Customer Reviews

Christian Living in the Home:

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Adams's Christian Living in the Home is still the best book on its subject after all these years. I first read it before I got married, and my wife (who is from here in Taiwan) refers to its Chinese edition--the best book on its subject in her language--often. We both notice that we feel like the other spouse is more loving right after that spouse has reread this book recently. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED especially for its teaching about marriage, it is also very practical for dealing with children (we have three sons now). This book is my favorite extra thing to give as a wedding present at every wedding to which I'm invited.

This is a great book on marriage and the family. Taking it from a Biblical perspective, Jay Adams does a great job of going through the husband's role, the wife's role and how they interrelate. If you want to find the Biblical formula for a successful marriage, get this book. If you think that the world has a better way and that true, Biblical roles are "archaic", don't buy this book, get a psychology book and get ready for divorce. I use this book for pre-marriage counselling. It works very well by going over one chapter each session.

It is hard not to rave about a book that revolutionized a large part of your life! This is what Christian Living in the Home did for my marriage. Mr. Adam's does an excellent job fleshing out what God's word says to husbands and wives concerning their responsibilities in marriage. This book will be very helpful for all those wanting to bring a little bit of "heaven on earth" into their marriages, here and now. How should a husband love his wife? How should a wife respond to her husband's love? How should parents interact with their children? How important is forgiveness to a healthy and rewarding relationship? All of these important questions are more than answered in this fine book. For those people who find it difficult to take good teachings and apply it personally Mr.Adam's gives workshop type exercises at the end of each chapter, a very practical, helpful tool.This book causes a person to sit down and evaluate what is truly important in life. My wife and I read through the book together and it literally transformed our marriage.

Divorce is alive and well, even in Christian circles. I have 3 personal friends who are on the brink of it. The state of the Christian home is in shambles. This book is on the required reading list for each of our 7 kids before they leave home. What is so life changing about a book written in 1974? Jay E. Adams tells us how to deal with problems biblically, not just examine them with psycho-babble. It is a straightforward treatise for a great marriage. His common sense approach is refreshing and simple for us to grasp, because he uses scripture to back up his points as well as interesting case examples from his practice.

A couple of excerpts are in order. "Children need most to see parents who know how to love and live with each other. That is the most precious gift that parents can give to their children. How else will children learn how to build solid marriages for themselves?" I wish my parents had given us this gem! They cut each other down in private and barely tolerated one another in public.

And, "The most basic family relationship is not the parent-child relationship, but rather the husband-wife relationship. God ordained this. ... God put a husband and his wife in the garden, not a parent and child. Contemporary parents all too often live for their children." How many couples do you know who put their kids before their spouse? I was well on my way to this flawed thinking before I saw it as idol worship.

Regarding love, "Love doesn't come, as fools believe, full blown from the head of Aphrodite. Love must grow. It has to be watered, nourished, and cared for. It must be cultivated... Love has its problems, but real love can grow tall and strong when it is cultivated as God says." Offering advice to women, he says "This woman is not a drudge around the house. Nor is she merely a sharp business woman. She is intellectually alive."

Regarding disciplining the kids, " Discipline takes effort. But of greater significance, discipline also requires change in parents. Mainly parents give up too quickly. If they say something today, and they don't see change instantly, they quit. ... It takes time to discipline a child. And it takes stated, consistently enforced rules." How often have I thrown up my hands is despair, when I should have put my shoulder to the grindstone and keep going with correcting our children?

This book is a foundational book for all relationships. It will help you be a better listener and communicator. You will live with your family members in a way that is not self absorbed like most of us, but learn to be conscientious and thoughtful. Most interesting to me was the complete lack of talk about women wearing only dresses or how women should never work outside the home. Hmmmm. I guess that is not the mast head of successful family living that legalists around us are purporting.

I have been a pastor/counselor for over 20 years. As such I am engaged in trying to help people recover from serious issues, the breadth of which in the course of time can range across the entire spectrum of human interaction. There have been extraordinarily few instances where this book has not proved helpful to those whom I have encouraged to read it when they have followed through and actually put it into practice.

Adams' work is a bit dated in some areas but the principles are timeless. A previous reviewer builds a false antithesis when it is said that this is only for those couples where the woman stays home and the man works. Adams is pretty clear that the range of service women bring to the Lord is far beyond remaining barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. Any exposition of Proverbs 31 proves that beyond a doubt.

What Adams does very well is give a clear, concrete and practical guide to how the precepts of Scripture translate into a Christian approach to marriage and family life. It is not intended as the last word but as a primer. It doesn't go deep into the foundations of any specific point but aims at a comprehensive reordering of the framework in which we view the crucial social construct which is the family.

It doesn't answer every question nor solve every problem. But if taken to heart, Adams' Biblical teaching will start any Christian couple/family down the pathway of healing.

This is an excellent, excellent book. Jay Adams has shown himself to be a wise teacher of the Word of God, and the truths he discusses in this book are timeless and very much needed in this century. It was refreshing to realize that marriage isn't all about having kids, among many other things. There are many more truths. This is an essential tool for our pastor with pre-marital counseling.

As a biblical counselor trained under Jay Adams and the nouthetic model, I have had multiple occasions to use this volume in marital counseling. It provides a valuable overview of the key aspects of marriage and family life from a biblical perspective, which, after all, is the only one a true Christian should be seeking to emulate. While many readers with more modern cultural sensitivities about the role of women would, I'm sure, find some of Jay's teachings outdated or even offensive, they are nevertheless scriptural and founded in principles that do not evolve with time and culture.

Topics treated in this volume include God's purposes for marriage, the respective roles of husbands and wives, rules of communication, financial matters, and more. Obviously in a book this small, each area can receive only a limited treatment, but it is certainly sufficient to provide a stable foundation for most family counseling needs. There are plenty of other reputable authors (not to mention other writings by this author) who take specific topics to greater levels of detail. Whether you're a counselor, or simply a Christian who wants to have a better understanding of God's design for marriage and family, this book is a great place to start.

Christian Living in the Home remains my favorite book on the family. It has been a great blessing to my wife and me. Jay Adams writes in a clear way; moreover, he presents a biblical and practical picture of the Christian family.

This book is biblical, loving, nonjudgmental, and helpful. If you want to understand what biblical living in the home is to look like read this book.

This book is the epitome of Titus 2 that instructs the elders to teach the young women and men individually. Mr. Adams made some good points that are truly life lessons as a Christian striving to be all that God wants us to be. Although I did not always like what Mr. Adams said he made biblical sense and what Christian can deny that.

If you are looking for a book that give biblical instruction on how to live this is certainly the book for you.