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Summary: Please read this and share the GOOD NEWS!!
Review: "Can't sex just be fun?" is a question posed in The Good News About Sex and Marriage to which author Christopher West responds, in part, "Despite what the media encourages us to think, sex is not a means for our entertainment. Our genitals are not "sex toys." "Fun" is not the right word for marital union. Sublime ecstatic bliss is more like it. And if we understand that sacraments are foretastes of heaven, it's not merely a cliché to say that true, honest sex is an experience of heaven on earth."WOW. In a concise, no holds barred approach, Mr. West explains the theology behind the doctrine of human sexuality-things most faithful (and not so faithful) Catholics always knew to be true but did not have the formation to defend the Church's official teachings. Through his easy to understand approach we are led to see our bodies as profoundly good and a reflection of God's love for us because it is He, the author of all, who gave us the sexual union-a profoundly sacred and dignified act. As Mr. West further points out, "The joy of sex-in all its orgasmic grandeur, is meant to be loving as God loves....Christ gives us his plan for sex through the Church not to be a "kill-joy" but a "bring-joy." WOW again. Read this book and give it to everyone you know. If I had had this book 25 years ago, I would not have spent so many years getting over the devastating effects of empty sexual relationships. This book has changed my life and enhanced my marriage in untold ways. Five stars is not enough.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a good book
Review: A good book, as far as it goes. West answers a lot of basic questions well and this book has certainly been enormous help to a lot of people. That having been said, however, a great complement to this work is Kellmeyer's "Sex and the Sacred City". Kellmeyer has a lyrical style and a clear, concise way about him. Even though it is shorter, it is somehow deeper than what West has written. His commentary on how the theology of the body impacts the relationship between children and parents, for example, is remarkable, as is his explanation of celibacy. If you have one of these two books, you should get the other.
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Summary: Required Reading for Everyone...
Review: A lot of the information was the articulation of what I already knew to be true...but did not have the courage to stand firm on those issues. Other parts of the book explained to me things that I had never considered before. In both cases, this book has given me a sense of strength-in-numbers disposition as well as an understanding of how we/society got to the suicidal place that we are currently in. Everywhere I go now, whether it's the gym, church or the market-place I can stand strong in my beliefs because Mr. West's book has strengthened my core being...and I can consequently pray for people from that very level. Additionally, I can stand stronger now when people put their sexually ego-centric demands upon me. Believe me, living in San Francisco there are a lot of people here who live for sex and want to take others there with them and will ostracize you for not going there with them...it's a serious battle here, and I need all the support I can get for choosing abstinence before marriage...
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Summary: Hard to beat simple and straight.
Review: After reading this book, I am inclined to give a copy to EVERY engaged couple I work with. Mr. West cuts through the common objections of modern society in his Q-&-A format and distills the truth so needed for today's mixed up world.
True freedom DOES reside in Christ, and we are called to share in that in the most intimate parts of our lives.
As Mr. West points out, true freedom means being free to say "no" - something the sexual revolution (and a contraceptive mentality) does not want to admit is a possibility or a desirable thing.
Reading Mr. West's answers makes sense of the non-sense of our run-away, sex-obsessed society. BRAVO!
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Summary: It has changed my life!!
Review: Although I was raised Catholic, I had never understood completely many issues of my faith. Upon reading this book, I have found the true meaning of my being, God's true plan for us in making us man and woman, and it is WONDERFUL!! Everyone should read this book, because it explains, in a simple language, what it means to be human.
