Customer Reviews

Holy Sex!: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are many areas of discepency regarding what we think, or what we are told the Catholic church teaches and what the Catholic church actually teaches. One of the most well hidden and least talked about areas has to be the place and role of sexuality and sexual relations in the Catholic faith. This book couragously and unashamedly explores the true source, meaning, and purpose of our sexuality. It explodes the myth that the Church and sex are nearly mutually exclusive, and reveals the dignity and reverence that the Church places upon sex and sexuality not only for procreation but just as importantly for its absolute integral importance for creating and nurturing a deep, true, spiritual marital relationship. This book shows us that physical pleasure is indeed very good and highly encouraged by the Church in the marital relationship. Not in the same way that physical pleasure is presented to us in the thin veneer of eroticism that society inundates us with, but as a beautiful part of something much deeper and more meaningful.

Holy Sex!, despite the profound and wieghty subject matter, is a very readable and accessible book presented with ample doses of wit and humor. This book is well researched and built on solid religious, and psychological foundations.

To classify Holy Sex! as just a great marital/relationship self help guide, which it is, would however, in my opinion, miss the core of the message. The information in this book is meant not only to be helpful, but to be transformational. The heart of this book is a challenge to all of us. A challenge to understand that real love is not about us, it's about others. The real love from which everything else, including amazing sex, flows. If individuals are transformed by this real love, then couples are transformed. When couples are transformed, families are transformed. When families are transformed, communities are transformed. This is big stuff people !!

Whether or not you are Catholic, this book is the best I've ever seen on how to have a TRULY satisfying sexual relationship. It is completely faithful to the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality and even if you think you know what that is, I think you'll be surprised to find out how much more there is to know!

This book is really engaging and treats its subject with both the respect it deserves and the humor which will encourage you to keep reading. It is practical as well. I think it would be a fabulous engagement or wedding gift. Everyone who is married or wants to be could benefit from this book.

Read it and find out what you've been missing all these years!!!

This book is the absolute best on the market relating to the Catholic Church and her teachings on sex and sexuality. I have read Humane Vitae and love the document, which is prophetic. I have read Chris West's work (he is the man who introduced me to the Church's teaching) and have since read his critics, both liberal and conservative, including those who reject Theology of the Body itself as a liberal distortion. (I attend the Latin Mass, and there are a fair number of providentialists in the movement who feel that the Pope John Paul II's work abandoned the concept of "grave reason" in the Church's tradition. They say that NFP is a concept that should be rejected unless one could die in childbirth etc. etc.)

After tons of reading, I came across this volume. I am not a psychologist, I am a teacher with interests in music, theology, and history. As such I have recognized that while many people write and argue about the nuances of Catholic teaching vis a vis the immorality of contraception, very few write complete books that address not just the moral theology, but also the psychological ramifications of implementing the teaching in our lives.

This book has the best and most complete introductory section on the Church's teaching I have ever read. But more than that, this book addresses the common problems married couples will encounter when giving their lives to this teaching. While those who practice NFP enjoy a divorce rate of around 5% (FAR lower than the general population) that does NOT mean that practicing NFP is without its risks. As a practicing family therapist, Dr. Popcak has seen it all. He addresses these topics with charity and love that enable couples to see that they are not alone in struggling to implement this teaching. When we "sell" this teaching in pre-cana far to often the couples who do the teaching are very passionate and want to convince. Therefore they undersell the potential difficulties that couples will deal with in implementing the teaching. Therefore, couple who throw away their contraceptives may feel that something is "wrong" with them if they encounter problems. This book is the absolute best at handling this very difficult situation.

The section on sex itself is absolutely steamy. This honesty from the likes of Popcak and West has lead to some criticizing their work as overly romantic. A look at the generational differences quickly shows that these critics are usually much older and of a generation that grew up in a VERY different environment regarding sex and sexuality than Generation X and younger Catholics did. This book (and West's work) meet the young couples where they are. That is important. You do not have to give up your excellent sex life to be a good Catholic. A good sex life is psychologically healthy (so long as you are married and having sex with just your spouse, and are not using artificial contraception, and only abstain for purposes of preventing a pregnancy for serious reason).

I strongly recommend this book. It is the most friendly, most clearly written, and most complete introduction to the topic. A must read for every young Catholic couple, and every Catholic couple contemplating marriage.

Dr. Greg has done a remarkable job distilling the Catholic Church's teaching on human sexuality in a way that will delight the senses. Not only has he done this, but he has also provided couples with faithful answers to common (yet embarrassing) problems that are too often not talked about.

You will find yourself rolling on the floor with laughter one minute, crying from relief (after finding out the truth you have been searching for) the next and still the next minute asking yourself, "Did he really say THAT!!! Yes, he did."

When I read this book, incidently before Dr. Greg ever received his own "author's copy", I couldn't put it down. It has been about 9 months since I read this book and I am still unpacking the delightful, shocking truths that Dr. Greg has so humorously communicated in here.

