Pastor, author, and legal scholar Pierre addresses marriage, divorce, and remarriage issues in this well-considered narrative. People today are “under pressure”: social, moral, political, and religious. The matter of marriage and its expectations and outcomes has changed radically in recent decades, leaving some Christians in doubt about these life processes. Using biblical text, Pierre demonstrates that God ordained that a man and woman should marry, be fruitful and multiply. Marriage should be a loving, life-long commitment, ideal for raising children. But it can also be provoked by such situations as fearing to live alone, desperation about growing old without a partner, needing financial support, raising a child that would otherwise be born out of wedlock, desire for sexual pleasure, and societal or church-based traditions or pressures.

Pierre acknowledges that marriage can be burdensome, including abuse and emotional distancing, invoking the perceived need for separation and divorce. In exploring the question posed by his book’s title, he sensibly posits that divorced and remarried people “are not cursed,” and remarriage, like other human actions, is a personal choice, stressing that what matters above all is one’s Christian faith.

Pierre’s brief but fact-laden treatise is thought-provoking and designed to help his fellow Christians put certain stereotypes to rest and open minds and hearts to a forgiving, understanding attitude regarding divorce and remarriage. His subject is highly relatable, as these are common human situations and ones he often confronts in his role as a law expert, pastor, and founder of the Universal Theological Seminary. Pierre takes the stance not of an advisor but as someone examining the issues rationally. By so doing, he reaches sound conclusions based solidly on biblical truth. His work should be accessed by Christians and those not of that persuasion purely for its thoughtful, wide-ranging definition and detail.

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