Book Review: Sex and the Supremacy of Christ ed by. John Piper and Justin Taylor
June 1, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton
To often in our Christian culture we hear the word ‘sex’ and close our ears. For many, there is an unspoken doctrine: sex=sin. Yes, there will be the occasional, “God created sex” point made in a sermon, but the general attitude towards sex is one of evasion. I’ve heard stories of newly wed couples being uncomfortable because they felt like they were doing something wrong when they consummated their marriage. There’s even a news report of a German couple who wanted to have kids but couldn’t figure out how because they were so sheltered.
This cultural backdrop is one reason for the need of this book, Sex and the Supremacy of Christ. God did create sex, but more than that, His intentions for it were good. John Piper reminds us of this in the first two chapters. Piper’s main points are that “sexuality is designed by God as a way to know God in Christ more fully,” and that “knowing God in Christ more full is designed as a way of guarding and guiding our sexuality.” (26)
Ben Patterson finishes Part One of the book laying the theological foundations of the Christian worldview concerning sexuality. Following Part One are two chapters on sex and sin. The first deals with issues pertaining to those who have sinned sexually or have been sinned against. The next chapter, by Al Mohler, explains the problems with homosexuality and how we should respond to it in our culture. Part Three contains a chapter for single men and a chapter for married men, and likewise Part Four contains a chapter for single women and a chapter for married women. Finally there are two chapters in Part Five that look at the doctrines of sex and marriage in historical perspective. The first is about Martin Luther and his relationship with Katherine von Bora, and the second details the Puritan’s understanding of sex and marriage.
By far the chapter I had the most fun reading was the one on Martin and Katherine. Justin Taylor does a great job of telling their fascinating story with humor and substance. That said, it’s hard for me to say there were only a couple of chapters I really liked. The truth is, the entire book was a great read. David Powlison’s chapter on sexual sin is the only I could say anything negative about. He offered some great points but he repeated himself numerous times and the chapter seemed to drag on (it could have easily been edited shorter)
Being that I’m single, I was a bit hesitant about reading this book at first. Is this topic really one a single male should study? Yes! I’m exceedingly grateful I took the time to read this book and would recommend it to everyone, regardless of where they are in life; be it single, married, divorced, 83, or whatever. This book takes some great steps forward towards curing the Evangelical evasion of sex and recognizing the role of sexuality in the life of the Christian and specifically in our relationship with Christ. Undoubtedly this will be one of the best books of the year.
Related posts:
- Book Review: The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper
- Book Review: God is the Gospel by John Piper
- Interview with Justin Taylor on John Owen, Part 3
- Interview with Justin Taylor on John Owen, Part 1
- Book Review: The Roots of Endurance by John Piper
- The Supremacy of Christ in the Postmodern World
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts, Theology
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June 1st, 2005 at 8:36 pm
June 1st, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Piper says, “the ultimate reason (not the only one) why we are sexual is to make God more deeply knowable.” (26) From what I can tell (though I've only read two short books by Piper aside from this), Piper holds knowing God in Christ as the ultimate end for any good thing. Yes, there are other good ends, but ultimately they are good because they point to God in Christ. If I try to find something else that is a legitimate end, say- feeding a starving family, I will have to ask why that is good. Inevitably anything that is good will lead us back to God in Christ, who is the end of all ends, since He is the beginner of all beginnings.
June 1st, 2005 at 10:25 pm
Could you spell out more then Roger how Piper explains that sexuality is a way to know Christ more fully? This is not an immediately apparent idea.
June 1st, 2005 at 10:31 pm
I might add too, that I will agree that all good things find their end in God in Christ. I don't agree, though, that all good things find their end in knowing God in Christ, which seems a little self centered, and falls into a facet of modern evangelicalsim I might expect you to criticize. This would lead to a belief that the only good thing is more fully knowing God in Christ, and derivative activities that allow us to more fully know God in Christ.
June 2nd, 2005 at 2:27 am
To quote Piper again, “God created us in his image, male and female, with personhood and sexual passions, so that when he comes to us in this world there would be these powerful words and images to describe the promises and the pleasures of our covenant relationship with him through Christ.”
Sexuality, according to Piper, gives us a framework from which we can understand how God relates to us. God's relationship to Israel was said to be like a husband and adulteress wife. Christ is seen as the groom and the Church His Bride.
On “knowing”- “And when I speak of knowing Christ, I mean it in the fullest biblical sense of grasping the truth about Christ, and growing in fellowship with Christ, and being satisfied with the supremacy of Christ.”
Piper points to several instances where “know” refers to sexual intercourse. Then he says “Now I don
June 2nd, 2005 at 2:40 pm
Coincidentally, I have just written a summary of ways of knowing on my blog.
June 2nd, 2005 at 9:34 pm
Some initial answers: Doing what Jesus did and what he commanded for the sake of being obedient to Christ and participating in his kingdom work, rather than for one's own personal persuit of knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ.
Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner, caring for the widow not to know Christ, but because we were told that to do so is righteous.
Here is the crux of my point. Having a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ is a uniquely American Evangelical framework. It is not unbiblical, though I would genuinely appreciate someone showing me a significant list of passages to support the weight given to it. Others follow and server God, profess Jesus as Lord of life and savior of their sins, and yet do not understand knowing God in an intimate way or even in an experiencial way as a primary end - if a legitimate end at all. To offer a reformed example, I have no recollection of John Calvin supporting such an end in his institutes. There is a great deal of talk about knowledge of God, but it is always in reference to knowing God for salvation, nothing beyond that, not a personal relationship with God.
I'll stop there. I'd rather actually converse on this, and I'd be interested in your response.
June 3rd, 2005 at 3:04 am
“Doing what Jesus did and what he commanded for the sake of being obedient to Christ and participating in his kingdom work, rather than for one's own personal persuit of knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Obeying Christ and participation in His kingdom work lead us to better know God in Christ.
“Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the prisoner, caring for the widow not to know Christ, but because we were told that to do so is righteous.”
Matthew 25, whatever we do for them we do for Christ. Maybe a detail, but I can do nothing that is my righteous. Anything I do that is righteous is Christ's righteousness in me.
In regards to the personal relationship of American Evangelicalism, remember I'm the one saying God doesn't instant message us. I could be wrong, but I think we do find the pursuit of God throughout church history. They may not have used the same language, but I think the ideas are. Of course, I'm not much of a church history, so maybe someone else can pack or beat me up on this.
June 13th, 2005 at 11:09 am
If I may offer one powerful passage - John 17:3. Here Jesus defines eternal life not in terms of length of life, but in terms of quality of relationship. “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.”
You are right, much modern evangelicalism fixates on the “personal” aspect of the relationship - to the detrement of the covenantal aspect. But make no mistake, God wants us to KNOW Him - personally, experientially, joyfully, covenantally, etc. etc.
I encourage you to take some time with Piper - I think you will find your heart warmed and encouraged.
Greg
August 8th, 2005 at 9:56 pm
Those of you who enjoyed Sex and the Supremacy of Christ might find this forthcoming book (endorsed by Al Mohler, John MacArthur, and others) to be of interest:
http://www.geocities.com/fivepaths/
Blessings,
Alex