PURITY IS POSSIBLE
How to live free of the fantasy trap
By Helen Thorne
Good Book Company. 112 pages. £7.99
ISBN 978 1 909 919 846
Pornography, sexual fantasy, lust, erotica… all male struggles, right? Wrong. Okay, there can only be a tiny number of Christian women who wrestle with such sins? Wrong again.
According to Helen Thorne’s book, Purity is Possible, all of the above are very much issues for the Christian women. She quotes a 2006 survey by ChristaNet that found that around 20% of Christian women view porn regularly. Apparently one in three visitors to porn sites are female and even more women are reading erotic literature such as Fifty Shades of Grey. For other women, mental sexual fantasy has become a way of life. I think Helen rightly points out that these hidden battles with lust that women face are little acknowledged in our churches.
Many of us have believed the lie that lust is a male issue. The consequence? Women who are addicted and enslaved to sexual sin feel deeply isolated and often choose to stay silent, resulting in their lifestyle continuing and becoming all the more destructive. The answer? Helen offers her readers a wholly scriptural and gospel centered approach not only to fighting sexual sin through fleeing from it, but also to waging war against lust through being transformed by Christ.
Better understanding
I believe Helen’s book is an important book for Christian women to read whether they battle with lust or not. If they do, Purity is Possible offers real hope of freedom and a transformed life. If they don’t, Helen’s book will help Christian women better understand and empathise with women who do, as well as giving them the tools to help council and support such women.
Honesty
Helen’s style is engaging, vulnerable, sensitive and intelligent. She is open and honest about her own struggles, which makes what she shares all the more relatable and applicable. If I had a friend who opened up with me about their issue of lust, this would be the first book I would recommend. I thank God that a book has been written to challenge unhelpful Christian female stereotypes and offer hope to all the women fighting sexual sin in lonely silence.
I pray that this book will get into many women’s hands, challenge our churches in how they speak about lust and help set many women free.
