Product Description

A Celebration of Sex for Newlyweds answers specific, often unasked questions about sexual topics, and presents newly-married couples with detailed techniques and behavioral skills for learning sexual pleasure and intimate companionship. An excellent tool for premarital counseling and a wonderful gift for the newly-married, this book offers invaluable information in a professional yet sensitive style.
Contains material previously published in A Celebration of Sex.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #625542 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

Quality
This is a great version of "A Celebration of Sex," adapted for the newlywed experience. I recommend for all newlywed, or about-to-be-wed, Christian Couples.

Reccommended
this review troubles me. "But the solution is not to "pray for healing" but to go to the cross!" What does going to the cross even mean? and how is praying for healing not going to the corss. Is it not through the death and ressurrection of Jesus that we are able to bodly approach the throne of God in prayer. There is not a lack of Christ in this book. The reveiwer should realize that christianity is much more than just going to the cross, and must be based upon the activity of Jesus on Earth, his Death on the Cross and his Ressurrection. This book is about having the attitude of Christ in sex and about including Christ in your sex life. To say that this book is rampant with horrible theology is ignorant and makes the claim that your theology is without flaw. I hope and pray that your opinions remain opinions and are not represented as God's soveriegn truth on future reveiws. My wife and I read this during our engagement and we frequently go back to it now that we are married. THe technical advice was really helpful and it allowed us to discully openly important aspects of our sex lives.

Saying "God" and "Jesus" does not a Christian book make
I'll be getting married in the coming months and purchased this book as an introduction to a world neither I nor my fiancée knew much about. By and large, the book is a decent introduction manual to certain discussions that ought to be had between couples in the months leading up to the wedding, and in the months and years after. Sex can be a daunting thing, especially in a society which hypes it beyond belief. It is also a gift of God; how terrible it would be to let the world ruin one of the greatest joys God has given us this side of eternity! Insofar as that goes, this book is fine, it's the supposed spiritual aspect of it that makes one wonder.

There's a decent amount of biblical quotations in the book, and as you read through you realize that aspect of it is somewhat downplayed. That would be fine; it's a book about sex, not a commentary on the Bible. My primary concern is this: a total lack of Christ-crucified. In the last pages of the book, the point is made that previous (that is, premarital and sinful) sexual encounters can plague a couple (or individual) in making love to their newfound spouse. "Pray together for healing and the wisdom to overcome the consequences of sin as you appropriate deeper forgiveness before and during the honeymoon." Certainly this is a very real issue that confronts many, many Christian couples. Sin is a reality, and one which can haunt forever. But the solution is not to "pray for healing" but to go to the cross! If this is a Christian book, where is Jesus? The solution here is that "the blood of Jesus... purifies us from all sin"! Some esoteric understanding of a greater good is not what is needed to confront the troubles sin brings to a marriage, but a belief by both parties that all their sins are removed by Jesus' death on the cross.

Some Christians may be troubles by the encouragement to be "selfish" in sex. I really think he hits this point over the head far too often. The sinful instinct will be to revel in sex for one's own gratification. A mention that it is not wrong to enjoy sex, and an encouragement to understand what you enjoy to communicate that is all that would've been needed. Further encouragements of wanting to give rather than receive would've been better.

The other very troubling section in this book is the topic of birth control. He suggests "intrauterine devices" that "caus[e] the uterus to reject the fertilized egg." He then adds the qualification, "For some couples, this might violate personal ethics." Who cares if it violates my personal ethics? This silent abortion is sin in God's eyes and ought not even have a place in this book, save for telling the reality of it and telling couples to stay far away. Truly a disappointing addition to a so-called Christian book.

The technical advice and suggestions for discussions between spouses give this book a higher rating. It would've been a wonderful book if it had dropped the façade of being "Christian" and sold itself simply as a advice manual on sex for newlyweds. But even that is somewhat lacking. The topics are so rushed in this short book that probably after reading it, you and your future (or current) spouse will want to find some other book that treat the subjects in a broader fashion.

In the end, this book is a decent introduction rampant with horrible theology and wishy-washy spirituality.