Good and Useful for it's Audience

books:


	• Devotions For Dating Couples: Building A Foundation For Spiritual Intimacy Samuel Adams, Ben Young Thomas Nelson, 2002 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Awesome

Well, I don't know about not getting anything out of this book if you've been a "long time" Christian. Aren't we always supposed to be learning, seeking truth?
Anyway, for any couple that feels they are ready to explore their individual spirituality with each other, this is a great way to start.
My favorite part about this devotional was that each of us can do our devotionals on our own (which is great when you're not married/living together and can't necessarily nail down a time to be together every day of the week with work and school to balance) and then at the end of the week, we can discuss it together. This gives you time to really explore how you feel about the week, where you are spiritually, and where you'd like to be.
I have another devotional which I didn't particularly care for because it does not include any guidance questions. In "Devotions for Dating Couples" I love that guidance questions get us started, and then we continue the conversation into what we really enjoyed, learned, and how we can help each other.
When I bought this book, I really didn't know what I was buying... it was so much better than I thought it would be!
* The week is set up so that you can do one devotion each day for five days, and the sixth day has questions to ask and discuss. The devotions are also very short and not as time consuming.
**Buy two books so that you can each write comments, underline, and do the devotionals alone, then you will have your thoughts handy on Saturday (or any day of your choosing) to discuss the week!
God Bless!

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Good and Useful for it's Audience

This book will be very helpful for many, since much of it focuses more on spirituality and 'discipleship in the grind' (prayer, forgiveness, simplicity) than on theological issues (i.e., the "Calvinism" vs. "Arminianism" debate). There are, to be sure, theological assumptions made by the authors, but they tend to take a backseat, because the aim of the book is to facilitate discussion between you and your dating partner to provide opportunity for understanding and growth. When I went through this book four years ago, I was a high-church Anglican, and my then-girlfriend was a Baptist - you can't be much farther apart on the spectrum! But this book provides fairly common ground for a couple to engage each other, despite potential differences.

The book dives head-first into some issues (within the parameters of its scope), while it merely visits the outskirts of others, such as grace, which I think could have been given a more full-orbed treatment. For instance, the original Greek word for grace, 'charis', comes from the root 'chara,' (joy) and is linked etymologically to the word 'chairo' (health) and I suspect 'ma_kari_os' (blessed) and, obviously, 'eucharisto' (the Eucharist). It often means 'gift,' as it does in the first chapter of the holy apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians, and in when the 'charismata' (gifts) of the Holy Spirit are mentioned. The implications of this are delightfully helpful for our discipleship and our understanding of God, but are neither mentioned nor explored. There are a few other areas where I could raise this same complaint, but I might be asking the authors to chart out more spiritual territory for the reader than they felt needed to be covered.

I would tend to agree strongly with the reviewer below that this book can be somewhat simplistic at times. The simplicity of the book is, conversely, one of it's advantages, because if you haven't had the advantage of picking up technical terms or language specific to the history of the Christian Faith you'll be more comfortable here. In addition to this, short attention spans and busy schedules are accomodated by the length of the devotionals. Just a two to three page reading each day, with five to ten questions at the end of the week fostering discussion about the readings and relating them to your life. The questions aren't aimed at having the couple regurgitate doctrines, but tease out the inner and outer spiritual life of each person in the couple as an organic thing.

Depending on your circumstances, you might want to give this a spin, even if you're not a young Christian. The first and second chapters I didn't get anything out of, so a moderately well-read individual may need to wait a bit to come across a practical, simple insight which they hadn't considered. My ex-girlfriend and I found the format of this book helpful (particularly the questions for discussion at the end of each week), in particular because she wasn't used to either maintaining a steady devotional life (especially not the kind of devotional habits Anglican Christians have, such as common prayer and contemplation) or being engaged with theological themes. I would expect others to find this book useful, as well, but couples who are more widely read, who openly communicate with each other about their theological/spiritual reading, and who have a common devotional life may want to look elsewhere.

In the spirit of alternative recommendations for those who think they wouldn't be well served by "Devotions for Dating Couples," I might recommend reading through C.S. Lewis' "The Four Loves." We find that reading fairy tales and romances together - i.e., The Little Prince, anything by George MacDonald, the Irish story of the knight in The Ebony Tower by John Fowles, or other older epics and fairy tales - is wonderful for cultivating a shared faculty of wonder.

My wife and I are both Orthodox Christians, and during our engagement we went through Paul Evdokimov's "The Sacrament of Love," and the chapter on marriage in Alexander Schmemann's "For the Life of the World," guided by our spiritual father. He also recommended Phillip Sherrard's "Christianity and Eros," which I admit to having only browsed, but I thought I'd include it on the wisdom of his recommendation. I hope that's helpful!

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A nice general book

I like this book and recommend it as a starting place. My boyfreind and I are both strong adult christians with a view towards marriag and family. We attend church and consider God a foundation to us. However we were both a little shy about starting out to pray together, or read the bible together and so on. This book is a nice start. It is not overly heavy; each reading is short. It is not deep into theology nor does it preach. It is a nice easy starting point for us. Also I come from a more full-faith background while he is more consertive; this book has walked a nice middle ground.

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Devotions For Dating Couples

My wife-to-be and I could not wait to consume the incredible insight from this devotional book. We especially loved the blend of deep spiritual thought with the "bottom shelf" practical application. This book is a must read for all dating couples, who are serious about finding THE ONE. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Good starter book

Not very deep, but is a good starter book for Christian couples. Covers a broad range of topics and is easy to read. Probably not a good book for long time Christians, as they will not get much out of it.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4

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