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 not an exhaustive examination of every issue in her book.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
Comments
Hey,
Thanks for this link. I find myself in much greater agreement with this than with Debbie Maken. I especially like this quote: "Suffice it to say that God’s leading is individual and personal and cannot be reduced to one and only one way of guidance." One of my many problems with Maken is that she offers a one size fits all, my way or the highway answer to an issue when the Bible itself doesn't seem to do this.
If there's one problem, however, that I have with both Kostenberger and Maken, it's that the role of the community isn't really mentioned in regards to this issue. Even though God's leading is individual and personal, it seems to me that being in a healthy, loving, Christian community in which one is known and cared for would play a necessary part in discerning the direction one's life should go in this matter. People who know and love you are often likely to see things about you that you don't see. Therefore, for example, a person who maybe should be pursuing marriage but who is avoiding it for bad reasons (or vice-versa)could be challenged and guided by people who know them well and love them, and who could explain to them why they should reconsider their life choices. This is a much more organic/relational view of the Christian life than Maken's seems to be. Her's seems to be much more legalistic: "It must be this way or else."
Posted by: Gordon Hackman | August 22, 2006 04:57 PM
There may be some problems with Debbie Maken's book, but how would Andreas Kostenberger know? From the appearance of his review, it's hard to believe that he even read it. He has the impression that the book says that single women only have themselves to blame for their situation, when in fact the unanimous criticism elsewhere is that the book all but lets the women off the hook and blames the men (wasn't that your central complaint about it, Gordon?).
What's more, Kostenberger has removes posts from his blog that either call him on this or challenge his notion of "the gift of singleness". I'm including a link here to one that has been salvaged and posted on another site to let people decide for themselves what to think about this:
http://heartsoulandmight.com/2006/08/23/the-gift-of-singleness/
Posted by: gortexgrrl | August 24, 2006 06:29 PM
Actually, Maken's book puts a pretty good emphasis on community, though perhaps more on family or specific relationships than community generally. Her criticisms of the church, however, make it pretty clear that she'd be VERY supportive of church networks that support marriage and help "matchmake" to bring it about. But this is mostly in the later "solutions" chapters and hasn't gotten much play in the reviews. (I recognize your post says you haven't actually read her book yet, so this isn't a criticism; just an FYI.)
Posted by: John | August 25, 2006 07:04 PM
I am sorry, I can't trust a thing this Hackman fella says. He just trolls the web (and seems to live for)criticizing Maken.
Posted by: dabears27 | August 25, 2006 07:26 PM