What do you think?
Rate this book
Song of Songs for Singles, and Married People Too: Lessons on Love from King Solomon
Love. Breakup. Pain. Repeat. Love is a fire, and playing with fire gets you burned. While the Bible provides answers to singles' questions concerning love, marriage, and sex, those answers are found in a book of the Bible that singles are regularly told to avoid. The Song of Solomon, contrary to popular opinion, primarily addresses singles (not married couples), teaching them wisdom so they can love successfully. It teaches that love is a fire, a fire best left unlit until the appropriate time. King Solomon loved many women whom he thought would bring him peace and pleasure. Instead, his attempts at love brought him pain and misery. He thought he could play with fire, but he got burned. Reflecting on his failures, he wrote his best song, the Song of Songs, to unmarried men and women and taught God's design for love so they can love successfully. Instead of listing "thou shalt not" commands concerning sex, Solomon shapes the affections of singles so that they want to love God's way. Song of Songs for Singles helps unmarried people understand and apply the wisdom of Song of Songs, preparing them to find love and less likely to get burned.
While the Bible teaches several "thou shalt not" commands concerning sexuality, the Song of Songs shapes the affections of singles so that they want to love God's way. Song of Songs for Singles seeks to emulate this design, cultivating the readers' affections for God's design for love. We do the things that we love. Singles love the wrong things. Too often, the church only preaches the "thou shalt not" sexual messages of the Bible. As C.S. Lewis chided in Abolition of Man , we chop down forests but fail to irrigate deserts. The Song of Songs satiates the unmarried Christian's thirst and equips them with the wisdom to love successfully.
While the Bible teaches several "thou shalt not" commands concerning sexuality, the Song of Songs shapes the affections of singles so that they want to love God's way. Song of Songs for Singles seeks to emulate this design, cultivating the readers' affections for God's design for love. We do the things that we love. Singles love the wrong things. Too often, the church only preaches the "thou shalt not" sexual messages of the Bible. As C.S. Lewis chided in Abolition of Man , we chop down forests but fail to irrigate deserts. The Song of Songs satiates the unmarried Christian's thirst and equips them with the wisdom to love successfully.
276 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2023
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 25, 2024
I made it half way through this book before I just couldn't read anymore. I literally don't have the space to dissect this but I will try to be brief.
1) Tim Little uses his own personal translation(As in no version just his rewriting of it) for much of the scripture and its interpretation. Red Flag.
2) Tim Little's professor suggests he write a paper on the theology of O. T sexual arousal. I don't know the context of this suggestion but I am getting major Red Flags. Wasn't there something else to write a paper on.. In like.. The entire O. T??
3)His wife, with Tim's guidance, tries to help 'her Daughter's of Jerusalem'(girls in their chapel) because they were 'hungry to hear what God had to say about their upcoming lives as wives'. MAJOR Red Flags!
4) Tim states in the introduction that many martial intimacy issues stem from a wife's inability to trust her husband. If she trusted him more, their sex would be how 'God designed it' and how Tim sees this play out in the Song.
5) We've only just made it to page 32 where the author states that the real sin in marriage is a Christian couple does not desire eachother in a Song of Songs way. Please tell us what that way is, Tim. Couples have been apparently sinning for thousands of years before we understood that the Song of Songs is about bedroom behavior.
6)Next page over, and Rabbi's say this is about Israel, church founders say it is about the church and Christ. Tim Little is here to say its about single girls and sex. He can't and doesn't disprove men who could probably wrap circles around him theologically and spiritually speaking, but he really quickly moves on.
7)I'm going to skip quite a bit but you literally could find something on every page, to page 91. Song 7:1-9 is all about a wife dancing naked in front of her husband. What the hey-I read this portion of scripture over and over and I still don't even see (TG) this! Dancing?? Naked no less?
Agg I forgot the early on in the book reference to a girl messing up and getting pregnant. Biggest pet peeve ever. Sorry girls 'messing up' and 'getting pregnant' are forever gonna be glued together.
8)Mentions Ezekiel being regarded as the porn-prophet. Say what?? Maybe in the guys dormitory.
9)Page 127, here we go, getting a little closer to the real point of the enlightenment Tim received. 'The Song actually teaches that a wife should be assertive, initiating, and desiring, and should regularly proposition not only her available and willing husband but also her struggling, misguided, and lost husband.' like both husbands at the same time?? Jokes aside, no no no let's not be inserting our own sexual fantasies into the Bible then pulling my single daughter aside and teaching her that!
10) Page 128 more emphasis on a wife being sexually aggressive.
11) The next page, wives could/should don the 'attire of an harlot' in order to be as aggressive as the wicked woman of Proverbs.