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Summary: upholding Truth
Review: Christopher West's book is amazing - presenting the unadulterated moral aspect of the Truth of Christ and His Church. If you ever get the opportunity to attend one of Mr. West's seminars or lectures, please do so. He is an incredibly gifted and charismatic orator. Now, in response to one of the previous, negative reviews posted on this site --- we are not lords of morality, regardless of the dictates of our conscience. Too often, liberal dissidents attempt to inject relativism into Catholic moral teaching. This will always fail because there exists one ultimate Truth, which Catholics must believe is taught to the fullest degree by the Church. This is the beauty of Catholicism: we believe in objective, absolute Truth in all facets of our faith - especially morality. Culpability and ignorance certainly factor in, but sin is always sin and evil is always evil. Now, the liberal interpretations of teaching on conscience are corruptions of what the Catechism is actually saying. Article 1790 does indeed state that "A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience." This is the article generally cited by those who profess conscience over Church teaching. HOWEVER, this does not mean that one's conscience is always right according to the divine standard. A conscience that is aware of and conformed to the Church's teachings is ideal. If we are unaware of a moral teaching by no fault of our own, then we are still obliged to follow our conscience to the best of our ability - even if our conscience dictates that we act in opposition to actual moral teaching - because the conscience utilizes the God-given reason and moral knowledge we do possess. But if we refuse to study or deliberately ignore explicit Church moral teaching (the fundamentals found in West's book, in the Catechism, or in the Bible), then we still should act according to our conscience - but the standards by which our consciences operate are flawed BY OUR OWN FAULT. In this case, the fact that our consciences cannot reason from and draw upon correct moral knowledge is solely due to our act of will, making it a sin. Catechism 1792: Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct. Always read the Catechism in context, and always trust in Truth. We and our individualist mentalities do not govern the truth of morality. For that matter, neither does the Catholic Church. But the Church exists to clarify and proliferate the universal moral truths created by God. The Church teaches contraception and other abuses of the sexual act are wrong. This is Catholic teaching because it is the way God created us. God's laws govern nature, and that includes us. The teaching on contraception is as old as the Church (read the Fathers) and will NEVER change, because to change it would be to say the Church can govern morality and therefore governs God. That will NEVER happen. Yes, this all means that the morality the Church teaches is always right. And to be Catholic means to accept what the Church itself officially teaches - not to pick and choose the elements of one's faith or to base one's faith off the theories of subversive theologians. To reject the teaching of the Church is to reject the belief that it is guided by God, and consequently, to reject one's Catholic identity. There is a movement growing in the Catholic Church. The Pope's theology of the body (West's specialty) is only one aspect of it. This movement will begin with the younger generations of Catholics who recognize the Church for what it is, who acknowledge the power of Christ through the Church, who know that God is Truth, and who submit freely and wholeheartedly to that Truth. We will not settle for the lies of modern society's culture and the deceit of moral relativism. In the End, only Truth will remain. The Truth of Christ in His Church, and ultimately, the Truth of salvation. It is not my intention to judge or condemn any individuals - I simply feel the need to present the Church's teaching as it should be, and to outline what it really means to be Catholic in any age. It is up to all of us as individuals to choose and persevere through faith, hope, and love in the one Truth (John 14:6, 1 Timothy 3:15).
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Summary: A response to the negative reviews
Review: Having been a student of John Paul II's writings and teachings on the Theology of the Body and having studied his personalistic approach to the human person in graduate school (yes, I am tooting my horn...but more on that in a minute) I can speak to this book with an informed conscience. First off this book is a useful tool for all who want to understand the Pope's Theology of the Body better. West uses mostly a Q&A format that is user-friendly and easy to read yet he answers most questions very adequately. I recommend that you read the book front to back rather than skipping ahead to the questions that interest you most because your familiarity with the foundational material will help you understand the questions that follow. West approaches topics timely to all people. It would be a favor to yourself if you read it. Now as a response to those that think he is "one-sided" in his approach to Catholic moral teaching I would like to give an answer to this. The critics on this site seems to reduce their arguments against West's text to the argument that he has simplified something much more complex. I beg to differ. I will address a few statements by one reviewer that adequately sum up their disagreements. They say "We shouldn't just willy-nilly disagree with a Church teaching without first researching what the Church says about it."
--In other words, this person seems to say that all we have to do to disagree with a teaching of the Church is to research it enough and THEN disagree. But, they go on:
"However, if we do research it and pray about it, and still honestly do not agree with the Church, then our conscience should be our guide."
--My response is Yes and No.
