By Sylvia Cochran
Book Review of “No Innocent Affair”
By Edward F. Mrkvicka Jr.
Tate Publishing (September 20, 2011)
ISBN 978-1617777684
http://www.edwardfmrkvickajr.com/
No Innocent Affair is not an easy read. It is based on Christian scriptures and offers traditional – not mainstream – interpretations of the passages related to adultery, divorce and remarriage.
The main topic at hand is adultery. Whereas pride, deception and even greed are frequently preached against from the pulpit, adultery is not quite as often discussed on Sunday mornings. Add to this the fact that society has virtually embraced the practice of cheating – take a look at your Facebook buddies; some of them proudly display themselves to be in “open relationships” – and it makes sense that No Innocent Affair may appear to be swimming upstream.
Edward F. Mrkvicka Jr. does an excellent job pitching scriptural truths against societal mores. Mincing no words, the book takes the reader through a Bible study, openly shares secular studies and writings of scientists championing the benefits of adultery, and then concludes that nothing rips apart the fabric of marital trust quicker than a spouse’s straying.
No Innocent Affair is aimed primarily at the adulterer. Its message is sufficiently stern to curtail the wandering eye of the person considering an extramarital affair.
Where the book falls short, in my opinion, is the treatment of “committing adultery without knowing it.” The author explains that marrying after divorce is synonymous with adultery; Mrkvicka Jr. further advocates remarriage to the divorced spouse. Good and well, but the author fails to explain what to do when a divorced person has since remarried someone else.
According to the scriptural evidence he shows, the divorced marriage partner is guilty of adultery. Should he (or she) divorce the new spouse, thereby culminating the sin of adultery with yet another act of sin (divorce)? I did not get a good sense of an answer to this dilemma. Moreover, No Innocent Affair is short on offering practical advice for ending or avoiding an affair. It also does not offer a lot of help with healing from it, either.
The book reads a lot like a ‘behind the woodshed’ talk, which is great to scare straight the would-be adulterer, but may not actually help someone caught up in this tangled net – or the freshly minted divorced and remarried Christian who comes to understand that s/he is (unintentionally) an adulterer.
