New books reassert biblical doctrines of marriage, family and sexual morality

Two new books from Crossway seek to rebuild the biblical foundation for marriage, family and sexual morality.

God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation by Andreas J. Kostenberger with David W. Jones and True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblical Standards for a Culture in Crisis by Daniel R. Heimbach both were released by Crossway Books to coincide with the 56th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society held Nov. 17-19 in San Antonio, Texas.

In God, Marriage and Family, the authors meet head-on the cultural crisis confronting family by providing an integrated, biblical treatment of the full range of issues surrounding marriage and family.

The work encompasses more than 400 pages and covers in-depth such special issues that arise with marriage and family such as childrearing, singleness, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage.

The overarching purpose of the authors is to develop a biblical theology of marriage and family to fill a glaring void within the present corpus of Christian literature on the topic. Despite the existence of an endless array of books on marriage and family, few, if any, seriously engage the Bible as a whole, the authors argue. God, Marriage, and Family seeks to do just that.

"Many, if not most, of the plethora of popular books written on marriage and family are theologically weak and not fully adequate in their application of sound principles of biblical interpretation," the authors assert.

"Many of these authors have Ph.D.s in counseling or psychology but their formal training in the study of Scripture is lacking. Theological and hermeneutical naiveté gives birth to superficial diagnoses, which in turn issue in superficial remedies. It seems that the dynamics and effects of sin are poorly understood in our day. The result is that many Christian self-help books owe more to secular culture than a thoroughgoing Christian worldview."

God, Marriage, and Family includes chapters on marriage and family in the Old and New Testaments, the nature of marriage, wisdom from Solomon on childrearing, the gift of singleness, the biblical verdict on homosexuality, divorce and remarriage, and qualifications for church leadership. In the final chapter, the authors present a biblical synthesis on marriage and family.

Kostenberger serves as professor of New Testament and Director of Ph.D./Th.M. Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a prolific author and distinguished evangelical scholar. Kostenberger and his wife have four children.

Jones is assistant professor of Christian Ethics at Southeastern Seminary. He is married with two children.

A second new title, True Sexual Morality, examines the biblical teaching on sexual morality alongside four counterfeit views that have crept into a contemporary culture that often prides itself on being "sexually revolutionized."

Heimbach, like Kostenberger and Jones, serves on the faculty of Southeastern Seminary. Born in China of missionary parents and educated at the U.S. Naval Academy, Heimbach serves at Southeastern Seminary as professor of Christian Ethics. He is also a council member of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW).

At more than 500 pages, Heimbach’s work gives readers an in-depth examination of the moral relativism that is spreading with the speed and destructive force of a marauding blaze through contemporary culture. He seeks to open the reader’s eyes to the effects that non-biblical sexual choices have on individuals, the family, the church, and the culture.

In the preface, Heimbach sets forth several ways in which his book differs from others on the topic of sexual morality. His work rejects influences on sexual morality from sources outside the Bible, assumes that universal moral truth can be known and applied, and combines biblical exegesis and analysis with warning and exhortation. Heimbach addresses two different audiences: those within theological education such as seminarians and pastors, along with those outside the academy such as parents, Sunday School teachers and young adults.

In the first chapter, Heimbach places sex squarely at the center of the contemporary moral crisis.

"Since we became a nation, nothing so divisive has threatened common life in America, and never have the stakes been so high," he writes. "In just one generation, we have witnessed a total revolution in the way people think of sex, and this in turn is creating a demand for monumental revisions affecting every social institution at almost every level."

The book is divided into four parts: Sexual Chaos in the Culture, The Biblical View of Sexual Morality, Counterfeit Views of Sexual Morality, and Assessing the State of Sexual Morality. Each section contains several chapters breaking down the particular topic, and the book concludes with four appendices.

Both books are available through the CBMW webstore:
God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation
True Sexual Morality: Recovering Biblcal Standards for a Culture in Crisis.