Ed Shaw is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-sex Attraction (IVP UK), launched in the USA as Same-sex Attraction and the Church, where it was voted Gospel Coalition's Top Book in the Christian Living Category. Translations have appeared in Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Ed is Pastor of Emmanuel City Church, Bristol, and part of the editorial team at www.livingout.org.   
  
Member of the General Synod of the Church of England and a member of the Archbishops' Pastoral Advisory Group. As part of www.livingout.org, Ed has a growing national and international profile, having spoken on R4's Today programme and had articles and reviews published by Gospel Coalition. He has been part of Creation Fest, Keswick Convention, New Day, New Wine, Vineyard Leaders and Word Alive, and has done speaking tours in the US and Australia.

If you're a human being, then you're a sexual being. But what is your sexuality for? That's a question we often struggle to answer because we find it so hard to talk about our powerful and personal sexual feelings - perhaps especially if we're Christians.   
  
Ed Shaw explores the Bible's deepest answers to this question in ways that will help everyone to appreciate and enjoy God's purposeful gift of sexuality - whatever your past history, current situation or sexual orientation might be.

We're all sexual. Ed Shaw invites us to consider the purpose of our sexuality.

Compassionate, hopeful and biblical. This is a must-read for all Christians, and a great help as we navigate the vital issues around sexuality.

A short, clear and often profound book on one of our generation's most pressing subjects. Ed Shaw has served us superbly with Purposeful Sexuality.

This wise, sensitive book has a great deal to offer all of us as we attend to the desires, questions and struggles arising from our nature as sexual beings. Its contemporary frame of reference, combined with careful reading of relevant biblical texts, makes it all the more valuable.

We live in times when things we know and values we hold are changing and in flux. From our humanity to our identity, everything seems up for re-definition. Perhaps it's at the point of our sexuality that this is most vivid and complex.  
With brilliant clarity, grace-filled empathy, and biblical truth, Ed Shaw helps us understand the plan and purpose of our sexuality and wisely draws us back to the place of healing and redemption which we all truly need.

Whether you are confused or frustrated, scared or scarred, Ed Shaw's latest book will help you to find a renewed sense of joy and purpose for your God-given sexuality. Armed with a better understanding of God's purpose for our sexuality, Ed shows how we will be better equipped to navigate the trials and temptations of our sex-obsessed world. It's a book I will be recommending to people in all kinds of different situations.

In this compelling short read, Ed Shaw poses the question, "What is the purpose of our sexuality?" With courageous honesty, he mines deep into Scripture and brings some incredible gems to light. He unearths how our sexuality is the most graphic imagery for the passion and potency of God's love. Sheer dynamite!

I am so thankful I am a sexual being! Ed's book is a much-needed hurricane of fresh air on the purpose of sexuality. As a single heterosexual woman, I am once more staggered by God's kindness in crafting me with sexual desire so that I may more tangibly appreciate his love for me. Ed's short book is beautifully biblical, richly pastoral and deeply evocative. A glorious vision of human flourishing is to be found within these pages. I am more for having read this.

How can such a short book pack such a punch? With humanity and great humility, Ed Shaw shows us why our sexuality is such a good thing. That God in his kindness has given us a way to feel the passion of his love for us and yearn for more of him. And that this for all of us, in all our mess, whether or not we're married.

'Sex is life' advertising slogans hit us constantly. But what kind of sex really is 'life'?   
A colossal crisis in relationships and a profound loneliness seem to be the outcomes of this pansexual society. The so-called 'sexual revolution' has not brought the flourishing life it promised, but rather the opposite.   
In this concise and clear book Ed Shaw shows how the biblical vision for sexuality is indeed a source of life and fulfilment. The book provides a lucid and solid framework on sexuality for everyone, but especially for those who are frustrated, confused and tired of the 'paradise' promised by the secular views.

For a contentedly single heterosexual woman, I seem to be reading a lot of books about sex and sexuality these days. It is a vital topic, and something I need to have a clear, biblical understanding of as someone involved in pastoral work - and indeed as someone involved in human life!   
Purposeful Sexuality is a brief but vital addition to the genre. In this excellent little book Ed reveals a deep understanding both of the questions surrounding sexuality and of the Bible's glorious, hopeful, life-giving answers. How is God's gift of sexuality good news for all of us, whatever our circumstances? Read this book to find out.

Ed Shaw

Introduction: What are we talking about?

Why is talking about sexuality so difficult?

What is sexuality for?

What is sexuality really for?

How does this help us? Part 1

How does this help us? Part 2

What does God do to help us?

Questions for reflection

Acknowledgments

Notes

If God means for us to save sex for marriage, why doesn't he just zap us with sexuality on our wedding night? Why do most of us experience sexual feelings throughout our adult lives, not just in the safe confines of marriage? Is limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman anything but outdated prejudice? What is our sexuality actually for?  
  
