Marriage Archives - B&H Academic

Spurgeon’s Valentine

February 11, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Ray Rhodes

Fact and fiction are intertwined in the modern recounting of the story of St. Valentine and his surmised connection with romance. However, he is remembered each year on February 14^th, a day considered to be a day of love. Valentine’s Day is celebrated with cards, candy, and flowers given to one’s romantic interest. In 2015, Americans spent on average $142 per person on Valentine’s Day and almost $19 billion total. (1) However, while the business of romance is booming, the world is strewn with broken marriages and relational disharmony. The marriage of Charles and Susannah Spurgeon provides an encouraging counterexample of what love and marriage can be when Christ is front-and-center in the relationship.

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The Unchanging Witness on Homosexuality

February 9, 2016 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Rollin G. Grams and S. Donald Fortson, III

The church faces a critical moment over the issue of homosexuality. This crisis extends beyond what the church should say on the topic; it includes a crisis of authority regarding the place of Scripture and the church’s witness in theology and ethics. In some communities of faith, the crisis is international and, to a great degree, a matter of church politics—but how long will a declining Western, liberal clericalism be able to dominate the growing, vibrant Christian faith of the non-Western world? In other communions the issue is a purely Western discussion of the relationship between church and culture: Will Scripture and church tradition continue to define orthodoxy, or will modern and postmodern approaches lead to the normalization of homosexuality?

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Charles and Susannah Spurgeon’s Wedding Day

September 4, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

by Ray Rhodes, Jr.

The air was cold and damp in London on January 8, 1856. However, the weather did not prohibit crowds from lining the streets, blocking the roads, and flooding into the sanctuary of the New Park Street Chapel. Over 2,000 people were turned away from the overcrowded building, and they then took their places with the rest of the throng who filled the streets and pressed as near to the chapel as possible. The people were gathered in hopes of catching a glimpse of London’s now-famous couple. Though the clouds hung low and the air was chilled, that Saturday in January was a day of great joy, for it was the wedding day of Charles Spurgeon and Susannah Thompson.¹

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Charles, Susannah, and The Crystal Palace

June 9, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

June 10, 1854, was a day of fanfare in London with the re-opening of the Crystal Palace. The Palace, crafted from iron and glass, was the genius of the famed designer Sir Joseph Paxton and an architectural marvel. It had originally been built at London’s Hyde Park as a temporary hall for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Constructed in less than a year, it was dismantled six months after the Exhibition and moved to a permanent location in the south London suburb, Sydenham Hill. (1) Beyond the magnificent building itself, the palace was surrounded by stunning grounds, with gardens, fountains, and numerous models of extinct animals. In the midst of the excitement of the Palace’s grand celebration a similarly impressive love story was unfolding. [Read more…]

Cultivating a Love that Is Pure: An Excerpt from Song of Songs (Christ-Centered Exposition Series)

April 2, 2015 by bhacademic Leave a Comment

In the excerpt below from Song of Songs in the Christ-Centered Exposition Series, author Danny Akin discusses Song of Songs 8:8-12. Cultivating a love that is pure is, according to the author, one way the gospel shapes marriage in such a way that the love shared by husband and wife extends grace to both and reflects the love between Christ and His bride, the church. [Read more…]