Is it wrong to read books like Fifty Shades of Grey?
Question:
Hello.
I have a question about books like Fifty Shades of Grey. Though I have no interest in reading them, I have a few friends and family members who do. I was wondering if reading things like that would be wrong? and if so how could I tell them that it is wrong? Are there specific verses I could show them?
Thank you.
Answer:
Wikipedia describes the book as: "Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2011 erotic novel by British author E. L. James. Set largely in Seattle, it is the first installment in a trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism."
In other words, the book is a verbal form of pornography. It is wrong for the same reason visual pornography is wrong. "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God" (I Thessalonians 4:3-5).
