Grove City College Professor of Sociology Dr. David J. Ayers’ new publication continues the Christian scholar’s work on sex, marriage, and family issues.
“A Student’s Guide to Dating, Marriage & Sex” was published in January by Christian Focus Publications. It is part of a series of books “designed to disciple the next generation in the areas of culture, doctrine, and the Christian life,” according to the publisher.
The handbook serves as a young person’s entry into biblical views of relationships and explores a number of issues, beginning with chastity, a concept that even some believers think is old fashioned.
“Most modern people see those who believe in sexual purity—in chastity—as hopelessly out of touch, or even as oppressors imposing legalism and stealing their happiness. This could not be more wrong,” Ayers writes. “It is central to how God wants to us to live, to order our relationships, and even to govern our thoughts and the desires of our heart.”
Ayers explains how young people can honor God, respect others, and embrace the liberating beauty of God’s order when it comes to dating and marriage in today’s culture. Chapters cover marriage, obstacles to thinking about sex biblically, practical wisdom for pursuers of chastity, normal Christian living, recreational dating, and cohabitation.
“In a culture that shrinks down sex to empty hookups, pixilated courtships, broken promises, and soul–less encounters, David Ayers reminds us that scripture calls us to a bigger, more beautiful, more passionate love story. … a real eye–opener for any young person who wants to take seriously their heart, their mind, and their body,” Duffy Robbins, professor of Christian Ministry at Grove City College, said in reviewing his colleague’s work.
“A Student’s Guide to Dating, Marriage & Sex” is available online at christianfocus.com.
Over the last few years, Ayers’ research and writing on Christian marriage, the family and human sexuality have gained traction and yielded journal articles, a video series, and other books, including “After the Revolution: Sex and the Single Evangelical” and “Why Would Anyone Get Married?”