Recommended by: a bunch of people. Plus I’d read other books by Bell.
Purchased from: A Borders going-out-of-business sale, at 80% off. Woot.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Synopsis: “Is sex a picture of heaven?” Bell wonders. It’s all about God and sex and heaven, he says: “…they’re connected. And they can’t be separated. Where the one is you will always find the other.” It’s the story of God becoming human, of humans mirroring God and love made manifest in the chaos of our humanity. Sex God is about relationships revealed in a way that elevates the human condition and offers hope to those whose relationships are wounded. In Bell’s spare, somewhat oblique style, he addresses lust, respect, denial, risk, acceptance and more. He does a fine job using the Bible and real life to show that our physical relationships are really about spiritual relationships. This book joyfully ties, and then tightens, the knot between God and humankind.
My Review: I feel like I should have read this a long time ago. I’ve had it for a while and I read it in less than twenty-four hours. It was a wonderful picture of what God has set out marriage and sex to be. Bell really delves into how the spiritual and the physical come together and how our relationships here are a picture of God’s relationship with us. It’s fascinating, really. Bell’s style takes a little getting used to — it’s sparse and really uses the white space on a page. This book, though, was probably the least-difficult to handle visually (compared to his other books). I wish I had it with me so I could quote from it a bit. Anyway, I highly recommend this book, especially to high schoolers and people who work with them. I could have used some of this information back in my youth-leading days.
