Stephen Dempster on the Song of Solomon

"Shorn of it's literary context, the song could almost be pornographic. But the context of the canon both restricts the context ... and expands it to include the relationship between Yahweh and Israel. When reading this text, the reader hears ... of the passionate and fiery love that Yahweh has for His people".

Stephen G Dempster - "Dominion and Dynasty - a theology of the Hebrew Bible" - New Studies in Bible Theology (ed: D A Carson) - Apollo (2003) - (p207).

Kelly Kapic on John Owen and the Song of Solomon

"We should not let a neo-platonic fear of the physical lead us to neglect this natural reading of the text".

Kelly M Kapic and Justin Taylor (ed); "Communion with the Triune God - John Owen" - Crossway Books (2007) - (p34).

Arthur Wallis on the Church as Bride

"This is the most intimate and sacred and precious figure of the Church’s relationship to Christ ... Christ loved the church, and gave Himself up for it; that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph.5:25-27)

We see how this great truth is emphasised in the Song of Solomon, as the Bridegroom addresses the Bride, “Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee.” (4:7.) and again, “My sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled.” That is the sort of bride He expects. The church as a bride must be pure".

Arthur Wallis - "The Purity of the Church" - "The Church of Jesus Christ - It's Purity, Power, Pattern And Programme in the context of Today" - Conference at Exmouth, UK - May 1958

David Pawson on the Song of Solomon

"The love between a man and a woman is like the love between God and human beings. Both are real and the former helps explain the latter".

David Pawson - "Unlocking the Bible" - Collins (2003) - (p373).

Dave Bish on the Song of Solomon

"I turned to Song of Songs and didn't follow the popular line taken by the likes of MacArthur, Mahaney and Driscoll. I'm happy to derive lessons for marriage from the Song but convinced that firstly we must read it about Christ and his bride, the church".

Dave Bish - "Song of Songs 3:6-5:1 (Reading Family Church)" - The Blue Fish Project - Tuesday, June 23, 2009

John Piper on the Song of Solomon

"It is no accident that centuries of biblical scholars construed the Song of Solomon as a story about Christ and the church ... they were not wrong in seeing that the ultimate meaning of marital sex is about the final delight between Christ and His Church".

John Piper - "This Momentary Marriage - a Parable of Permamence" - IVP, Leicester (2009) - (p128).

Mark Driscoll on Singles and the Song of Solomon

"Sex in the Song of Solomon ... (this) is my favorite part of the Bible. If you are single, I apologize in advance. This will be a very unpleasant sermon for you, because the Bible says to not merely listen to the Word but do what it says. And you can’t".

Mark Driscoll - "“Sex, a Study of the Good Bits from Song of Solomon” - Preached in Edinburgh, Scotland on a Sunday morning [at a 12:00 service] on November 18, 2007.

Mark Dever on the Song of Songs

Pah ...

"It seems to me that it is best to understand Song of Songs as a song or collection of sings that are, well, basically human love poems. This seems like the natural and literal meaning of the text doesn't it? ... In This way lovers are lovers and desire is desire. We might be embarrassed - at least in a sermon - by all the talk about breasts and kisses and embracing arms, but we understand it ... Song of Songs is certainly an important book about marital love".

Mark Dever - "Song of Songs: Wisdom for the Married" - in "The Message of the Old Testament" - Crossway Books, Illinois (2006) - (p553-554)

Sam Storms on Jonathan Edwards View of the Song of Solomon

"Edward's view of the Song of Solomon is instructive. He adopted an interpretation according to which the bride is not the corporate church but the individual believer. He testifies that no book affected him quite like the Song".

Sam Storms - "Signs of the Spirit - An Interpretation of Jonathan Edward's Religious Affections" - Crossway Books (2007) - (p159).

C J Mahaney on the Song of Solomon

NB: I hardly need mention that I do not quote this because I agree with this statement. I have written extensively about how I disagree with Mahaney's views on the Song of Solomon - as well as a whole host of other Christian theologians including the Puritans. I quote it for a point of reference if anyone is any doubt about what Mahaney is actually teaching. A key point of context can be found when C J Mahaney says: "I'm no scholar" (p154).

"The Song of Solomon. It's about sex ... his "Song of Songs" is nothing less than an explicit and unblushing celebration of sex within marriage ... That's right gentlemen. Solomon's Song of Songs is an entire book of the Bible devoted to the promotion of sexual intimacy within the covenant of marriage. It's an eight chapter feast of unbridled, uninhibited joyous immersion in verbal and physical expressions of passion between a man and a woman ... Spiritualizing the Song of Solomon just doesn't make sense. What's worse, it denies to us the powerful impact that God intends for it to have on our marriage".

C J Mahaney - "Sex, Romance and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know" in "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ" - Piper, John and Taylor, Justin (editors) - Crossway Books (2005) - (pp151-152, 154).

