We’re seeing not only a breakdown of marriage after the ceremony, but also before. I refer, of course, to premarital sexual ethics. Let’s be frank, shall we? Lots of newlyweds have already been either fooling around or cohabiting. What does this mean for the nuptial event itself? It means that the wedding doesn’t mark the... Continue Reading

Marriage re-definers don’t tend to say what many opponents have said, that this is a difficult question on which reasonable people of goodwill can disagree. No, they’ve said anyone who disagrees with them is the equivalent of a racist. They’ve sent a clear message: If you stand up for marriage, we will, with the help... Continue Reading

Overall I don’t expect this to change the views of diehard atheist evolutionists, but I would hope that my theistic evolutionist friends will give this book a close reading. A caution: this is a tome that took me two weeks to go through in evening reading, and I am familiar with the field. Like the... Continue Reading

This book makes a significant contribution to the literature on this timely subject, and Christians interested in engaging the marriage debates in the public square, and willing to invest the time to read a finely-nuanced book with care, will find this a stimulating study. Yet they may find it more discouraging than encouraging, for its... Continue Reading

Duguid sums up well what Esther cooperatively does for the sake of the empire. “She was willing to be poked and prodded, perfumed and prepared over a period of twelve months for her one night stand in the royal bedroom” (29). “We would hardly coin the slogan ‘Dare to be an Esther’ at this point... Continue Reading

But polygamists in the United States, where bigamy is a crime, have taken cues from the marriage equality movement, and the few public champions of the lifestyle have deliberately positioned themselves as libertarian-minded gay rights advocates as well. Following gay rights activists’ lead, polygamist families — like the Browns, with their TLC reality show Sister... Continue Reading

This book can make a case for something…here it is in a single word: redemption. Redemption is a religious word, but it’s a word taken from the slave market, entirely appropriate for a book titled The Art of Freedom. The Clemente Course offers a kind of secular redemption, and Shorris’s anecdotes show the beauty and grandeur of... Continue Reading

Put differently, there is an assumption that we can only believe that we have the writings God intended if there are very few (if any) dissenters and if there is virtually immediate and universal agreement on all 27 books.  But, where does this assumption come from?  And why should we think it is true?   When it... Continue Reading

Thus, given the ultimate political purpose of the book, the final problem with Moss’s thesis is not really historical at all. It is the fact that she fails to set the function of martyr narratives within the wider framework of modern politics. The problem is not martyr myths; it is that politics, stripped of any... Continue Reading

In luxurious, entertainment-soaked societies, people – especially Millennials – aren’t concerned with what is logical as much as they are about what is appealing. This is not necessarily how things ought to be, but how they are. How, then, can marriage defenders address this increasingly emotive, hostile environment? Enter “You’ve Been Framed: A New Primer for the Marriage... Continue Reading