Conner Gordon-Collins reviews Single Ever After by Danielle Treweek.
With a solid Biblical grounding and conversational approach, Danielle Treweek provides a Biblical view for the significance of singleness in a book unashamed to lovingly correct our wrong attitudes and beliefs about singleness, whilst providing practical wisdom – for both those seeking to faithfully live out their singleness, and for those seeking to faithfully love their single brothers and sisters.
The underlying theological thread behind this book is the truth that just as marriage has intrinsic worth because it points to the reality of Christ and the Church, singleness too has intrinsic worth, not because of its functional goodness (i.e. the good you can do for the Kingdom through it), but because it points to the eschatological reality where we will all be single ever after in the New Creation, living eternally as redeemed brothers and sisters, no longer married or given in marriage.
Treweek engages with singleness through an accessible theological tackling of passages – such as Adam’s ‘loneliness’ in Genesis 2v18; interpretations of ‘gift’ in 1 Corinthians 7v7-8; Jesus’ head-scratcher of a chat about eunuchs in Matthew 19v11-12; and Paul’s perspective on singleness in 1 Corinthians 7 – and addressing unhelpful, burdensome and inaccurate readings of these texts. The second part of each chapter is dedicated to application and exhortation. The book also doesn’t shy away from the real struggles single believers face surrounding sexual temptation, but instead addresses this head-on in a direct and sensitive way.
What I found most helpful was how this book placed the whole conversation within the context of the local church, with careful consideration given to how each part of the body (both married and unmarried), can grow in attitudes to singleness and marriage, and to the people in their lives and congregations who experience singleness in their own way with their own unique stories, struggles and desires. So this is a book not only for singles, but also for the whole church as they seek to love one another.
SINGLE EVER AFTER: A Biblical Vision for the Significance of Singleness
By Dani Treweek
IVP. 176 pages £9.99
ISBN 978 1 802 543 261
