Best book on marriage I've read. ( )

The Meaning of Marriage
Marriage, writes Keller, “is a way for two spiritual friends to help each other on their journey to become the persons God designed them to be.” In other words, marriage means becoming more than you are with the help of someone else. To allow this process, you need to surrender yourself to that someone else. ( )

Reading this was fantastic for me. It was my first experience with any of Tim Keller's work, and I really enjoyed and was edified by it. It was an engaging read, without anything tedious or hard to get through, as I had originally suspected. While none of the material was ground-breakingly new or shocking to me, it was refreshing and a delight to read this much commentary and insight not only on marriage but on the Christian life all in one place. ( )

Let me begin by saying that I have no patience for any sort of self-help book, and Christian self-help books even less. Perhaps it's the downside of having studied theology, but light and fluffy just doesn't cut it, and every one that I've (tried to) read has been just that. I've had even less success with books on marriage, even though I recognize it as being one of the most theologically significant events in our lives.

Without being able to overstate that fact, hopefully it gives some context as to the weight that my rating this book with 5 stars carries. This is not a self-help book, although there is practical advice throughout. This is a theology text disguised as light reading, a theology of marriage of a depth that I honestly didn't think was possible by any modern academic. And make no mistake that Keller is in academic.

There are deep examinations of every aspect of marriage in both ancient and modern cultures in this book, coupled with real-world examples that somehow manage to not be case studies, and very practical application to the lives of anyone reading today. Somehow, this book is all of these things, and still written in an accessible, conversational style.

I recommend this to any married person of faith, to anyone wanting to delve deeper into a theology of marriage, and to anyone exploring what actually living out a Christian faith in a non-stereotypical manner might look like in modern America. ( )

This book is one of the books that my husband and I read together over a season. Although it took us a long time to read, that's not any reflection on the quality of the book, more on fitting it in to the myriad other aspects of our life! Both my husband and I would agree that The Meaning of Marriage is one of the best books on marriage we've ever read. It is insightful, wise, and uncompromisingly honest covering much more than the usual 'how to survive the pitfalls and challenges of a marriage' and looking much deeper at the reason for marriage exploring the foundations for a godly marriage. Tim and Kathy Keller have done their research meticulously, so this book has both academic kudos as well as pastoral. I'd recommend this book to people considering marriage as well as those already married. ( )