Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 05:2 (Fall 2023)
Article: God’s Good Design: A Biblical, Theological, And Practical Guide To Human Sexuality
Author: Samuel Parkison

Eikon 5.2 (Fall 2023) p. 106

God’s Good Design: A Biblical, Theological, And Practical Guide To Human Sexuality

Samuel Parkison

Samuel G. Parkison (PhD, Midwestern Seminary) is Associate Professor Theological Studies and Director of the Abu Dhabi Extension Site at Gulf Theological Seminary in the United Arab Emirates. Samuel is the author of several books, including Thinking Christianly: Bringing Sundry Thoughts Captive to Christ (H&E, 2022) and Irresistible Beauty: Beholding Triune Glory in the Face of Jesus Christ (Christian Focus, 2022). Samuel is also a regular contributor and editor at Credo Magazine.

D. Michael Clary, God’s Good Design: A Biblical, Theological, and Practical Guide to Human Sexuality. Ann Arbor, MI: Reformation Zion Publishing, 2023.

In his recently published, God’s Good Design, D. Michael Clary speaks about the moral and emotional bankruptcy promised by the sexual revolution, and, by contrast, the beauty and goodness of the Christian sexual ethic. Clary’s book is not merely a diatribe against modern sexual madness; he posits a better story and revels in the beauty of God’s design in human gender and sexuality. “In this book,” Clary states up front, “we will demonstrate the truth, goodness, and beauty of God’s design for sexuality. We will show how God’s story of his covenant love for his people, ultimately revealed in the gospel, was a profound mystery, written into the created order from the beginning of time” (3). In this book, Clary neither engages in cowardly obfuscation nor boastful pugilism. Which is to say, the author refrains from virtue signaling, regardless of the audience. Instead, Clary writes with all the calm and clarity one should hope for in a trustworthy pastor. Because of this, Clary is sure to garner the approval of not a few evangelicals

Eikon 5.2 (Fall 2023) p. 107

exhausted by the whiplash of late modernity. Unfortunately, this book also comes with some significant downsides.

Structurally, God’s Good Design does not necessarily hang together as a single, unbroken argument. Clary lays the foundation for what he intends to argue in the first three chapters, but for the rest of the book, he structures his chapters topically. While I think the book could have benefited from some rigorous editorial work to cut down repeated and redundant material, its topical arrangement (and repetitive content) means that it can serve fruitfully as a reference book of sorts.

Rather than offering a blow-by-blow summary of the book, I would like to commend three of its strengths (of which there are many more I could enumerate), before concluding with...