Category: Sexuality

Purity culture did not emerge directly from ancient scripture; it was a reactionary product forged in the anxieties of the American 1990s. Born as a response to the sexual revolution and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the movement promised absolute safety in a fearful era. This article traces how Victorian modesty ideals, decontextualized ancient laws, and 1990s culture wars combined to institutionalize the purity pledge and courtship models.

For many raised in late-20th-century evangelicalism, “abstinence” and “purity culture” are frequently treated as exact synonyms. However, while abstinence is a private historical ethical choice, purity culture is a modern, highly visible sociological construct. This article examines the architecture of the 1990s movement—from purity pledges to the courtship model—and explains why disentangling the ancient ethic from the modern subculture is the crucial first step in understanding its lasting psychological impact.

The challenge to traditional Christian sexual ethics isn’t simply that modern society has changed. It is a deeper question about how we read the Bible: Christians already interpret biblical slavery by looking at historical context, the overall direction of Scripture, and timeless principles of human dignity. Why should those same interpretative tools suddenly be off-limits when applied to biblical sexual ethics? Having a consistent method of interpretation doesn’t mean we will reach identical conclusions—but it does require consistent rules.

When modern readers look to the Bible for relationship advice, they often project 21st-century romantic ideals onto a text built on Iron Age economics. Discover the historical reality of marriage, polygyny, and sexual ethics in the ancient Levant.

The Bible often seems polite regarding sexuality, but this is an illusion created by translation. Discover how ancient scribes used euphemisms like “knowing,” “feet,” and “the thigh” to discuss intimacy, anatomy, and scandalous encounters without violating cultural modesty.

Does the Bible actually talk about homosexuality? Discover why historical-critical scholars consider the modern concept of “sexual orientation” anachronistic to the biblical text, and learn how ancient gender hierarchies, power dynamics, and a 1946 translation error shaped the modern debate.

When God commanded the prophet Hosea to marry a “wife of whoredoms,” the shock value was entirely intentional. Rather than a simple moral fable, this scandalous union functioned as a profound prophetic sign-act designed to mirror Israel’s broken covenant with Yahweh.

In the dark of the threshing floor, the Book of Ruth uses deliberate ambiguity and intense sexual tension to tell a story of survival. Read the full article to discover how the biblical text celebrates the bold, unconventional strategy of two marginalized widows who refused to be erased by a patriarchal system.