In an age of increasing philosophical and religious attack upon the most basic life principles, principles once assumed and held for millenia by nearly every human society, Christian or otherwise, a new resource has arrived to help the Christian church equip the saints for critically important conversations happening now in school hallways and at breakroom water coolers everywhere.

"The New Reformation Catechism on Human Sexuality," by Rev. Chris Gordon, in partnership with the Gospel Reformation Network and Reformation Heritage Books, is just the right resource "for such a time as this." And, that time is one wherein the sexual revolution of the 1960's has morphed, over the course of many decades, into a cultural movement with a destructive appetite for all that the Christian church throughout history has known and taught as true, particularly where the nature of man and human sexuality are concerned.

The current backdrop for this broader conversation  certainly focuses on all that the LGBTQ+ movement has become, not only in America, but globally. And yet, the LGBTQ+ movement does not comprise the whole of what this catechism addresses. No, the catechism is much more than a rejoinder to the homosexual lobby.

The NRCHS presents key, biblical truths about human sex and sexuality in a Q&A format patterned after the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. With 41 such questions and answers that are situated within four unique sections (Creaton, Fall, Redemption, Restoration), the NRCHS is a wonderful tool for pastors, small group leaders, counselors, and even parents and families who are aware that something is needed to cut through all the emotion and rhetoric for the presentation of a clear-headed, and unapologetic statement on what the Scriptures principally teach about human sex and sexuality.

We're glad to be able to recommend this catechism, and look forward to utilizing it in counseling with those who are struggling with sexual sin and sexual identity issues of various kinds. While some may find portions difficult or awkward to talk about, we believe that our current conditions in the broader culture demand that we carefully lean in to the content, and allow our minds to be renewed by material that is lifted directly from God's word, and in accord with all that the church has believed and taught about this critical topic.

As Dr. Rosaria Butterfield rightly says in the catechism's Foreword, "If nothing checks our will, our sinful desires will plunge us headfirst into all manner of spiritual, moral, and sometimes physical danger. No one is exempt from original sin and its consequences."

Here is a sample of the wonderful truths contained in the NRCHS:

2 Q. What must I know about human sexuality and my new identity in Christ?

A. Three things: first, how great my unholy desires and sexual sins are;

second, how I am set free from bondage to my unholy desires and sexual sins;

third, how I am to lead a thankful life of sexual purity in union with Christ.

The NRCHS can be purchased in paperback form at Reformation Heritage Books.