Week 1: Introduction — The Marriage Problem

1.Keller opens by noting a strange cultural paradox: people desperately want lasting, intimate marriage but are marrying later, divorcing more, and cohabiting in record numbers. Had you noticed this tension before reading the introduction? How do you experience it in your own circles?

2.Keller argues that both the 'overly romantic' view of marriage (which expects a soul mate to complete you) and the cynical dismissal of marriage are wrong — and both actually share the same root assumption. What is that shared assumption, and why does Keller find it problematic?

3.The Kellers describe two very different stories they brought into their own marriage — Timothy's rather idealistic expectations and Kathy's more cautious ones. What story or set of expectations do you (or did you) bring into marriage or the idea of marriage?