Whom Shall I Marry by Andrew Swanson.
Banner of Truth booklet, 30 pages, £1.00. Available from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom, 133 Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6LE.
THIS booklet contains seven short sections which show that the believer is not to be unequally yoked in marriage with an unbeliever: he or she is to marry in the Lord. The author, who is a Baptist missionary working in the Middle East, deals with the responsibility of entering upon married life and emphasises that marriage is a commitment for life; not an arrangement that can be conveniently dissolved if it doesn’t work out. He also briefly shows the responsibility of rearing children in the fear of the Lord.
Brief testimonies are added for warning and show the misery of some professing Christians who have ventured upon marriage with unbelievers. The folly of a believer marrying one who is not converted, in the hope that through the marriage that person will be savingly changed, is clearly exposed.
The booklet closes with advice on seeking a marriage partner. This is the most useful section of the booklet.
Because of the brevity of this publication many things have had to be left out. However, we would not have omitted a warning of the danger of a Protestant marrying a Romanist. This danger is not addressed, though the danger of a Christian marrying the devotees of other religions is. “Our young people cannot be too frequently or too emphatically warned against it. What a terrible prospect to be instrumental in bringing children into this world to be reared in the God-cursed atmosphere of anti-christian popery,” (Young People’s Magazine, Vol. 21, No. 76). We may also add that it is a great mistake and a sin to leave a denomination that is sound in doctrine, worship and practice, for a degenerating denomination, to obtain a marriage partner.
The publication is marred by the use of unfamiliar and unsatisfactory versions of the Bible. The use of the term “Sunday” for the Lord’s Day is also disappointing. However, we do believe that the book will be of use to godly young men and women. It has some very good pieces of advice, and some sound warnings, to guide them in the choice of a marriage partner.
Rev. R.M.