Today's culture overwhelmingly tells us that sex is essential for human flourishing. Far too often the church perpetuates the same message - as long as you are married. But far from being liberating, this idolising of sex leaves us even more sexually broken than before.  
  
With refreshing honesty and clarity, Ed Shaw calls on the church to rediscover its confidence in the Bible's teaching about our ability to experience or express sexual feelings. He points us to how God's word reveals that sexuality's ultimate purpose is to help us better know God and the full power of his passionate love. He shows us how this is surprisingly good news for all our joys and struggles with sexuality.

\["Want a healthy understanding of sexuality?","This short introduction takes a honest Christian view of sexuality","You'll see more of how sexuality can be a source of real joy and expression"\]

Compassionate, hopeful and biblical. This is a must-read for all Christians, and a great help as we navigate the vital issues around sexuality.

__- Gavin Calver__

A short, clear and often profound book on one of our generation’s most pressing subjects. Ed Shaw has served us superbly with Purposeful Sexuality.

__- Andrew Wilson__

This wise, sensitive book has a great deal to offer all of us as we attend to the desires, questions and struggles arising from our nature as sexual beings. Its contemporary frame of reference, combined with careful reading of relevant biblical texts, makes it all the more valuable.

__- Julian Hardyman__

We live in times when things we know and values we hold are changing and in flux. From our humanity to our identity, everything seems up for re-definition. Perhaps it’s at the point of our sexuality that this is most vivid and complex.

With brilliant clarity, grace-filled empathy, and biblical truth, Ed Shaw helps us understand the plan and purpose of our sexuality and wisely draws us back to the place of healing and redemption which we all truly need.

__- Tope Koleoso__

Whether you are confused or frustrated, scared or scarred, Ed Shaw's latest book will help you to find a renewed sense of joy and purpose for your God-given sexuality. Armed with a better understanding of God's purpose for our sexuality, Ed shows how we will be better equipped to navigate the trials and temptations of our sex-obsessed world. It's a book I will be recommending to people in all kinds of different situations.

__- Ros Clarke__

In this compelling short read, Ed Shaw poses the question, “What is the purpose of our sexuality?” With courageous honesty, he mines deep into Scripture and brings some incredible gems to light. He unearths how our sexuality is the most graphic imagery for the passion and potency of God’s love. Sheer dynamite!

__- Rt Revd Dr Jill Duff__

I am so thankful I am a sexual being! Ed's book is a much-needed hurricane of fresh air on the purpose of sexuality. As a single heterosexual woman, I am once more staggered by God's kindness in crafting me with sexual desire so that I may more tangibly appreciate his love for me. Ed's short book is beautifully biblical, richly pastoral and deeply evocative. A glorious vision of human flourishing is to be found within these pages. I am more for having read this.

__- Kristi Mair__

How can such a short book pack such a punch? With humanity and great humility, Ed Shaw shows us why our sexuality is such a good thing. That God in his kindness has given us a way to feel the passion of his love for us and yearn for more of him. And that this for all of us, in all our mess, whether or not we’re married.

__- Mark Ellis__

‘Sex is life’ advertising slogans hit us constantly. But what kind of sex really is ‘life’?

A colossal crisis in relationships and a profound loneliness seem to be the outcomes of this pansexual society. The so-called ‘sexual revolution’ has not brought the flourishing life it promised, but rather the opposite.

In this concise and clear book Ed Shaw shows how the biblical vision for sexuality is indeed a source of life and fulfilment. The book provides a lucid and solid framework on sexuality for everyone, but especially for those who are frustrated, confused and tired of the ‘paradise’ promised by the secular views.

__- Dr Pablo Martinez__

For a contentedly single heterosexual woman, I seem to be reading a lot of books about sex and sexuality these days. It is a vital topic, and something I need to have a clear, biblical understanding of as someone involved in pastoral work - and indeed as someone involved in human life!

Purposeful Sexuality is a brief but vital addition to the genre. In this excellent little book Ed reveals a deep understanding both of the questions surrounding sexuality and of the Bible's glorious, hopeful, life-giving answers. How is God's gift of sexuality good news for all of us, whatever our circumstances? Read this book to find out.

__- Jennie Pollock__

With healthy and refreshing honesty, Purposeful Sexuality offers a Christian introduction to seeing sexuality as a nourishing source of hope and expression.

__Ed Shaw__ is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-sex Attraction (IVP UK), launched in the USA as Same-sex Attraction and the Church, where it was voted Gospel Coalition's Top Book in the Christian Living Category. Translations have appeared in Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Ed is Pastor of Emmanuel City Church, Bristol, and part of the editorial team at www.livingout.org.

Member of the General Synod of the Church of England and a member of the Archbishops' Pastoral Advisory Group. As part of www.livingout.org, Ed has a growing national and international profile, having spoken on R4's Today programme and had articles and reviews published by Gospel Coalition. He has been part of Creation Fest, Keswick Convention, New Day, New Wine, Vineyard Leaders and Word Alive, and has done speaking tours in the US and Australia.

Purposeful Sexuality

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