Thanks to St. Augustine and then the later Puritans and many modern incarnations of the same attitude, many Christians get the impression that there is something inherently wrong with sex. Sermons are preached that “it’s not the pear in the tree that was the problem, but the pair under it.” Though a nice play on words, if you happen to approve of bad puns, it is abominable theology. In Genesis, God’s first command to Adam and Eve were to reproduce: that is, to go have sex. It should come as no surprise then, given how much we enjoy God’s first commandment, that there should be a part of the Bible devoted to the subject (it should also serve as a reminder that the laws of God are not there to keep you from having fun; quite the opposite).

Although some theologians, especially in the Middle Ages, attempted to explain that the Song of Songs was an allegory about Christ’s love for his church, anyone who reads the poem would find that hard to believe. It is, quite simply, an erotic love poem that celebrates the joys of physical intimacy.

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