John Chryssavgis is Professor of Theology at Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts. This treatise on passionate love is refreshingly free of the moralism and legalism of much theological thought on sex. According to the author, love in the Orthodox tradition is rooted and grounded in the relationship between human beings and God. Or as the Fathers of the Church put it: "Life is inherently, intrinsically, and intensely communal, interpersonal, eucharistic."

Sex is not mere gratification of hunger; it is self-giving. This quality is at the heart of the Gospel and at the core of the Orthodox sacrament of marriage. Chryssavgis walks us through the many rich meanings in this ritual that culminates with communion. The couple then "live in a personal relationship through which eternity is revealed."

Chryssavgis discusses the Orthodox Christian views on chastity, inter-religious marriage, and divorce. He also includes a wide array of quotations from the Church Fathers — including Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, and Maxima the Confessor — on love, sexuality, and marriage.