Posted on 08/30/2007 10:50:43 PM PDT by Between the Lines
Religious-themed sex guides are flying off the shelves - some even give believers permission to enjoy a good romp.
Richard Davies was reading The New York Times books section when he spotted a full-page advertisement for sex guides.
A spokesman for Victoria-based online book retailer Abe Books, Mr. Davies wondered what kind of guides his customers were ordering, and ran a search of the company's database.
"I knew there was demand for collectible erotica, things like The Pop-Up Kama Sutra," he said. "But we put together our bestselling list and, lo and behold, a Christian guide was No. 1."
Of the top 10 sex guides ordered by Abe Books users, five have religious or spiritual themes, ranging from Christian how-tos to "Taoist methods for male sexual revitalization."
The most popular guide is called Intended for Pleasure: Sex Technique and Sexual Fulfilment in Christian Marriage, by married couple Ed and Gaye Wheat.
"I knew we had a lot of Christian buyers getting things like The Purpose Driven Life and rare Bibles," Mr. Davies said.
"Christians are big readers, big book collectors; but I didn't realize this."
In the years that Intended for Pleasure has been flying off shelves, the publishing industry has discovered the demand for faith-based material that speaks specifically to a purpose-driven sex life.
On The New York Times bestseller list, a book called It's All About Him is currently No. 4 for hardcover non-fiction.
Written by Denise Jackson, wife of country music star Alan Jackson, the book describes how religious faith restored passion and dedication to her marriage.
Lonnie Hull DuPont, director of acquisitions at Revell, which publishes Intended for Pleasure, said the book has sold more than a million copies since its release 30 years ago, and has never gone out of hardcover.
The book is an at-times-surprising combination of faith and fact.
Passages of Bible Scripture and earnestly romantic tributes to married life are scattered between straight-up explanations of the birth-control pill and illustrations labelled "positioning for premature ejaculation training session using squeeze control."
"I think this was the first in the Christian book industry to be so specific about sex," Ms. Hull DuPont said of Intended for Pleasure's enduring popularity.
"Many parts of daily life are full of feelings of guilt or pleasure that I think some Christians don't really know what to do with. This book gives readers permission to enjoy sex."
Other faiths also have sex guides tailored to their beliefs. Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy is a bestselling guide by American Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and includes chapters titled: "Is Oral Sex Wrong?" and "What about Pornography?"
Various publishers have also released sex guides capitalizing on the Kama Sutra craze, promoting the link between sexual satisfaction and eastern mysticism.
The titles include The Tao of Sexology, Taoist Secrets of Love, The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon and The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress.
On amazon.com, the Christian living category reveals an abundance of erotica for the evangelical set, including Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality, Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them, and A Celebration of Sex: A Guide to Enjoying God's Gift of Sexual Intimacy.
Mr. Davies said it is Internet retailers such as Abe Books and Amazon that are most likely responsible for the growing popularity of these titles.
"Sex manuals are very easy to order on the Internet," Mr. Davies said. "There's less of a taboo about them now."
Internet orders are also affecting the popularity of religiously themed erotic fiction.
Steeple Hill, a Christian imprint of Canadian publisher Harlequin, releases a variety of "wholesome" novels to its direct-mail subscribers, who receive a new book each month.
"It's incredibly popular," said Megan Lorius, a spokeswoman for Steeple Hill.
"That customer base is very demanding for more titles."
I'd love to see a picture of this, but that would probably get the thread pulled.
I was always told that good Baptists don’t make love standing up ‘coz it may lead to dancing.
This book is not about how-to sex & Christianity. It is about those women in the bible who engaged in questionable behavior of any kind.
I’m not sure if this qualifies as salacious, but ping anyway.
There are also many, many books interpreting Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body,” which is about sexuality, not simply sex, but much more fitting in a discussion of Christian eroticism than “Bad Girls of the Bible.”
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