Sex God: Book Review

Pause with me just a moment and think. I want you to go back to a place in your childhood when you really and truly felt alive. Think about the defining moment of your existence. For some of you it may be the day you met your best friend. For others it may be a special time between you and your father. Think about your moment, and think about how it made you feel. You were full, you were alive, you were connected. That is what Sex God is all about.

The book Sex God was written by Rob Bell and published by Zondervan in 2007. The book includes nine chapters of separate but related topics relating to spirituality and sexuality. One of my favorite chapters explained the essence of humanity and sexuality. Bell paints the picture that although we are less than angels, and more than animals, we still have a very wonderful purpose for our souls and bodies.

In other chapters Bell intricately describes the ancient Jewish weddings and all of their meaningful customs. As he explains the customs, he explains how this ties into the original meaning of many passages of the Bible, thus proving that God is a very intimate and passionate lover of our souls.

When I first began reading Sex God, I was thoroughly confused and doubtful about the whole thing. Sex and God. Who would think of comparing the two, much less combining them. Although Bell made some excellent observations in the first third of the book, I was still unsure of the message, but after persistent reading I was soon captivated by the book and read the entire thing in one sitting.

Author Rob Bell, is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, a sister ministry of Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church. Bell and his wife Kristen, along with their three children, reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bell graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He also graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Three of Bell’s books have been on the New York Time’s Best Sellers list: Sex God, Love Wins, and Velvet Elvis.

The subtitle for Sex God is, “exploring the endless connections between sexuality and spirituality.” This is definitely what Sex God is about. The basic human needs for passion, desire, and connection are made perfectly clear and tangible in this book. The only downfall is the end of the book, because it leaves you wanting to read and learn so much more. This would be an excellent book to study with a group of same-sex friends, or between a married couple. I think the book is more appropriate for post-adolescent minds, simply because the rich content might be hard for a hormone-filled teenager to handle.

I loved this book, and I hope you will too, should you choose to read it yourself. For more on Sex God and Rob Bell check out these links:

http://marshill.org/ 

http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310263463&QueryStringSite=Zondervan,

http://www.amazon.com/Sex-God-Exploring-Connections-Spirituality/dp/0310263468

Article first published as <a href='http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-sex-god-by-rob/'>Book Review: <I>Sex God</i> by Rob Bell</a> on Blogcritics.