David Jensen’s God, Desire, and a Theology of Human Sexuality is a genuine breath of fresh air in the discussion of how human sexuality, Christianity, ethics, and morality all intertwine. After years as a theologian and professor, he comes to a unique understanding on the matter. On the whole, his belief is that consensual, positive sex is a continual affirmation of one’s faith and relationship. His theology dismisses the old vilification of homosexual acts, but rather seeks to make the reader understand that is context, and not individual acts, that determines whether each act is honorable.

If a consensual sex act is joyous, intimate, faith-affirming, and legal, then Jensen seems to have no strong objection to it. Most endearing of all is his admission that the Bible, while still the preeminent guidebook for Christian faith, is mildly outdated on many matters of human sexuality. Jensen combines Biblical theology with writing of Church fathers, theologians, and contemporary philosophers to come to a modern interpretation of classical theology. This new theology comes to understand and delineate the motivations of celibacy, singleness, premarital sex, and marital sex inside their own contexts and offers the reader a new way of thinking about each one. The writing does tend to get a bit graphic at times, but you have to remember that you did choose to read a book about human sexuality, and this one may be one of the better books out there for this. A thought-provoking and enlightening read. ( )