By Megan Wimpy

The Christian Studies Center wants to get students talking about something that comes to mind from prom nights to honeymoons — sex.

The center and other UK college ministries are bringing in Frederica Mathewes-Green, author of “Gender: Men, Women, Sex, and Feminism,” to host a discussion on how college students should approach sex. The forum, titled “The Real Meaning of Sex,” will be held tonight at 7 in the Center Theater of the Student Center.

Mathewes-Green, a regular commentator on religion and public life for National Public Radio, said the relationship between Christianity and sex has changed over time. Misconceptions have formed, particularly in Western Christian sects, that the soul is good whereas the body, and bodily acts like sex, are generally bad.

But the original Christian faith of the Middle East preserved the Jewish idea of God permeating all Creation, proclaiming all he made as “very good,” including sex, Mathewes-Green said.

“Recovering that sense of goodness will benefit all Christians,” she said.

Biblically, sex was considered a good thing, but something intended for married people to cherish, Mathewes-Green said.

“I think that it’s good to air different viewpoints, and that on college campuses it’s often unusual for there to be someone speaking in favor of premarital chastity,” Mathewes-Green said.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, it is timely to have a conversation about sex, said Phil Tallon, director of the Christian Studies Center, which is one reason why the center chose Mathewes-Green to speak at its forum, An Evening of Veritas.

“She (Mathewes-Green) is grounded in the Christian tradition but has a good sense of what is going on in the contemporary world,” Tallon said. “The importance of a thoughtful, Christian talk about the meaning of sex is simply that the current and most prevalent outlook on sex is so dim, confused and often destructive.”

The Veritas Forum is a nationwide program started at Harvard in 1992 based on the school’s motto: “Veritas,” which means truth. Now more than 80 college campuses hold forums to bring in speakers and discuss issues on campus, according to The Veritas Forum Web site (www.veritas.org).

Mathewes-Green said she wants students to learn that there is a deeper connection between sexuality and the overall person — that sex affects the body, but that it also affects emotion and the feelings that people have for each other.

“I hope to present a more holistic and lifelong view of sexuality,” she said.

Science education senior Clay Johnson said he has attended Veritas Forums in the past, and he looks forward to hearing tonight’s lecture because he has learned a lot from them before.

“The media does a great job of bombarding us with a cheapened view of sex,” Johnson said. “I think it will be interesting to hear a view of sex that isn’t talked about in the scope of popular culture.”