Defiance! The Antichrists of history and their doomed war against the Church, by Fr. Joseph M. Esper, author of Spiritual Dangers of the 21st Century, takes a fascinating look at the many historical threats against Catholicism by those inspired by forces of evil, beginning in ancient Egyptian times, through the Roman era, right up to and through the twentieth century to our current time! CLICK HERE

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EXPLICIT TALK OF SEX ENTERS CHRISTIANITY AS A PRETEXT OF MARITAL INTIMACY AND LOVE: SAD TIME

There is a big push in Christian circles to openly discuss and advocate more and better sex in marriage. It's become a "hot" topic on websites. There are those who use (and misuse) the writing of John Paul II on the "theology of the body." There are those who speak in explicit and even lurid terms from the Protestant-evangelical pulpit.

One preacher and his wife vowed to have relations every day for a year.

Another explicitly discusses certain practices (sometimes in vulgar terms) as his wife looks on.

There are those (in evangelical circles) who have held marathon sessions on TV on a rooftop in a bed.

Their point: there isn't enough sex in Christian marriages.

At an extreme, there is even an organization that calls itself (and please excuse us) "Christian nymphos." It advocates and discusses outright perversions.

Books abound. So do videos.

This is a deception of the devil.

It certainly doesn't seem like the overbearing need in our society is more sex.

It seems the need is for more love.

Only when physical relations reflect love do they serve the purpose God intended and the way we view such has been distorted by the Playboy philosophy -- which now is being espoused, in the Name of Jesus, from the pulpit, even though Jesus never spoke this way (as He never promoted a prosperity gospel either, which is also so big in evangelicalism).

Shame on the sex preachers. In our opinion, it's an excuse to justify certain prurient undercurrents. There is a shadow behind it. It feels and looks unclean.

"A popular and controversial book about sex and relationships penned by Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll has one critic claiming there is a new craze for 'sex talk' in the church" says an article. "Conservative journalist and author David Kupelian, who is also managing editor of, published a column in which he accuses Driscoll of inventing a 'version of Christianity for people obsessed with sex.' 'There's a new form of Christianity sweeping the U.S. Its main focus: sex,' Kupelian writes, adding that he has nothing 'personal against this popular, hip, tough-talking young pastor in blue jeans' and that he totally understands the appeal of his 'blunt, masculine, passionate style – a refreshing respite from all the stuffy, pretentious and cowardly pastors out there.' However, the journalist writes, Driscoll's 'preoccupation' with talking sex goes too far."

It sure does.

He goes before his church and uses bar-room language.

We have a Catholic version of Driscoll who will remain unnamed. Suffice it to say that John Paul II's dissertation on the body was not meant to be stretched into a ministry of sex. Let it say what it says and that's the end of it.

At the Church-approved apparitions in Rwanda, a main message from the Blessed Mother was the critical importance of sexual purity.

Prudish?

"With a bed and a stripper pole placed next to his pulpit, a pastor in Ohio is all set to begin a series of sermons on sex and relationships beginning Sunday," reports the Christian Post. "Ready to start a new sermon series called 'Battle of the Sexes,' Pastor Mike Scruggs at the Light of Word Ministries in White Oak, Ohio, has put a stripper pole, video games, and sports equipment on one side of the pulpit, representing what men desire. On the other side, he has set up a bed with candies, teddy bears, roses, and a bottle of wine to depict what women want."

This is many things, including inappropriate.

Across the internet, Satan is playing games with "Christian sex" when we need no instructions so much as prayer before we do anything. If sex were to be explicitly spoken about, Christ would (explicitly) have spoken about it. The pretext seems like a ruse of the dark side, an excuse for lust. In our time, few if any need instruction (or inspiration). (Nature instructs us well.)

The sexual revolution has borne terrible fruits (among them abortion and the abuse crisis).

It has not helped every relationship.

As a Catholic news agency report: "Modern women are less happy because of fundamental problems caused by the culture’s casual attitude toward sex, according to author Mary Eberstadt. The sexual revolution 'has changed the world that we live in,' said Eberstadt, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a consulting editor to the journal, Policy Review. Eberstadt told CNA in an April 10 interview that America is only just beginning to realize the profound and fundamental effects of the sexual revolution, which she believes did not actually make women happy but 'left many of them worse off than they were before.'"

Eberstadt said that she was inspired to write her latest book when she read Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae for the first time. She described his writing as "astonishing" and "prophetic" (says the news site). "The Pope’s encyclical predicted that the sexual revolution would lead to trouble between the sexes, difficulty committing in relationships, and government use of birth control against its own people, all of which have come true in recent decades. 'I don’t think there’s a document that has been mocked and reviled more by the modern world,' Eberstadt said, adding that the encyclical’s insightful analysis of human nature and accurate predictions about the future also make it an 'intellectual cornerstone of modern times. It’s a great paradox,' she noted."

"The warnings presented by Pope Paul VI are important not only for Catholics, but for those of all faiths, as well as nonbelievers," explained Eberstadt.

Indeed. The obsession with sex (in obsession we hear the hiss in the Garden) is now sweeping across pulpits. And it is certainly true that couples should pay attention to each other.

But let love flow first, and from it will flow a bond that is inseparable unto death.

[see also: Preacher puts stripper pole next to pulpit, and Sex, sanity, and eternity and Sex pastor unwelciome at university and Author sees sex revolutipnm as basis for female discontent]