The Act of Marriage: The Beauty of Sexual Love

In my unmarriedness I considered this book more of a joke than anything else. A Christian book on sex? And it's called "the act of marriage"?? Sounds pretty hokey to me. But after reading a majority of it we found that the perspective that it gave and the instruction that it offered was incredibly healthy and useful.

I decided to read this because it's a classic, and I figured it must have some worthwhile things to say. Indeed, I have to admire how groundbreaking and progressive it must've been for the time when it was written--especially in the area of female sexuality. In that regard, it still has plenty of practical relevance for married or engaged Christian couples. There were a couple of things that troubled me, though. For one, the LaHayes place so much emphasis on the importance of sexual satisfaction that they almost seem to focus on sexuality in isolation from the larger context of marriage. I know they were countering lots of unnecessary (and unbiblical), pent-up repression, but sometimes they ventured too far in the direction of "your sex show more life is only fulfilling its God-ordained purpose if it's physically mindblowing"...which I also think is very wrong.

Also, the chapter on birth control bugged me slightly. They emphatically repudiate the rhythm method, but it made me a little sad that they didn't say a word about other "natural" methods (FAM, NFP) that are widely embraced as effective today (especially in Christian circles). I didn't think there was much excuse for the 1998 revised edition to ignore these methods. Instead, they (somewhat uncritically, I thought) advocate use of the pill as if it's the only liberating option for women and couples.

That rant aside, I would recommend the book as a whole to engaged couples, but would suggest that it not be their only resource. show less

Considering that this was written by an evangelical in the 1970s, it was a bit progressive on some points.

a frank, indepth and educational book about sex. By Christians for Christians. It made me realize how much I didn't know or what I thought I knew was wrong.

This is a practical, thorough, and useful Christian handbook on sexual love.

This book is now a low priority to read because of problems in this book I learned about by reading The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You've Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended.

Would recommend Lehman's Sheet Music over this one.