I have one suggestion for all those who want to reading: Do not read it while you are trying to abstain!! You may find it very difficult to continue to stay the course!!

In all honesty, Dr. Greg has done a phenominal job trying to convey in human terms the beautiful reality that human sexuality is. I highly recommend this (as well as all his other books on marriage and family).

Missionary - is that truly the start and end to the sexuality of catholic bed rooms? "Holy Sex!: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving" claims not, discussing what many Catholics never discuss - the acts in the bedroom. Showing that having fun in the bedroom does not mean that one must be a sinful deviant, its lessons are sure to brighten the lives of any catholic couple, be they newlywed or decades old. "Holy Sex!: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving" deserves a place in both human sexuality and Catholic studies collection as it offers something for any follower of either - highly recommended.

The Joy of Catholicism

[...]

I was intensely curious about this book, not only because of the edgy title, but because of a sincere desire to help devoted Catholics have excellent marital relations. Dr. Popcak covers the subject well, answering most reasonable questions and concerns about moral, marital intimacy along with some outliers. He gives a few examples of conflicts and how they can influence a couple's attitudes and feelings in regard to the most intimate aspect of their relationship. That is when the book is at its best, sharing real stories of practicing Catholics. The "Catechism" side, if you will. Unfortunately, the "Joy of Sex" side is a bit too explicit for my taste, though I imagine it is vastly more modest than anything in the Relationship section of my local Barnes & Noble. For a difficult subject, Dr. Popcak did a good job but this still isn't quite the book I was hoping to find. However, I gained enough valuable insight to have no doubt that his next book will make it to my shelf.

This book is well written and covers all topics with a positive and funny perspective. I appreciate reading about church teaching on this topic. Greg Popcak has a great way of communicating truth with sensitivity. Have always enjoyed his books! A+

I am certain MANY folks will pick up this book, engaged by the title. Those who read it will soon realize the truth of God's perspective on married sex, as well as the "world's" seriously mis-guided and often mis-informed perspective. This book, if one follows the guidelines and precepts it suggests, will lead the reader (hopefully BOTH husband and wife) not only to a deeper sexual experience with each other, but more importantly to a MUCH closer union with God through Christ. Your love of your Creator will greatly increase, leading to a profoundly deeper relationship with your spouse, which naturally results in the best, most fulfilling sexual experiences any human can have!

Serve the Lord; Serve your spouse; enjoy the reward! One of my favorite books!

Originally when I got married, I didn't want to read any sex advise books at all. I grew up in a household where having that much curiosity about sex was seen as simply immoral. Then I got married, and my husband and I had great difficulties consummating our marriage because of my sexual hang ups. I wasn't physically able to do it. My mother-in-law had given us a secular book on sex that I actually ended up opening only to find that it was absolutely worthless and trashy. Not knowing where to turn, my husband purchased this book to attempt to help us. While the book did not help me to overcome the problem (I needed therapy) it did give me a resource to weed out negative sexual attitudes that were causing my problems that were not authentically Catholic attitudes and the attitudes that were authentically Catholic. We did have problems with "the one rule" as in my current state following the rule seemed entirely physically impossible. Meanwhile treatment I was presented with in therapy seemed to put me in a moral situation where I had great difficulties figuring out how to adjust it in accordance with the Church's teaching. Eventually I had to learn to distinquish between therapy needed to enable me to be with my husband and actively interferring with the act. It was tough and I kept wanting someone to rubber stamp the therapy with "Its totally ok. You're not going to go to Hell because you needed therapy."

Thankfully it only took two months of therapy to be able to consumate our relationship, and we now have a beautiful daughter because of it. Since I've overcome my problems, I've found the content of the book to be invaluable. Overall I find its far more about the marital relationship than it is about sex. I think the people who protest the descriptions and examples given are fairly uncomfortable with sex. I know for me, much of my problems dealt around my parents treating sexual ignorance as if it were a virtue. There is nothing finding out what sex it in a frightening manner and then having your worried questions about it dismissed as immoral curiosity that will lead you on the road to Hell. These things need to be talked about and its not because sexual pleasure is a bad corrupting force. Chastity is not about fearing sexual pleasure or remaining in the dark about sex.

In addition to this book, I was recommended the protestant book "Sheet Music." Honestly that book I found to be far more offensive in its descriptions. First of all the author seems to be completely unaware that couples don't always find engaging in the act easy. I started crying when the author expressed the basics of the act as something anyone could do. It then went on exploring pleasures and even recommended sending your spouse some naughty photos of you. If there is any book that truly tries to Christianize faulty secular values, it is "Sheet Music." Holy Sex actually even begins its chapters on sexual advise by directing you back to the bulk of the book which is the foundational relationship advise in understanding the expression of love occuring in every action you express to your spouse.

This book revolutionized how I think about sexuality. It's written in a funny and engaging manner, and is well researched and informative. I don't agree with absolutely everything Dr. Popcak says, but he has me convinced of all his major points.