I can’t say that I go along with the idea that one must be 100 percent sexually chaste before marriage. But I do think that the evangelical Christian culture that holds to this principle has a lot to teach the rest of us.

My Spiritual Writing group at the Glen Workshop in Santa Fe a couple years ago included several evangelical Christians — young ones – for whom, I suspect, chastity before marriage is a hot topic.

A line from a book by our workshop leader, Lauren Winner – "Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity" — sums up just one of the helpful thoughts that I (as the ”liberal-Christian-who-finds-truth-in-Buddhism-Islam-and-heaven-knows-what-else” in the room) gleaned from my close encounter with the evangelical point of view that week.

Lauren writes that "it is tempting to look to one’s spouse to meet all one’s needs." However,chastity and singleness remind us of our "radical dependence on God."

Read more at:
http://barbarafalconernewhall.com/200...