Sweet Surrender: How Cultural Mandates Shape Christian Marriage

Every culture has a way of perceiving and practicing marriage. Many contemporary Western Christians mistake what their culture prescribes regarding marriage with what the Bible portrays, and thereby take as biblical what is merely cultural. Uncritical conformity to cultural imperatives of marriage then becomes a Christian virtue, and a sweet surrender. Few recognize, much less question this confusion, even when its consequences are unhealthy. In Sweet Surrender Dennis Hiebert challenges Christians to comprehend what is cultural in their view of marriage, hold as optional what is not explicitly required by the Bible, and live out their marriages within the transcendent grace of God. Gaining greater awareness can free marriages from the control of culture for something more simply but deeply Christian. Marriages benefit when they are released from cultural directives that are not biblical callings, even if they choose to retain them as cultural practices. This book is for Christians who are ready to rethink their assumptions about marriage.

Dennis Hiebert, PhD, is Professor of Sociology and Department Head of Arts and Sciences at Providence University College in Canada. Author of numerous academic articles on the intersection of sociology and Christianity, he is also editor of the Journal of Sociology and Christianity, and past president of the Christian Sociological Association. His mission is to separate the purely Christian from the merely cultural as much as possible, while granting that it is never entirely possible. Dennis and his wife live in southern Manitoba and have two adult sons.