefnet Where the church's singular focus is often around maintaining purity, and where popular culture emphasizes the complex dance of sexual freedom and sexual consent, McCleneghan brings a multiplicity of lenses, joined together with humor and grace. Her refreshing voice is that of a fellow traveler with a wide theological vocabulary. --Christian Century McCleneghan explores topics of sexuality and nudity and looks at how the Bible and Christian traditions have informed beliefs bout desire, premarital sex and sexual practices. --Chicago Tribune McCleneghan argues against a rule-based look at biblical purity and opens up the scripture to a more holistic approach. --The Washington Post Acts of Faith Blog