Rebecca Lemke: Purity, Legalism, and Finding Grace

Rebecca Lemke is a 21 year-old housewife, mom, and author about her experiences in what’s known as “Purity Culture.” We talk about how the strict legalism of some people around her almost overshadowed the grace preached at her own church, how God brought the right people into her life to give her a better understanding, and why she wrote a book about the experience.

You can get her book The Scarlet Virgins: When Sex Replaces Salvation at Amazon (affiliate link).

Stories Rebecca shared:

• How Purity Culture came about
• The Lutheran church she great up in and how it shaped her faith including her confirmation
• How isolation and spiritual darkness almost led her to suicide
• Her pastor’s surprising response to the deep questions she was asking
• The first time she like a boy, a love note, and her first exposure to purity culture
• Appropriate use of the Bible in forming theological opinions
• How her husband shared some good exegesis that began to change her mind
• The pastor who invested in her and change her worldview

Great Quotes from Rebecca:

Isolation is really intense. It’s a driving force for a lot of mental instability and spiritual pain.

If men and women are to have successful relationship, the foundation is laid in youth.

Get Rebecca’s book The Scarlet Virgins: When Sex Replaces Salvation.