Editor's Preface

This book was first published in 1970, under the title “Sex, Sin & Solution,” and it was actually written a year or two before that. When it was republished in 1977, Mr. Masters added the material now contained in the last two chapters and changed the title to “Sex, Sin & Salvation,” which was actually the title he preferred in the first place, but elected not to use lest the word “Salvation” discourage people from buying the book on the basis of its “religiosity.”

When I heard that the Foundation of Human Understanding was getting ready to republish the book, I asked Roy Masters if I might read it and help in the selection of a new title. Although I was the book’s original editor, insofar as its main content is concerned, I had offered no suggestions for chapter titles or subtitles, and I was somewhat disappointed in those that appeared in the first editions. While I could see how they got there, I felt that they really detracted from the seriousness of Roy Masters’ message.

Nevertheless, I’m sure that no real seeker of Truth was put off by the editorial word play in the previous editions. We lovers of Truth are drawn to Roy Masters and the Foundation of Human Understanding from all walks of life and all parts of the country, and we all have our own ideas on how best to help Roy with the task of “selling” the message. We keep trying, in our various ways, to lure the uncommitted, the “fringe folk” over to our side, but deep down in our hearts, we know that those who love the Truth will get the message, and those who don’t, won’t, no matter what we do.

Except for the new title, new chapter headings, and the deletion of subtitles, this is essentially the same book you might already have read under one of the former titles. But whether you are a new reader or a re-reader, you will no doubt get the impression, as I did this time, that Roy Masters was addressing a world that no longer exists today. No doubt some of the worldly ones were planting the seeds that have come to full flower in AIDS and every conceivable kind of addiction, and thinking the thoughts that have led to unisex, the breakup of the home, and the bashing of moral values that we once held dear. But at that time it would have been unthinkable to hear certain practices referred to openly as “sexual preferences,” as we do now on almost every news program. How could we have fallen so far so fast?
Under the circumstances, we made no attempt to bring the book up to date. To do so would have necessitated a completely new approach, a rewriting rather than a reediting. In any event, Roy Masters is addressing today’s audience and today’s problems every single day, both in his writings and in his daily radio and television call-in programs.

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,

Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,

Nor all your Tears Wash out a Word of it.”

—The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Stanza 71

Truth is Truth, in whatever context we find it, and those who love it will surely find a way to it. I don’t think I found Roy Masters by accident, and I don’t think you have this book in your hands by accident, either. Do read on, and rejoice.