This book written by Andreas Kostenberger and David Jones is one of the best books I've read on the topic of marriage. First off this is NOT a dating book it's an in depth theological look into what God says about marriage through the bible. What stood out in this book is how it also address not just marriage but themes closely related to it as well e.g. divorce, kids, homosexuality. Another thing about this book that makes it faithful is that the authors have identified clearly areas of marriage that is in debate such as allowing remarriage after divorce and they will point out arguments on both side but always clarify what is definite e.g. Divorce has never been part of God's design.

There are people who call themselves Christian yet argues things like homosexuality is allowed and even takes bible verses out of context to justify it. Again I found the authors to be faithful when they chose to fight against rather making light of the subject, to plainly just "no that's wrong and this is not up for debate" followed by a series of brain-wrecking explanation of various verses to why homosexuality is definitely not ok and how the extremist have misread the verse.

Other themes that popped up includes: Family structure in OT+NT, Examples of Israel falling short on God's marital design, Biblical ethics on kids and birth control, singleness, Jesus' + Paul's teachings on family, Father's responsibility to wife and family, Mother's responsibility to husband and kids, singleness etc. Each of these topics have been addressed with reference to most if not all biblical evidence on the topic. While reading this book I have been corrected many times on how I viewed or believed how certain things should be. The idea of contraception as some of you may remember from Alan's email and disciplining kids are just some of the things I have been challenged to rethink and repent in mind/body.

In short this book is faithful, straightforward, practical and is highly recommended for those seeking to be grounded in family principles that are holy. The audience that can make use of this book is everyone If you're someone's child then this book already applies to you. Be warned it's not exactly an easy read (for me anyways) but at the end of it is praising God for His universal principles, encouragement and further knowledge of the bible+world.