I didn't expect to agree with this book but i hoped I would see and hear a well thought out and biblical defense of their position. Unfortunately, I was surprised at how shallow and hypocritical it was. It would say things should be determined biblically and not based on feeling or opinion... then makes determination based on opinion. It said the topic should be always dealt with in humility but makes very black and white statements about things the bible give no imput on directly or sometimes even indirectly. Instead thus says the Lord, it seems like the author was taking authority as thus says author and it is told as truth! So dangerous. I was also amazed how in a period of the new covenant his view on marriage law and what is permitted and not permitted now, was based mostly on the old covenant and Old Testament and ignored scriptures on topic in the New Testament! Can NOT and would not recommend this book to anyone and am disappointed in the authors that I know that recommended it.

This is an amazing and very useful book. I still meditate on it and I am using it for Bible studies in my church. The author presents through a series of practical questions, which are very useful for the elaboration of a study in group. The book condenses very substantively the subjects of marriage, divorce and even courtship. It is one of the most complete and clear books on the subject. Perhaps one of the issues that most highlight is his treatment on the subject of divorce. The author presents the various views on divorce, and takes the stand of permissive divorce, ie according to the Bible, divorce can be carried out for reasons of adultery and abandonment of the unbelieving spouse. Of course, the author provides pastoral insight on this delicate subject, since the Christian must exhaust all the resources to keep the marriage alive before he can take the difficult step of divorce. The format allows to make this book a reference book for future reviews on the subject. I highly recommend it, and I thank NetGallery for providing me with a copy for an honest review of the book.

As an Irish Catholic who is on their second marriage the subject of marriage, divorce and remarriage is particularly close to my heart. The Catholic Church used the bible as their reason to disallow me from my own faith despite the fact that United States law says your spouse can just leave and divorce you regardless of what the church says. Meaning the rest of us who are trying to abide by church law become innocent victims punished by being tossed out through no fault of our own. I was incredibly curious where this book was going to fall on that spectrum; was yet another person going to tell me the Church is right and I am barred from my faith or is someone else going to stand by my side to point out the hypocrisy in this?

Although the audience for this seemed to be geared more towards ministerial staff than a layperson it’s still written in a way that your average person should be able to grasp the concepts and writing.

I liked that he steered away from the oft quoted idea that procreation is a foundational purpose of marriage because that always irritated me when you consider the number of childless couples. Does different genetics make their relationship any less valid than someone who can have kids? What about couples who choose NOT to have them for whatever the reason?

You will come away learning about the various scriptures that pertain to marriage, divorce and remarriage as he also provides the various viewpoints so at times I felt like he wasn’t take a hard stance one way or the other but just wanted to provide information so people could come to their own conclusions in a way. His writing is easy to understand and he presented his arguments in a logical, well thought out manner but still at times I felt like he wasn’t really trying to persuade the reader towards one side or the other.

In the end what I discovered is there is a lot of conflicting information and sets of rules that apply depending on how you can spin things or the position you hold. Ironically the position I came to after reading this it seems it would be better for the Church to stay out of marriage and let the government handle it as religions make things too complicated and too often punish the innocent.

If you’re pro-gay marriage I seriously would NOT recommend this book. I think only traditional bible believing Christians will appreciate this and get any true benefit.