Sex God . . . part ii

i said i'd write more about Rob Bell's book Sex God once i finished it, and well, i finished it pretty much just after writing the last post a couple of weeks ago, so now i have to see what i remember about it.

i enjoyed it, and - like Velvet Elvis - it was easy to read as he writes in a very conversational style (and without religious jargon). it does seem though as if he leaves half of the book (including some of the best parts) for the footnotes at the end (including the footnote that refers to an included Monty Python quote - where he comments that a book wouldn't be complete without at least one).

i know a lot of conservative christians like to bash Bell, and had a blast doing so after Velvet Elvis since Bell said a few things that irked quite a few people considerably. i don't think that this book is quite as easy to criticize from that perspective. i think the biggest complaint from that camp would be that he never clearly articulates a specific morality for sexuality. what i mean by that, is that his whole premise is that sexuality (our relational nature) and our spirituality are wound up in each other, and obviously since that's his premise, he's puts a high value on relationship and sexuality. but, since he never outright says anything such as, "sex outside of marriage is sinful," i know that many are going to tear apart this book.

the thing is, it seems that by avoiding specifics like that, Bell has actually written a book about relationships that gets to the heart of the matter. it's not a book about dating, or marriage, or even sex. it's really a book about how people are created in the image of God (imago dei) and ends up sounding a lot like the great commandment (love God / love others) and the story of the sheep and goats in Matthew (whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto Jesus).

so Sex God isn't really about it's title, and it's not nearly as controversial as his previous book. but i think Bell's got the right idea as to what relationships are really about, so that's good. i think it's worth the few hours it takes to read.