“Reading expressions of love from the past can be a helpful way of responding to the fragility of Christian marriage in our day”, writes Michael Haykin. So he shows us letters from husband and wife, in twelve well-known families of church history.

These include Martin Luther (writing his wife Katie), John Calvin (expressing to friends his grief over the death of his wife Idelette). Lesser-known writers include Helmuth von Moltke, who wrote to his wife as he faced execution at the hands of the Nazis in 1945.

The contents range from courtship communications to proposals of marriage to final words before dying, but most are about events of everyday life. Dr. Haykin, professor of church history and biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, KY, provides an introduction to each set of letters and draws practical applications for us. In all, The Christian Lover is a celebration of marriage, an intimate window into the thoughts of men and women in love with God and one another.