Love Sex and God in Four Dimensions

Love Sex and God in Four Dimensions

Love Sex and God in Four Dimensions
The question of sexual ethics is complicated. Humans have the unique property of having the animalistic need for sex, the natural desire for procreation, but also the conscience that comes from our humanity. This is further complicated by other facets of society and human life. It is an issue that forces us to look at gender inequalities and question how sex effects gender relations, it calls upon us to question our own dignity, self worth and decisions and finally it is an issue that plays into religion, and forces us to question what place sex has in one’s relationship with God. The need for the study of sexual ethics is obvious, and James Nelson explores it through one word: Love. The answer is much more complicated than one four letter word. Nelson explores love through four comprehensive dimensions, and he explains why these dimensions are so important for “morally good” sex. What Nelson provides is an extremely exquisite exploration of sex, love and God that with ultimately prove to be powerful tool in anyone’s personal journey of their sexuality.
Connecting the word love with sex is fairly common among the current generation, and these words have gone hand in hand for quite a while. This has not always been historically true, but it certainly is true now. However, the word love is often used blindly while describing the ethics of any given sexual situation, For example, the idea of “if you love each other, it’s all right.” (Nelson 109) Nelson expresses the importance of defining love in regards to sexuality, explaining “since love is the central meaning and purpose of our sexuality, it is also the measuring standard and justification for any particular sexual act. But everything hinges upon the content given to the word…” (109) Nelson presents an idea of a four dimension definition of love, with the dimensions Epithymia, Eros, Philia, and Agape.
The first dimension, Epithymia, is “the desire for sexual fulfillment”...

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