This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence by John Piper. The chasm between the biblical vision of marriage and the common human conception is—and has always been—gargantuan. Reflecting on over forty years of matrimony, John Piper exalts the biblical meaning of marriage over its emotion, exhorting couples to keep their covenant as a display of Christ’s covenant-keeping love for the church. He aims to lift the church’s low view of marriage to something infinitely greater, namely, a vision of Jesus’s unswerving allegiance to and affection for his bride. This Momentary Marriage unpacks the biblical vision, its unexpected contours, and its weighty implications for married, single, divorced, and remarried alike. Now available in paperback with a freshly redesigned cover, Piper’s book on marriage holds even greater appeal.

Hardcover 2009; Paperback 2012
Crossway Books (Wheaton, Illinois)

See: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/books/this-momentary-marriage

http://cdn.desiringgod.org/pdf/books_bmm/bmm.pdf

Excerpt

“The aim of this book is to enlarge your vision of what marriage is. As Bonhoeffer says, it is more than your love for each other. Vastly more. Its meaning is infinitely great. I say that with care. The meaning of marriage is the display of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his people” (p. 15).

Table of Contents

Foreword: Pendulums and Pictures by Noël Piper
Introduction: Marriage and Martyrdom

1. Staying Married Is Not Mainly about Staying in Love
2. Naked and Not Ashamed
3. God’s Showcase of Covenant-Keeping Grace
4. Forgiving and Forbearing
5. Pursuing Conformity to Christ in the Covenant
6. Lionhearted and Lamblike—The Christian Husband as Head: Foundations of Headship
7. Lionhearted and Lamblike—The Christian Husband as Head: What Does It Mean to Lead?
8. The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission
9. Single in Christ: A Name Better Than Sons and Daughters
10. Singleness, Marriage, and the Christian Virtue of Hospitality
11. Faith and Sex in Marriage
12. Marriage Is Meant for Making Children . . . Disciples of Jesus: How Absolute Is the Duty to Procreate?
13. Marriage Is Meant for Making Children . . . Disciples of Jesus: The Conquest of Anger in Father and Child
14. What God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate: The Gospel and the Radical New Obedience
15. What God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate: The Gospel and the Divorced