Joining the blogosphere, Debbie Maken responds to Köstenberger regarding the "gift of singleness." Readers of the blog might anticipate that I would want to chime in more substantively, but I have a few other projects going on right now, so I'll merely refer you to the tennis match, rather than give color commentary. That said, please note these related posts: Andreas Köstenberger on the gift of singleness, Getting Serious about Getting Married … [Read more...] about Gift of singleness? Maken responds to Köstenberger
With One Voice
Andreas Köstenberger on the gift of singleness
Dr. Andreas Kostenberger weighs in on the gift of singleness. He offers a somewhat more nuanced view on the gift, particularly the benefits of singleness for the kingdom of God, than he attributes to Debbie Maken. Though I've read articles by Debbie Maken and reviews of her book, I regret that I have not yet had a chance to read the entire book. My wife Marni did read it cover-to-cover. Perhaps Marni or Mrs. Maken herself would like to comment? (Our family is moving next month, so Marni probably won't have time!) My blog post below is an introduction to Maken's overarching thesis. It is … [Read more...] about Andreas Köstenberger on the gift of singleness
Getting Serious about Getting Married
Debbie Maken has written a book called Getting Serious about Getting Married. It is a strong critical response to the somewhat widespread view that to be single is to have "the gift of singleness." Many in the church advise singles to merely be content with their singleness. “Just think how effective you can be in serving Christ because you aren’t distracted by a husband and children!” “Just be content; Jesus is all you need.” “It’s God’s will for you to be single now; maybe He has some lessons He wants you to learn, first.” Such thoughts have the appearance of wisdom, because we know that … [Read more...] about Getting Serious about Getting Married
Review of With One Voice by Josh Riley
Josh Riley of worship.com has written a very gracious and detailed review of With One Voice, written by my wife and yours truly. An Excerpt: There's no shortage of relationship books on the market, to be sure. But some discount the Christian perspective to the point that they offer little hope, or encouragement, to the Christian striving to live lives pleasing to God. And some Christian books on the subject tends toward checklists and "principles," some of which are helpful but focus too much on the goal of marriage and too little on the process of living a life of ministry and service in … [Read more...] about Review of With One Voice by Josh Riley
Evangelical Feminism and Liberalism
On this weblog, I have posted several times on my concern that the evangelical church, on a whole, seems to be losing its moorings on central issues such as God's design for men and women. Some churches move towards egalitarian positions on matters such as women in leadership in the name of cultural progress, following arguments such as those developed by William J. Webb. Others, such as City Church in San Francisco, CA, are moved more by more traditional evangelical feminist arguments. An example of an articulate scholar of this persuasion is Dr. Ben Witherington. Wayne Grudem, whom … [Read more...] about Evangelical Feminism and Liberalism
Introduction to my wife, Marni
My wife Marni will be posting some book reviews here, so I'd like to introduce her to you a bit: The former Maren Kristine Haugen grew up in Palo Alto, CA where after being homeschooled through elementary school she demonstrated academic prowess as a high schooler at Crystal Springs Uplands School. Her English SAT score is more than 100 points higher than mine, yet I have the audacity to call myself a writer. Marni also played the trombone, acted in several plays, and was involved in summer camps such as City on the Hill which taught leadership and the formation of a Christian … [Read more...] about Introduction to my wife, Marni