'What is sex for?'

"We know that sex is for reproduction. A strict materialist — that is, someone who believes that all thoughts may be traced to physical causes — would tell you that the feelings of intimacy one has during sex are simply biological trickery to get us to want to propagate the species. (Why biology would care whether we propagate the species is never explained.)

"On the other hand, if you believe that what transpires between a man and a woman during sex has its source in something other than the couple’s DNA, their upbringing, and what they had for lunch, then sex must have a function that goes beyond creating more people to have sex."

— My words, as they appear in "The Significance of Sexual Intimacy," currently featured in the Marriage section of Crosswalk.com. The article is excerpted from my book The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On.

The excerpt used for the article is from Chapter Five, which in The Thrill is titled "The Meaning of Sex." In it, I introduce concepts from the theology of the body.