Alcorn, Randy. The Purity Principle. Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah Publishers, 2003.
93 pages.
This book is part of the “Small Books, Big Change” series. With only 93 pages, and those quite small, it’s the sort of book even the most avid non-reader can read. This book is for men and addresses the matter of sexual purity.
The ups
First, there are some excellent insights in this book. For instance, on page 38, Alcorn contrasts the false intimacy of sexual fantasy with real intimacy with God. He argues that God offers a superior satisfaction. It’s the sort of book you could give to all the guys in your church and be confident that all of them would benefit from its insights.
Second, the book offers some practical ideas for fighting sexual sin.
The downs
First, the book is not particularly Christian. My first notice of Jesus Christ in the text is on page 60. In all, I noticed only four or five mentions of Jesus Christ in the whole book and in most of those cases, Jesus Christ was peripheral to the discussion.
Second, this book is tall on fear and short on grace. The gospel shows up briefly on page 59, but doesn’t get any substantial air time until page 85. Even then, the theme dies a quick death early on the next page. This seems to be a dangerous approach to such a vital issue.
Conclusion
This book is worth reading and should give some helpful insights, but it is not essentially a Christian book and its solution to the problem of sexual temptation is not the gospel.
Grace to you.
