The booklet, Sex Love In Christian Marriage, was initially published by A.C.T.S Publications, Melbourne. The author is unknown. The original publication simply said, "By C.M.S."
This is an interesting and important booklet. It deals with sex. More precisely it deals with the "science" of sex. That is, how best to do sex.
The booklet was written in 1973. The layout and language of the booklet indicates this, but much of the material is perennial. But with the Theology of the Body, such a book on the "science" of sex is helpful.
The Theology of the Body is magnificent. We live in a time of great confusion with respect to sex. It was not so long ago that people felt constrained in talking about sex. Today, sex is the topic. We have gone so far in our advertising as to think that cars are sexy. We have gone from one extreme to another.
The Theology of the Body and indeed Sex Love In Christian Marriage lie between these polarities. Sex-love, according to John Paul II, is that act that unites a man and woman in love. Through this experience of sex-love, the couple come back to themselves, so to speak, with a renewed sense of their own personal identity. Furthermore, when they unite physically in the act of sex and thus form a one-flesh union, man and woman become an image of God par excellence. It is upon this union that the gift of fertility "descends" - to use John Paul's language.
