Week 8: Chapter 7 — Sex and Marriage

1.Kathy Keller opens by noting that the church has often communicated one of two distorted messages about sex: either that it is dirty and shameful, or (more recently) that it is spiritually neutral like eating or sleeping. How does she argue against both distortions, and which one do you think is more prevalent in your context?

2.Kathy draws on the Song of Solomon to argue that erotic love within marriage is genuinely good — celebrated and affirmed by God, not merely tolerated. How does the existence of the Song of Solomon in the Bible challenge the idea that Christianity is fundamentally suspicious of physical pleasure?

3.Kathy argues that sex within marriage is uniquely powerful because it is a 'covenant renewal ceremony' — a physical re-enactment of the total self-giving that the marriage vow pledges. How does this theological framework change the way you think about what sex is and what it is for?