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It's not new in religion -- you are right about Rabbi Schmuley -- but it's new in evangelical circles.  Do you remember the Every Man's Battle series? These were incredibly popular books and they were all about "fighting temptation."

I have heard Warren on marriage and think he is  convincing. He has a "warts and all" approach to talking about marriage that is both warm and realistic. He once said to me, "Before marriage, opposites attract. After marriage, opposites attack." In other words, he doesn't sentimentalize marriage nor do he and Kay act as though they have any perfect arrangement.  I think his discourses on marriage are one of his great strengths.

As a columnist, I believe it's my job to express my opinion, and it is my opinion that gay love ought not to fall outside the parameters of "legitimate" love. I have been repeatedly on the record on this.

This has come up a lot in recent chats, and I want to correct the record. Protestants -- including evangelicals -- tend (and I'm speaking very broadly here) not to oppose birth control. Catholics oppose birth control (except for the rhythm method). Evangelicals don't like sex outside of marriage, and politically they have seen places like Planned Parenthood, which advocate for sex education in schools and making contraceptives easily available to  teenagers, as a threat to those beliefs. But they don't oppose birth control, per se. 

All these men have wives whose sexual satisfaction was obviously not foremost in their husbands' minds.

Yes, these books are about porn addiction but their underlying message is "temptation is bad." Read Keller's book. You will see a very thoughtful and modern exegesis of temptation and men's desire that doesn't come across as punitive and prudish but still holds the traditional line by endorsing sex within marriage.

Keller and Warren would say that monogamy over decades is fruitful and desireable.

Um... correcting the record here, too. women don't have to like sex to have babies.

nope. a sandwich.

The important point here is that young people have been very unhappy with the way older generations of Christians have been talking about/teaching about sex (including homosexuality) and so they're defying their church and acting like everyone else.  This is a real problem for the church and to talk about sex in a frank and open way is perhaps to keep the church doors open to younger people. Remember that Keller's main audience is single people, not marrieds.

You should check out a newish book by Boston University Bible scholar Jennifer Knust called "Unprotected Texts," in which she mines the Bible for verses that celebrate sex, that perhaps condone sex between same-sex couples, that praise women for sexual independence.  In that same book, she also points out how ruthless men were with regard to sex with women: including stories in which men give their daughters and sisters to other men for sex.  The Bible is a very confusing guide on matters of sex, for sure.

http://www.lisaxmiller.com/every-mans-battle-by-stephen-arterburn-and-fred-stoeker/1367/

There are Bible scholars who would say that the verse he quotes -- 1 Corinthians 7 -- is (if you read the whole thing) actually the place where Paul talks about marriage as a necessary prophylactic to other kinds of illicit desires. What he's really saying (they would argue) is that people should really be celibate, as he is, but if they can't do that, they should get married so they're not doing bad stuff. It's not -- these same scholars would argue -- a celebration of sexy married love.

Rick Warren's the one talking about sex (not homosexuality) with half a million folks on his Twitter feed, not me.