Christian Ethics andthe Moral Life. 2009 (272 pages).
Hollinger will help you see how our
society is a culture lost when it comes to the meaning of sex. As I began
reading I quickly returned to the Ten Commandments and how sin flows from the top down—if we
have broken any of the other nine commandments we have broken the first one
too. I wonder if those commandments are progressive in this way—if we can keep
the first one, will we be able to keep the others as well,
including not coveting or committing adultery. Do the Ten Commandments speak
about the significance of our sexuality and of its meaning in relation to God
and our worship of Him?
Is there hypocrisy within our culture to say certain things are wrong or need to
have governmental control and yet certain things need not? We need gun control
is what people are saying now after the tragedies that have happened recently;
but what of sexual expression control? What if
the limitless expression of our sexuality actually leads to uncontrolled expression
in other areas including the use of guns, or money, eating, or other parts of
our bodies?
Hollinger's separation of the topic of sex is very helpful: natal sex, sexual identity, gender roles, and
sexual orientation. I wonder if sexual intimacy has a place among these four. The
experience of sex with another would seem to be a worthy topic touching on the
others but separate and still significant.
I remember reflecting on the teachings about sexuality and proper expression in my youth group growing up. I know my mind drew upon the teachings I had received about God’s design for sexual
relations in important moments. I know the importance of such teachings at such an age, for without
them things could have been very different for many of us.
Hollinger does a great many contributions worth outlining and passing on. The way he shapes and forms his arguments for sex and sexuality and those sins that pervert and hurt the original design is among the most masterful I have read. This is definitely going to be taken off my book shelf and referred to in the immediate yeas to come.