Christianity and sex toys don’t usually end up in the same sentence, but at Book22.com, an online sex toy shop for Christian married couples, faith and bedroom fun are always intertwined.
God “illustrated that in marriage man and woman symbolically become one flesh,” the shop explains. “A common theme throughout the Bible is sexual purity…We want to encourage God’s plan for people to remain sexually pure.”
And that, the store’s website explains, is why it has a policy of only selling merchandise to married couples.
“Book22” refers to the Song of Solomon, the twenty-second book of the Bible. Proprietors Kevin and Joy Wilson, a Christian couple married for more than 17 years, explain that the products they sell are a result of guidance from prayer.
Joy Wilson told Toronto’s National Post that her business’s goal isn’t obscenity, but a way to encourage married people to enjoy sex.
“I think we attract people who agree that sex isn’t just for procreational purposes, who do want to stay somewhat pure and not be exposed to obscenity and pornography,” she told the Canadian paper.
Book22 began 11 years ago and, according to Wilson, the store has seen some social shifts — with Christians beginning to embrace her concept of sex for sex’s sake.
“The Christian community [at first] didn’t want to touch me with a 10-foot pole,” Wilson told the National Post. The ostracism has receded, though, and Book22 currently enjoys an average sales rate of 100 products a month.
But don’t expect to see Christian-themed toys or items emblazoned with religious texts.
“It’s not about that,” Wilson explained, clarifying that the products she and her husband sell are not specifically Christian. “I was just trying to help people who did share my faith — who had the same values as me — be able to buy stuff in the same avenue I wanted to,” she said.
According to the Post, Wilson stopped selling condoms on the site recently in response to Catholic protests.
When contacted by The Daily Caller Wilson explained that she is now in the process of selling the business to Covenant Spice — another “Christian sex toy shop and romance site for married couples — at unbelievably low prices.” It’s one of just a few other online Christian sex shops.
Covenant Spice did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
