Donald M. & Robbie B. Joy.

Lovers-WHATEVER HAPPENED TO EDEN?

For a long time we have needed a truly in-depth study of what the Scriptures really teach about God's design for male-female relationships and the nature of Christian marriage. Don and Robbie Joy have supplied that need in LOVERS-WHATEVER HAPPENED TO EDEN?

Following Jesus' example, who, when asked questions about mar-riage, always took his audiences back "to the beginning," the Joys take us back to Creation and give a careful and accurate picture of God's original intention. They show the tragic consequences of sin as it marred that design. But they do not in any way attempt to "baptize the Fall" by incorporating fallen human impulses into God's family plan. Instead, in a truly scholarly way, we are shown the full, broad scope of the New Tes tament picture of God's attempt to restore his original design in a mar-riage relationship based on the "head" and "body" metaphor of the "one person" metaphor of Christ and his Church.

There is frosting on the cake, LOVERS is more than an excellent exegetical study of the important biblical passages on marriage relation-ships. Woven through is the honest, intimate story of the very human struggle involved in Don and Robbie's marital and spiritual pilgrimage, We completely identified with their story, as we, too, have climbed that difficult mountain with the magnetic pull of the Fall restraining our ascent. So we commend this book to all lovers, young and old, who want to enjoy the pure, fresh air and the exciting view from the top.

David and Helen Seamands