Sacred Marriage | Gary L. Thomas

Sacred Marriage | Gary L. Thomas | GREAT RESOURCE

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Sacred Marriage

	Sacred Marriage Gary L. Thomas Zondervan, 2000 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 73 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Starting with the discovery that the goal of marriage goes beyond personal happiness, writer and speaker Gary Thomas invites readers to see how God can use marriage as a discipline and a motivation to love him more and reflect more of the character of his Son.

Very Biblical!

My wife and I have gone through the first chapter and answered all the study questions. We both loved it! After doing the first chapter I feel that the principles so far are very biblical. The way Gary Thomas explains marriage helping us become more Christ like is very comparable to the way the Bible explains how trials and tribulations are used to strengthen us, if we allow it. If you are married then you will definately relate to the examples he gives. I already started to think about my selfishness in my marriage. I know this is something I need to work on, and im just thankful that this book is helping my wife and I to talk more about issues that we both think about but haven't really vocalized yet. Im excited to see how this book will help me focus on being more Christ like so i can also be a better husband and father.

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GREAT RESOURCE

Good for any Christian's library. Good material even if one is not married. Relationally on all levels this can be applied.

Even Guys will read this

Gary Thomas has done a great job with this book on marriage. It is not the typical "how to make your marriage better" book. It focuses on how your marriage should bring you closer to God. Even guys will want to read this book because he shoots straight. Pick up a copy. I use it in all my marriage counseling.

Interesting take on marriage, but for the most part helpful.

My women's group used this book to guide discussions on a weekly basis for about six months. The group contained women with kids, without kids, single, divorce, remarried, widowed, and with traditional marriages. Everyone got something out of the discussions that took place despite their current situation. The author uses a lot of examples to try to get points across. Some are better than others, but all were helpful in getting the discussion going. The one chapter we lingered on the longest was the chapter on sex in marriage. This book speaks plainly about a lot of issues that people deal with in marital relationships. The only weakness I can see is that in a marriage where the wife is a Christian and the husband is abusive or hostile towards Chrisitianity, the advice given could be more harmful than helpful - especially the one on serving. As long as the two people in marriage are relatively equal in regards to their care and concern for each other, the advice given should help their marriages tremendously. Overall, this was a fabulous attempt to conquer difficult subjects. No one can write something that will fit all situations, so this author did a great job reaching the majority of his readers.

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A call to holiness

I have found this one of the most helpful books to give to marrieds and engaged folks. It largely avoids the complementarian/egalitarian debate (though it quotes one complementarian who is quite forceful in his views), focusing more on our heart attitudes. For that reason you can give it to a wide variety of people even if you're not really sure what their theology of marital roles is or even if they differ from your own. More than that, it presents wonderful challenges that all of us need; I think many marriage how-tos from either side of the evangelical spectrum really don't focus on the heart behind the decisions one makes in relating to the other and our roles. I think an honest look at the principles in this book would serve to temper folks' zeal about how they see marriage to work by bringing them to their knees in awe of the holy and awesome calling... in other words, to a place of humility where God can work on us and whatever assumptions or formulas we might bring to the table.

After prayerfully handing this book to one couple, I was told that they think I saved their marriage before it started. Now that's good to hear!

I have to say, however, that I relate very little to the woman whom Gary evaluates his reactions to (his own wife, who seems to fall into stereotypes in regards to emotions, desires, and so forth) or the pattern of marital sacrifices they've found themselves called to make for their particular marriage. And so that is a weakness to me. But the bottom line stuff is great as you think of ways to apply it to your own life--and relationships of all sorts within your life (I'm actually single). Because of its intimate reference to pretty much only one marriage and a fairly stereotypical if lovingly walked out one at that, many will find that it is best read along with other books--ones which do deal with the possible diversity of marital roles and callings for either the husband or wife--to which the same principles can be applied. I heartily recommend the book.

Btw, a favorite theology book on the gender topic is Dr. Sarah Sumner's "Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership." To my utter delight in looking up the title of that book just now (my copy is perpetually on loan, so I don't have it sitting before me) I discovered that she and her husband just came out with a book on marriage this month. Yay!! I'm doing cartwheels in my mind at the thought. I hope it is as good as her previous books would indicate it will be.

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