REVIEW OF "TYING THE KNOT TIGHTER: BECAUSE MARRIAGE LASTS A LIFETIME"

Marriage 101

Or

How To Prevent Divorce


A Review of


Martha Peace & John Crotts Tying the Knot Tighter: Because Marriage Lasts a Lifetime (P&R Pub, 2007) 117 pp $9.99 ISBN-10: 1596380748 ISBN-13: 978-1596380745


Reviewer: Forrest W. Schultz


Christian leaders are recognizing the all-important fact that the divorce crisis must be confronted not only by ministering to those suffering from divorce, but also by producing healthy marriages which will prevent divorce from occurring. There are some pastors and churches now who will not perform a wedding ceremony until the couple has demonstrated their clear understanding of and commitment to the Biblical principles of marriage -- a wise policy which should have been instituted long ago by all churches!

The book under review here is a good primer on these principles -- a sort of textbook for a Marriage 101 course. Any couple who commits themselves to following these principles will have a strong healthy marriage in which the partners will not need to worry about divorce -- they will want to stay married. Since the principles taught in this book are essentials, they need to be known by all couples contemplating marriage, and, from time time it would be a good idea for already married couples to be reminded of them, as the note on the rear jacket of the book suggests.

The book is short, easy to read, and well-written. At the end of each chapter is a series of questions for husbands and wives to ask themselves about their attitudes and actions regarding the particular principle discussed in that chapter, and there is list of several recommended books which delve deeper into the topic of that chapter, and, finally, a prayer.

The co-authors are experienced book writers and christian leaders, and both minister in the Faith Bible Church, which is located in Coweta County near the border with Fayette County. John Crotts is the Pastor; Martha Peace is a teacher and counselor. John lives in Coweta County and is a member of the Coweta Writers Group. Martha lives in Peachtree City in Fayette County. Both counties are located on the Southside of Atlanta and are strongly involved in the current burgeoning Southside literary arts scene.

There is only one error in the book I could find, but it is not really the authors' fault because it is an error almost all christians today are committing, and an error that is being taught in our seminaries. That error is the notion that the Greek noun agape means sacrificial love. (See Page 52) The error is easily refuted by spending an hour with a concordance and noting (with astonishment!!) that agape is used in the New Testament to refer to many different kinds of love, not just sacrificial love!! (This fact was pointed out by the noted theologian B. B. Warfield almost a century ago [1918] in the Princeton Theological Review Vol. 16 on pp 182f.) What the book says about sacrificial love, however, is true, and that, of course, is what is most important.

For the reasons noted here, I highly recommend Tying The Knot Tighter. If everyone were to follow the principles in this book all marriages would be healthy and there would be no more divorces!