Book Review: What is the Meaning of Sex? by Denny Burk

Our culture has become very confused when it comes to sexuality. We were once a culture that defined marriage as one man and one woman, now we define it as it is whoever you love. Even in some churches, Christians are also confused by sexuality because it is reflecting the culture without going to the Bible. Denny Burk, in his book, What is the Meaning of Sex?, wrote, "Not only has biblical literacy declined in our day, but so also has the Bible's cultural influence on sexual mores."

This book takes on the issues and challenges of sexuality and teaches what the Bible says about sex and marriage. Burk says the ultimate purpose of sex was not one's own fulfillment but for the glory of God not just as a theological deduction. Sex was used to bring all glory to God. Everything is about God including sex because it was his idea and not the creation of man. Unfortunately, like anything else God created, it has been tainted by sin.

As I mentioned earlier, sex is for the purpose to bring glory to God so each chapter begins with the phrase, "Glorify God with..." Burk starts with glorifying God with your body meaning that our bodies are God's temple (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). Next was glorifying God in your hermeneutics which I thought was odd at first. Hermeneutics is simply the interpretation of the Bible. In the area of sex, we need to honor God by how we understand what it is in the context of the Bible and not what culture says.

The next few chapters deal with glorifying God in your marriage, your union as a married couple, and even family planning, which Burk discusses the issue of birth control. The next two chapters deal with glorifying God in your gender and sexuality recognizing that God created the human race male and female. While talking about gender, Burk deals with the issue of Intersex which is person born with a gender that is difficult to determine as was the case of a girl born with that condition he mentions in the beginning of the book. Finally, Burk addresses singleness which I am thankful he did because in the issue of sex, singles sometimes get left out. He writes about the challenges singles face such as whether or not to get married and the struggle some singles may have with porn.

This book has a clear Biblical understanding on the issue of sex and is a must read in our sexually confused culture. Parents need to read this to be equipped for the challenges that their kids will face. Pastors need to read this so they can be equipped to answer the hard questions on sexuality. This book came out just at the right time.

Thanks Crossway for letting me review this book.