Christian Marriage Today

What builds a strong Christian marriage? Are we any different from the mainstream and should we be?

I was reading an article about Christian author; Mike McManus who just co-authored a book with his wife Harriet called Living Together: Myths, Risks, and Answers. The article is called Cohabitation a ‘trial divorce,’ not a trial marriage, written by Ed Thomas.

While I haven’t read Mike McManus’ book about Christian marriage today and am not familiar with the statistics used in the article by Ed Thomas, I find that Mr. Thomas infers sweeping generalizations regarding the numbers supposedly put forth in McManus’ book Living Together.

I was disappointed in this article on OneNewsNow.com and wish that Mr. Thomas’ examples were more understandable in relation to the point he was trying to make. Unfortunately all he did was generate comments of anger toward the author of the book for questioning the methodology set force that we need a trial run at marriage before committing.

Mr. Thomas would have done better to tell us his point of view on Christian marriage. Is there something wrong with Christian marriage today? Is there a reason to attack supporters of a union of two people under God? Do you have a point to make or a solution to a problem?

On the other side of the coin…

While thinking about Christian marriage I found this incredible read written by John Wall, an assistant professor of religion at Rutgers University. His thoughtful article Marriage Today reviews in great detail a book by Adrean Thatcher called, Marriage After Modernity: Christian Marriage in Postmodern Times.

Thatcher it seems has written a book most Christians would not think as being pro-marriage as it addresses living together before marriage in a new light. It is one that refers to the church as being accepting of a union before marriage in the past; a betrothal. This was quite common in the late 18th century.

His review of the book covers many issues related to the reasoning behind a betrothal and the healthy aspects of it, as well as the down side; if children were produced before marriage. It lends itself to the belief that a Christian marriage is a process, as any marriage should be.

I would have to say that I was quite surprised that the church had a tradition of supporting premarital sex and am saddened that this is not apparent in the way the church represents its views on related matters.

It seems Mr. Thomas could learn something from Professor Wall.

I have to know, did you know the church was accepting of this? How do you think this attitude affects your Christian marriage today? Do you think there is some credence to what Adrean Thatcher talks about in her book, Marriage After Modernity?

Let me know your thoughts…