Jonathan Edwards on Song of Solomon 8:8-12

"Who can doubt whether these four verses are of mystical signification and that therefore this song is designed as a mystical song, and not a mere human love song? What should lead earthly lovers in singing of each other's beauty and love, to take notice of such things as these?

If we suppose the song to be mystical and that 'tis concerning Christ and His Church, a good account can be given of these passages, a very natural interpretation analogous to other Scriptures. By the "little sister" we may suppose is meant the same as the younger brother in the parable of the prodigal and by Solomon's vineyard, the same with Christ's vineyard so often spoken of in Scripture and by the "keepers" the same with the keeper of the vineyard and labourers in the harvest in Christ's parable who partake of the fruit of their labours with Christ".

Jonathan Edwards - "The Blank Bible" - Yale University Press, Illinois (2006) - (p627).

Jonathan Edwards on the Song of Solomon

"In his commentary on Canticles or the Song of Solomon, Edwards joined the long line of expositors who have addressed the question of the nature of the song. He left no ambiguity in his answer. It is "no common love song or epithalamium" - a judgement he also rendered about Psalm 45. On the contrary he asserted Canticles is a "song of love between Christ and the church or the assembly of the saints" who are "spiritual virgins".

Introduction to Jonathan Edwards - "The Blank Bible" - (2006) - Yale University Press, Michigan - (p39).

Ruth Heflin on the Song of Solomon (Songs)

"As worshippers we need to get to know that great worship book, the Song of Songs. Get to know it until it becomes a part of you. After a while it will almost feel as though you wrote it. Solomon got just a little ahead of you and put it on paper. At first you may feel that you wish you had the ability to write it. Then ... you will know you could have written it because you will have the same experiences".

Ruth Heflin - "Glory" - downloaded from website; Sunday 20th January 2008 - p111.

John Owen on the Song of Solomon

"He is white in the glory of His deity and ruddy in the preciousness of His humanity".

John Owen - "Works of John Owen" - Volume 2 - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh - (p49).

Merrill Unger on Song of Solomon

"It conveys a blessed revelation, not only of the purity and sanctity of human love in courtship and marriage but in mystical form it foreshadows especially Christs great love for His redeemed".

Merrill Unger - "Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament" - AMG Publications, USA (2002) - (p1105).

Sinclair Ferguson on the Song of Solomon

"The theme of Canticles is this essentially; the Christians sense of the love of Christ and the effect of it in communion with Him by prayer and praises is divinely set forth in the book of Canticles. The church therein is represented as the spouse of Christ and as a faithful spouse she is always solitious about His love and rejoicing in it".

Sinclair Ferguson - "John Owen on the Christian Life" - Banner of Truth, Edinburgh (1987) - (pp79-86).

J I Packer on John Owen and the Song of Solomon

"Owen here aligns himself with those many Puritans who follow in the footsteps of Bernard and other medievals in expounding Song of Solomon as a parable of the mutual love of Christ and His spiritual bride the church and sometimes the Christian".

J I Packer - "Among God's Giants" - Kingsway (1993) - (p274).

Tremper Longman on the Song of Solomon

"The Song is more than a canonical sex manual as some recent treatments have implied".

Tremper Longman III and Raymond B Dillard - "Introduction to the Old Testament" - Zondervan (2006) - (p299).

Robert Letham on Trinitarianism faith

"His (John Owen) focus on the three Persons was and is missing from the West in general. It is vital to restore a full blooded Trinitarianism faith. On the other hand in this he exhibits an over-reliance on allegorical exegesis of the Song of Solomon in "On Communion" - not that an allegorical, Christocentric interpretation of the Song of Solomon is illegitimate - despite attempts in the last century to rule it out - it is simply that this seems to me to be an inadequate basis for such an important argument".

Robert Letham - "John Owen's Doctrine of the Trinity" in "Where Reason Fails" - Westminster Conference 2006 - (pp14-15).

Matthew Henry on the Song of Solomon

"In this chapter, after the title of the book (ver. 1), we have Christ and his church, Christ and a believer, expressing their esteem for each other. I. The bride, the church, speaks to the bridegroom (ver. 2-4), to the daughters of Jerusalem (ver. 5, 6), and then to the bridegroom, ver. 7. II. Christ, the bridegroom, speaks in answer to the complaints and requests of his spouse, ver. 8-11. III. The church expresses the great value she has for Christ, and the delights she takes in communion with him, ver. 12-14. IV. Christ commends the church's beauty, ver. 15. V. The church returns the commendation, ver. 16, 17. Where there is a fire of true love to Christ in the heart this will be of use to blow it up into a flame".

Matthew Henry - "Commentary on Whole Bible" - Volume 3 - online version.