12)Here's where I stopped. The next page describes a woman who needs to be aggressive in order to save her husband from temptation. She wakes at night and finds him missing. Does she pray? asks Tim Little. In Song this woman leaps out of bed and pursues him, drags him back to bed and proceeds to have sex with him in order to rescue him. 'Your selfless sacrificial love' could save him from 'Dame Folly' s grasp'says the author. 'You may be your husband's last line of defense', he says on another page. No, honey, you aren't. Because sin starts in the mind and you can't crawl in there.
NO NO AND MORE MAJOR RED FLAG NO's. This isn't the solution to a wandering man at night.
Please don't hand this to a single. This is still objectifying women. This even feels slightly like grooming. There is better and more Biblical resources out there!
1) Tim Little uses his own personal translation(As in no version just his rewriting of it) for much of the scripture and its interpretation. Red Flag.
2) Tim Little's professor suggests he write a paper on the theology of O. T sexual arousal. I don't know the context of this suggestion but I am getting major Red Flags. Wasn't there something else to write a paper on.. In like.. The entire O. T??
3)His wife, with Tim's guidance, tries to help 'her Daughter's of Jerusalem'(girls in their chapel) because they were 'hungry to hear what God had to say about their upcoming lives as wives'. MAJOR Red Flags!
4) Tim states in the introduction that many martial intimacy issues stem from a wife's inability to trust her husband. If she trusted him more, their sex would be how 'God designed it' and how Tim sees this play out in the Song.
5) We've only just made it to page 32 where the author states that the real sin in marriage is a Christian couple does not desire eachother in a Song of Songs way. Please tell us what that way is, Tim. Couples have been apparently sinning for thousands of years before we understood that the Song of Songs is about bedroom behavior.
6)Next page over, and Rabbi's say this is about Israel, church founders say it is about the church and Christ. Tim Little is here to say its about single girls and sex. He can't and doesn't disprove men who could probably wrap circles around him theologically and spiritually speaking, but he really quickly moves on.
7)I'm going to skip quite a bit but you literally could find something on every page, to page 91. Song 7:1-9 is all about a wife dancing naked in front of her husband. What the hey-I read this portion of scripture over and over and I still don't even see (TG) this! Dancing?? Naked no less?
Agg I forgot the early on in the book reference to a girl messing up and getting pregnant. Biggest pet peeve ever. Sorry girls 'messing up' and 'getting pregnant' are forever gonna be glued together.
8)Mentions Ezekiel being regarded as the porn-prophet. Say what?? Maybe in the guys dormitory.
9)Page 127, here we go, getting a little closer to the real point of the enlightenment Tim received. 'The Song actually teaches that a wife should be assertive, initiating, and desiring, and should regularly proposition not only her available and willing husband but also her struggling, misguided, and lost husband.' like both husbands at the same time?? Jokes aside, no no no let's not be inserting our own sexual fantasies into the Bible then pulling my single daughter aside and teaching her that!
10) Page 128 more emphasis on a wife being sexually aggressive.
11) The next page, wives could/should don the 'attire of an harlot' in order to be as aggressive as the wicked woman of Proverbs.
12)Here's where I stopped. The next page describes a woman who needs to be aggressive in order to save her husband from temptation. She wakes at night and finds him missing. Does she pray? asks Tim Little. In Song this woman leaps out of bed and pursues him, drags him back to bed and proceeds to have sex with him in order to rescue him. 'Your selfless sacrificial love' could save him from 'Dame Folly' s grasp'says the author. 'You may be your husband's last line of defense', he says on another page. No, honey, you aren't. Because sin starts in the mind and you can't crawl in there.
NO NO AND MORE MAJOR RED FLAG NO's. This isn't the solution to a wandering man at night.
Please don't hand this to a single. This is still objectifying women. This even feels slightly like grooming. There is better and more Biblical resources out there!
January 23, 2024
Very well written. It was a completely different take on a book of the Bible that I basically thought was "off limits" for singles. It had great practical advice and solid Christian teaching throughout the entire book. I highly recommend reading this eye-opening book on dating, marriage, and roles in the marriage.
July 19, 2023
This is the first marriage/dating book I have read (out of about ten) that is written specifically for singles (even those who are wanting to remain single). Although the book is mostly geared towards singles, this book is an essential read for every Christian as it helps build a Biblical view on sexuality, dating, and marriage. The Littles do an excellent job sticking to the text and interpreting and applying it to today’s readers. I highly recommend this thought provoking book!
March 7, 2024
This came timely in my life; the Lord directed me to this at the perfect time. This was an amazing book to read in conjunction with a study in the Song of Songs. I was convicted over and over again, and I learned much about my heart and postures through my study in the Song. Young men and women, please read this with wisdom and maturity; please do it now!
March 20, 2024
More indepth review will be posted next week.
This is an excellent work that should be required for all parents and their children.
This is an excellent work that should be required for all parents and their children.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews