Description
Author: Mark Vincent, soft cover 394 pages. Published in 2015 by the Christadelphian.
The book is a series of scriptural studies of married couples, expanded into practical thoughts on how the principles can apply to marriage in the modern age. This approach produces many highly relevant and practical principles some of which come from brief and at first glance obscure passages
A series of twelve articles under this general theme were printed in The Christadelphian in 2013, but this book has been expanded considerably to fifty chapters, exploring both the scriptural basis and practical aspects of marriage. Organised into eight sections, each one begins with an introduction to a particular aspect of marriage (such as ‘Finding the right partner’, ‘The husband’, ‘The Wife’, ‘Difficult Times’ etc., and then has Biblical case studies to support the teachings.
The 50 chapters are divided into these 8 parts.
1. Foundations: God's recipe for marriage
2. Finding the right partner
3. The husband
4. The wife
5. Intimacy
6. Children and family
7. Difficult times
8. Oneness and true partnership
Review of the book
None of us would deny that marriage is under attack. The world is strongly marketing their idea of marriage and relationships via the media, and even going further and undermining the very institution and purpose of marriage that God gave in the beginning.
Our marriages are important and because of this we need to invest time and effort to make them work the best that we can. We all have ideals that we would love to implement in our marriage; however at times it doesn’t always go to plan. Most marriages have great times, good times and times where life’s circumstances have really put a strain on things and the ideals that we had seem hard to reach. However it needs to be acknowledged that this is not always the case. We have also all seen the sadness and difficulty that is caused when marriages, for a number of reasons, just don’t work.
In our home we have a number of books and Bible talks on marriage and married life. We have done this consciously as an investment in our marriage and to also give our family a stable platform to grow from. There have been a number of good books written over the years and the advice that is contained in them is as sound today as it was when they were first written. This should come as no real surprise as the principles of a sound God-based marriage have not changed. So when this book was first available my initial thought was, whilst most of the good books that we have today were written a number of years ago, do we really need another book on marriage?
After reading this book, the answer is categorically Yes!! This book is quite different from other books – not only does it address the issues that are facing modern day marriages, but it does so from biblical case studies.
Whilst the book may seem to be a sizeable publication, it is divided into seven distinct sections (or topics) which have their own theme. Each section commences with an introductory chapter which sets the tone for the topic and this is then expanded and explored further using examples based on marriages found in the biblical narrative. As a result of this, it is quite easy to read either a topic or chapter on its own without having to read previous sections.
However in saying that, the book is much more beneficial if the first topic entitled Foundations: God’s Recipe for Marriage is read first as Brother Mark spends a number of pages reviewing the divine purpose in marriage and the creation of Adam and Eve. Whilst these chapters are quite heavy going, the author makes no apology for this. However he then ‘picks up the pace’ in the remainder of the book and provides what can only be considered a valuable and worthwhile reference book for all generations.
The style of writing is very engaging and due to the way it has been structured, the material provided is quite thought provoking and definitely very relevant and applicable to every couple, no matter how long they have been married."
This review was first published in the May - June 2016 issue of the Lampstand magazine.