Evangelicalism in the 1990s had a lot to say about raising children to be sexually pure. Author Rachel Joy Welcher recalls a few books that contributed to the conversation.

“Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally depicts a woman’s heart as a chocolate cake,” she writes. “If someone eats a piece before the party (i.e., marriage), the cake, and consequently her relational worth, is no longer whole. In the introduction to Every Young Woman’s Battle, Stephen Arterburn warns female readers that every time a man has sex with a woman, he takes ‘a piece of her soul.’”

Many Christians are now reconsidering the value of such messages. Welcher herself wrote a book titled Talking Back to Purity Culture which does just that. In her article “What Comes After the Purity Culture Reckoning,” Welcher wonders what will happen next.

Will evangelicals simply trade one set of rules about purity for another? Will they embrace a new legalism or a reactionary licentiousness? What will it look like to embrace a historically Christian ethic of purity in the decades to come?

Welcher isn’t alone in her task. This week on The Russell Moore Show, Moore answered listener questions on purity culture. And Alicia Akins shared “The Single Person’s Catechism,” which helps readers develop a theology of singleness that’s more holistic than what purity culture offered.

As Welcher points out in her article, complex conversations such as these must always be ongoing. We won’t get it completely right the first time, or perhaps at all. But we can cultivate a better conversation in our homes, friendships, and churches around purity—one that isn’t restricted to dos and don’ts but is framed by God’s vision for human flourishing.