I was very grateful to receive a copy of Dr. Kostenberger’s book God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation in the mail this week. From my brief perusal of the work thus far and my reading some of the endorsements offered by J.I. Packer, John Piper, Kent Hughes, Mary Kassian, Mark Dever, Russell Moore, Gordon Hugenberger, Wayne Grudem, Daniel Block, Paige Patterson, Ligon Duncan III, Bruce Ware, Tom Elliff, Robert Yarbough, Tom Schreiner, Randy Stinson, Bob Baker, and Richard Hove, I can already tell this is a book I wish I had read when it came out in 2004. The breadth of coverage (Kostenberger does not avoid controversial topics such as divorce, homosexuality, contraception, infertility, child discipline, and male headship) coupled with Dr. Kostenberger’s credentials as a respected New Testament scholar make the book a worthy read for all of us who are wrestling with these issues, and especially those of us involved in teaching others (whether live or over the blogosphere).
I just thought I’d give this brief description for those of you who may have read Dr. Kostenberger’s posts on the gift singleness and my subsequent open letter, to which Dr. Kostenberger graciously commented. As he suggested, I plan to read his chapter entitled “Undivided Devotion to the Lord: The Divine Gift of Singleness.” My receiving this book is quite timely, not just because of our recent interaction, but also because in early August I completed a draft of a 1200 word article for a Christian publication. I am glad to have the opportunity to better understand Dr. Kostenberger’s perspective as I complete my article. I will link to the article when it is published. Please note, however, that this article was not (and is not) envisioned as a “response” to Kostenberger.