Kindle
$8.49
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Paperback
$8.99
Buy new:
$8.99
List Price: $11.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $3.00 (25%)
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Tuesday, April 23 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
In Stock
$$8.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$8.99
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
New & Used (39) from
$8.99  FREE Shipping on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Beth Felker Jones
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Faithful: A Theology of Sex (Ordinary Theology) Paperback – May 5, 2015

by Beth Felker Jones (Author), Gene L. Green (Series Editor)
4.4 out of 5 stars 114
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$8.99","priceAmount":8.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"JzbFBYHA4QUMwG6ZGd8BeMY1serw3n%2FrWVQWFLYdPZmH%2FszyaixxpbO0e9gce1a4w%2FsvKaj8V1sNmxE5afDsaw%2F2TPegW055WHlkuB1ESCkG0YBsqeo8aX66SkxLQjAXU4ThrazPMEd87o40a%2FSXNw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Many believers accept traditional Christian sexual morality but have very little idea why it matters for the Christian life. In Faithful, author Beth Felker Jones sketches a theology of sexuality that demonstrates sex is not about legalistic morals with no basis in reality but rather about the God who is faithful to us.

In Hosea 2:19-20 God says to Israel, “I will take you for my wife forever; I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.” This short book explores the goodness of sexuality as created and redeemed, and it suggests ways to navigate the difficulties of living in a world in which sexuality, like everything else, suffers the effects of the fall.

As part of Zondervan’s Ordinary Theology series, Faithful takes a deeper look at a subject Christians talk about often but not always thoughtfully. This short, insightful reflection explores the deeper significance of the body and sexuality.

Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Ordinary Theology
  2. Print length
    112 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Zondervan
  5. Publication date
    May 5, 2015
  6. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.65 x 8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    031051827X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0310518273
  9. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

Faithful: A Theology of Sex (Ordinary Theology)
$8.99
Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 23
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Beauty, Order, and Mystery: A Christian Vision of Human Sexuality (Center for Pastor Theologians Series)
$23.52
Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Authentic Human Sexuality: An Integrated Christian Approach
$31.89
Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 22
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.

From the brand

Previous page
  2. The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?
    Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity's Toughest Challenges
    Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple
    The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism

    Shop Zondervan Reflective

    Visit the Store

  3. The Lord Is My Courage: Stepping Through the Shadows of Fear Toward the Voice of Love
    How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People
    Don't Follow Your Heart: Boldly Breaking the Ten Commandments of Self-Worship
    Set Adrift: Deconstructing What You Believe Without Sinking Your Faith

    Faith & Culture

    Visit the Store

  4. Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions
    Contagious Faith: Discover Your Natural Style for Sharing Jesus with Others
    Emotionally Healthy Discipleship: Moving from Shallow Christianity to Deep Transformation
    Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

    Ministry Resources

    Visit the Store

  5. Stronger Together: Seven Partnership Virtues and the Vices that Subvert Them (Exponential Series)
    What's Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done
    Sticky Leaders: The Secret to Lasting Change and Innovation (Leadership Network Innovation Series)
    How to Lead in a World of Distraction: Four Simple Habits for Turning Down the Noise

    Leadership and Decision-Making

    Visit the Store

Next page

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Beth Felker Jones teaches theology at Wheaton College in IL, where she lives with her husband and four children. She loves to write for the church and academy, and she is the author of several other books, including Practicing Christian Doctrine: An Introduction to Thinking and Living Theologically.


Gene L. Green (series editor) is professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School. Before coming to Wheaton in 1996, he served for over a decade as professor of New Testament as well as Academic Dean and Rector of the Seminario ESEPA in San José, Costa Rica.
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zondervan (May 5, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 031051827X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0310518273
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.65 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 114

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Beth Felker Jones

Beth Felker Jones

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Beth Felker Jones teaches theology at Northern Seminary. She loves to write for both the church and the academy.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
114 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Quick and Helpful
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book was recently for sale on Kindle and I decided to get it since as a married man, sex and theology are both great areas of interest for me. Jones's book is short, but it is profound. There's a lot of good material in here.

One thing she says at the start is that all of us should be theologians. In reality, we all are. The question is not if we will be theologians, but what kind of theologians will we be?

When she gets to the topic of sex, she asks what if it is not about us so much as it is about God and His intentions for creation. We don't connect it with reality the way we should. As a married man, my having sex says something about the way I see God and reality. My friends who are single abstain (Or they should) which also shows how they view sex and reality. 

Jones also says to imagine what if we said about food what we said about sex. "Eating has nothing to do with your health." "Nothing you eat can hurt you." "Food should always make you happy. Pleasure is the only purpose in eating." It's a wonderful analogy.

This also connects to the idea that sex matters to God because bodies matter and Christianity is a religion of the body. People will sometimes say what you do with your genitals is your business, but then change the rules when it comes to rape. If we say bodily actions matter from the get-go, we have no problem.

Sex in marriage is not a sin whatsoever, which some people in the Corinthian church would have thought. If anything, Paul says not only is it not a sin in marriage, it is a sin for couples to deprive one another of sex unless its by mutual consent and then only for a short time. Paul would not have had any patience for the idea of being married and purposefully abstaining from sex as if it's the unforgivable sin.

