Description
Talking Back to Purity Culture is the first prose book by author Rachel Joy Welcher. This book does an excellent job of examining the impact of the Purity Culture in America in the 90s and early 2000s. For those who may be unaware, Purity Culture was a time in which many popular Christian books, conferences, and resources emphasized remaining a virgin until one’s wedding night. While it is biblical to maintain sexual purity as a way of being set apart, Welcher helps readers understand where Purity Culture went too far.
Rather than viewing Jesus as the prize, Purity Culture made virginity the prize. Talking Back to Purity Culture helps readers see how many women were and are still being hurt by many of the teachings imposed by this Christian subculture. The book also helps readers see how Purity Culture banked on promises God doesn’t make. In this way, it emulated the prosperity gospel by basically offering adherents a fulfilling sex life in exchange for their remaining virgins until marriage. One of the things it failed to account for is that remaining a virgin until one’s wedding night doesn’t exempt anyone from the realities of life in a broken world. Read my full review here.
