Because scripture itself doesn’t say what evangelical leaders want it to say about sexual purity, they’ve created other sacred texts instead. The first purity icon to emerge was Elisabeth Elliot, whose Passion and Purity, published in 1984, during the Reagan years, was part autobiography, part instruction guide on how to find a godly man and engage in a pure, God-honoring romantic relationship prior to marriage. The book largely focuses on Elliot’s relationship and marriage with her first husband, Jim Elliot, a missionary, which began in the 1940s and ended with his death in 1956.