Sex is really a gift. How many of us would like to be in the situation in the garden where the man and woman were both naked and felt no shame? Sex is a real gift from God and it is a good gift. 

Part of the reason we see sex go wrong is because we don't understand the body. Pornography is a symptom of this, but so also can many romance movies be. Porn can often give guys an unrealistic idea about how women should be, but romance movies and books can often give women an unrealistic idea of how men should behave. 

Sex should be reserved for marriage and has the characteristics of fidelity, faithfulness, and an analogy of the relationship between God and His people. Sex properly understood in marriage is not for the self. It is for the other person seeking to please the other and express love to the other.

One line I really enjoyed in the book was about how sex is private, but there is something public as well. When you look around for instance, any person you see you know is there because of sex. (Barring some exceptions from IVF these days.) When we get married, part of what we say is "See this person up here? I'm having sex with them tonight."

If there was something more I would like to see in this book, it would be more about sex itself. What is the symbolism in sex? A lot of the material is about ethics and the good of the body, but I would like future editions of this book to include more on the act itself. Overall though, I found this book quite helpful and encourage others to read it.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
DeeperWatersapologetics.com
12 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Wade Allen
5.0 out of 5 stars Concise book on Sexuality
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022
Verified Purchase
Felker Jones does a wonderful job of exposing cultural dynamics in light of Scripture. I would recommend this book as a guide for a small group study.
Helpful
 Report
Michael Philliber
4.0 out of 5 stars Short, Sweet and a Little Sassy
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
This 112 page paperback is a short, sweet, mildly sassy little thing. Beth Felker Jones, professor of Theology at Wheaton College, has compiled a handy set of chapters in "Faithful: A Theology of Sex". It's an easy-to-read dossier that takes on sex, both our birth sex and procreative sex, and is mature, unencumbered, and comprehensible.

The working premise of "Faithful" is that sex "has to do with who God really is and who we really are" (13); that sex "matters to God because bodies matter to God, because God created our bodies and has good plans for us as embodied people" (18). This means, according to Jones, that the "Christian faith is profoundly for the body and for the joys of the bodily life" (22). The author hammers out the implications of her thesis, walking the reader through celibate singleness, faithful marriedness, and the goodness of sexual differentiation between male and female.

Simultaneously, "Faithful" pushes against the commodification and cheapening of bodies and sex. As Jones asserts, if our "bodies don't really mean anything, then we will act as though we can assign them meaning at random" (15). The author exposes the demeaning direction of elitist and Gnostic trends in society, and among Christians, that deny the goodness of male bodies and the goodness of female bodies. When Gnosticism prevails "the result has been bad for female bodies, for girls and women" because "Gnostics see female bodies - far more than male ones - as the special problem that redemption needs to get rid of" (33). Jones further delves perceptively into sex gone wrong in what she calls "pornication" (43-50).

In the end, "Faithful" is a useful manual. On the one hand it lays bare the "sexual orthodoxy of our fallen world" that "wants to create a body that is something to be consumed." On the other hand it beautifully presents Christian sexuality as that which "recognizes that the body is meant to be a witness. Sex is a witness to what God does in our lives, a witness to the God who is faithful and keeps promises" (104). If you're thinking about biology and bodies and maleness and femaleness, then this is a good book. I happily recommend it.
12 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Nick
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and profound
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2020
Verified Purchase
The author is very easy to read and she has put a lot of though and research into her book. Not every idea she has is perfect but her main points are spot on. Incredible book and would suggest for every pastor and church member.
Helpful
 Report
Rebecca
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, truth-telling, and beautiful
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2018
Verified Purchase
Jones illustrates the beauty of Christian sexual ethics, bringing a fountain of much-needed wisdom and truth. It's thought-provoking and bold. It would be an easy and applicable read for both adults and teenagers. I could not put this book down, and it kept me smiling the whole way through! I would highly recommend this book for anyone!
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Good, Concise View of Conservative Sexual Theology
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
I mistakingly purchased this book hoping to learn more about liberal theological views regarding sexuality. That’s not what this book is. That being said, I’ve read a lot of conservative/evangelical books on sex, and this is by far better than most. It’s concise and smart without any of the weird creepiness, paternalism, and lazy anecdotes usually found in conservative books on sex. My biggest complaint is it avoids the elephant in the room, mainly same-sex attraction. The author lays out a straight-forward traditional view of sex/marriage but doesn’t address the complexity of anything outside of a male/female union in marriage.

Great primer for traditional theological views of sex/marriage
Helpful
 Report
Ronnie Collins
5.0 out of 5 stars Great truth about human sexuality. A must read!
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is an absolute delightful work. The truth of human sexuality is not a bad thing, yet the world us made it so. Our bodies were not meant to be bought and sold but to be a witness for God.
Helpful
 Report
Casey
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear Articulation of Healthy Christan Orthodoxy
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
A concise, clear, and compelling case for an orthodox Christan understanding of sex and sexuality. Great resource not only for pastors but highly readable for non-academic readers.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report