Building a Godly Home, Volume 2: a Holy Vision for a Happy Marriage

For years, William Gouge s Domestical Duties has stood as the foremost Puritan treatment of Christian family life. Yet due to its size and antiquated expression, it has become almost unknown among current generations of believers. To help revive the usefulness of this classic book, Scott Brown and Joel R. Beeke divided Gouge s work into three manageable volumes, updated the language to modern standards, and have given it the title Building a Godly Home. In the second volume, A Holy Vision for a Happy Marriage, we find detailed counsel about the most important relationship in the family husband and wife. Gouge carefully addresses what a fit marriage is and the proper way to enter into one. He then discusses the mutual duties married couples share in order for marriage to survive and thrive, as well as the duties specific to men and women respectively. Not only does he give detailed treatment of how these responsibilities are best expressed and too often hindered, but he also provides ample biblical motivation to set us on the right course. Christian husbands and wives will find much encouragement in this book. Table of Contents: 1. Serving Each Other in the Fear of the Lord 2. Particular Callings and the Wife s Submission 3. Headship in Marriage and the Church 4. Husbands and the Love of Christ 5. Love That Purifies the Unclean 6. Redeemed for Glory 7. Marital Love and Self-Love 8. Christ s Union with His Beloved 9. The Ancient Law and Unique Bond of Marriage 10. The Mystery and Practice of Marriage 11. The Child s Duties to His Parents 12. The Parents Duty towards Their Children About the Set Vol. 1 A Holy Vision for Family Life Vol. 2 A Holy Vision for a Happy Marriage Vol. 3 A Holy Vision for Raising Children Gouge s second volume addresses our duties in marriage from a biblical perspective: mutual duties, the husband s particular duties, and the wife s particular duties. His third volume lays out the biblical duties of parents toward their children and children toward their parents. All three volumes show us that when the Word is the rule of our duty, duty becomes delight, so that we can truly enjoy family life in the fear of God.