Marriage and Modernization

David Blankenhorn
"In this wise, audacious book Don Browning calls for nothing less than a global conversation involving people of faith on how to renew marriage. No one is better suited to the task."

Stephen J. Pope
"Don Browning's Marriage and Modernization is a bold attempt to offer a constructive theory relating the ancient institution of marriage to the exploding economic and social processes of globalization. Instead of regarding marriage as an anachronism, Browning mounts a convincing argument showing not only the enduring significance of marriage but also its absolute necessity for the moral health of our developing social world. He also shows in a fascinating way how a contemporary 'hermeneutical realism' can develop a constructive interdisciplinary interpretation of marriage and family that does justice to the changing social contexts that have so deeply affected these institutions. Browning's tour de force shows that Christianity and other religions cannot be bypassed by thoughtful social commentators concerned with contemporary marriages. Indeed, he shows that religion, properly construed, must play a necessary and central role in any comprehensive normative approach to marriage and the family."

David Popenoe
"A major contribution from a Christian perspective to our understanding of the plight of the modern family. Few other scholars are so able to link religious traditions with such wide-ranging knowledge from the social sciences."

John Witte Jr.
"Don S. Browning is America's leading interdisciplinary scholar of marriage and the family. In From Culture Wars to Common Ground Browning offered a riveting diagnosis of the transformation of American marriage and family life in the last century and issued a robust call for reform using the resources of the Western Christian tradition. In this new volume Browning puts the contemporary American crisis of marriage and family in worldwide perspective, demonstrating the extraordinary perils and promises born of the forces of modernization. In response, he summons the methods and insights of theology, ethics, law, and sundry other disciplines ? within and beyond the Christian West ? to press his case for a global marriage revival. This book is a profound intellectual achievement and gift that will edify the specialist and the uninitiated for many years to come."

Rebekah Miles
"Who but Don Browning has the audacity to call for worldwide marriage revival and reform? And who but Don Browning has the far-reaching mind and the grand vision to pull it off? This sweeping view of marriage and modernization carries us from first-century Greco-Roman families to contemporary North Korean and sub-Saharan families; from evolutionary psychology to medieval theology; from Aristotle and Aquinas to Nachmanides and al-Ghazali. As Browning lays out a Christian view of marriage in response to modernization and globalization, he calls on scholars and leaders of other religious traditions to do the same. Along the way, Browning never loses sight of the practical goal of reforming and reviving marriage. This book left me not only knowing more about marriage in our modernized world but also eager to go out and join the revival."

The Journal of Religion
"A wide-ranging and informed study of marriage in our contemporary global context. Its balanced attention to concrete governmental and religious strategies and to specific cultural situations along with its historical and interdisciplinary scope, make it a valuable resource for anyone interested in the welfare of marital and family life."