It takes a certain mood to brave some books, but I’m glad the time came for me to digest The Scarlet Virgins: When Sex Replaces Salvation by Lutheran author, speaker, and podcaster Rebecca Lemke.
Scarlet Virgins Review
Washed in the blood: virgin or otherwise.
This was an eye-opening piece. To her credit, the author eases you into it. And what is it? The terribly sad, destructive reality that too much emphasis, even on purity, can detract from Christ and overload to–and past–the breaking point precisely those whom we hoped to protect.
There’s a wide spectrum of experience, of course. But this is one end worth considering very seriously as we approach more generations raised in an age of sexual and societal experimentation.
A particularly poignant point this book makes is that sometimes books are read like Scripture, so that well-intentioned-but-fallable ideas supplant actual God-given guidelines. Which, pleasantly, means this book never claims to hold all the answers. Yes, some opinions are given and experiences shared. The point, however, is in the subtitle: sex replaces salvation in more ways than one! And, this book helps us to parse what’s what. This book helps us to learn from some earlier temptations for our own good and the good of our kids.
Makes me want to write a book extolling the positive teachings of Scripture on all the related topics. Make it for middle graders so everyone can learn something and be on the same biblical page!