Yes, freedom of conscience is paramount, but that doesn't mean we can act on a decision to disagree with the Church so easily. True freedom isn't to do what we wish, but is freedom FOR the good. In this freedom we find our dignity. Our uniqueness and freedom isn't lost in aligning ourselves with the truth, but is rather found there. Freedom of conscience is NOT freedom from the truth but rather freedom IN the truth. While Veritatis Splendor by JPII goes into much more detail of this freedom (as does the Catechism in 1776-1809) I can only briefly touch on it here. The moment that one opens himself to the huge metaphysical claim that truth exists, then you have to ask the question of epistemolgy - how does one know this objective truth? The Church in the CCC and in the tradition of the Church has consistently said that it is known in right reason and Revelation and that the conscience can be wronly formed away from these truths. Here is where the error in the critics lies. To argue that no moral teaching of the Church can take precedence over our conscience is correct in the sense that we must follow our consciences. But, it forgets that we are a fallen people that seemingly want to do as we please and can misform our own consciences. The teachings that you can dissent from the teaching on contraception (and other teachings) and stay in that place is dangerous. We are still called to assent to the teachings. The real question isn't whether or not authority is a good or bad thing but rather which authority is most reasonable and prudent to follow. A conscience that could possible be misformed or the teachings of the Church of Christ...okay, that is enough. By the way, the only reason I started out putting up some credentials is because I have heard more than once the statement that those that actually assent to the Church teachings just aren't educated in the alternative. I highly disagree and won't comment further, but to say that I have an article on this subject in the May/June 2002 The Catholic Faith magazine that goes into greater detail.
Peace.
Rating: 
Summary: West has good intentions, but ...
Review: I appreciate West's desire to present a counterpoint to the sexual messages we get from society. He raises many very strong points about the need to approach the act of sex with reverence. But he fails in persuading the reader that there is only one acceptable moral response to questions of sexual ethics. When it comes to the issue of the individual conscience, he fails to address it in all its complexity (interestingly, a recent reviewer on this site does the same thing). As Catholics, we are taught to listen to our own informed consciences ... the most important word here being "informed." We shouldn't just willy-nilly disagree with a Church teaching without first researching what the Church says about it. However, if we do research it and pray about it, and still honestly do not agree with the Church, then our conscience should be our guide. A more conservative view on this would say that such disagreement is impossible if we are truly open to "the Truth." I'd challenge those who would say this to think about the fact that Church teaching has evolved over time as the Church has come to a fuller understanding of God's plan for us. This movement is apparent not only in such issues as usury (which used to be considered a sin, but is not anymore) but even in the area of understanding the function and implications of sexual activity (it used to be that sex during pregnancy was considered a sin, because it had no possibility of leading to procreation.) Obviously, the Church's understanding of sex and other issues has evolved over time. As lay people, we are an essential part of the Church. Our thoughtful and (of course) informed witness is crucial to the Church as it continues to minister to the world. I have no doubt that what I've written here may cause some to dismiss me as a liberal, or a moral relativist. But through prayer and study, perhaps as a whole body we can come to understand the complex responsibility of our role as witnessing Catholics -- not only in the area of sex, but in every aspect of life.
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Summary: What's the hype?
Review: I can hardly believe my friend said it was the coolest book ever. Although this book is really easy to read.. simple format.. you can get it read in a day or two... I felt ripped off. What puzzled me the entire book is just how amazing this guy is at NOT answering my questions about my own Catholic faith (doesn't the title say "answers to your.."?), and some of the analogies made me feel like he was addressing me as a third grader. Actually, some of them were like comparing apples to oranges, not making much sense at all.
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Summary: Readable, faithful, and engaging!
Review: I can't delay any longer in recommending this book. West does an excellent job of distilling the teachings of the Church and Pope John Paul the II on sexuality and marriage. For anyone that finds the 400+ pages of Theology of the Body daunting, this is a wonderful solution. West uses a very conversational tone, as well as some question/answer, apologetics-type formatting to outline the very good news. And West pulls no punches on topics like Church authority on these teachings! I found his discussion of our fallen nature and how it makes us prideful and unwilling to submit to authority very convincing to even the not-so-docile of heart. I don't think I am giving it justice here. Nor does he shrink from the difficult subjects surrounding the particulars of the conjugal act. I skimmed the book before I started reading. I loved how he says... now if you skipped to this section just to get the answers to these questions, make sure you go back and read the whole book to get the context! West definitely knows his audience. I particularly liked this book to give as a gift to young adult friends who probably would shrink at reading Kippley's Sex and the Marriage Covenant, TOTB, Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Three to Get Marriedor more difficult texts on marriage. In this short book, its all in there in a very easy to read style. West is pretty upfront about the mistakes he's made and that element of humanity fits well within the teachings he is trying to convey. Sound theology in communion with the Magisterium, delivered in an engaging apologetic style. What a blessing!!
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