Single people don’t always feel welcome in the Church. Historically, singlehood has been lifted up as “more spiritual”, and the celibacy requirement for clergy in the Roman Catholic Church is a testimony to that tradition, based on Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7. Contemporary realities require churches to be ‘family-friendly’. Nothing wrong with that. But to singles, it often feels like they are left out in the cold. Add to that the relatively recent development of growing numbers  who are ‘single again’ after divorce.

 

 

 

Ravi Zacharias is one the foremost contemporary Asian apologists of the Christian faith. Some years ago I met this prolific writer in Singapore, a formidable intellect and eloquent speaker,  but I was apprehensive about reading this book. One of his previous titles, Deliver us from Evil, was a big disappointment to me, so would this one be better? It turned out that this is a very different Ravi Zacharias from his earlier books: much warmer, much more approachable, yet every bit the sharp thinker.  The Grand Weaver, in Ravi’s own words, “is about seeing the designing hand of God and his intervention in our lives in such a way that we know he has a specific purpose for each of us and that he will carry us through until we meet  him face-to-face and know ourselves completely.” (p.11)