Friday, July 10, 2009

Younger Widows Should Marry

1 Tim. 5:11-16 (ESV)
But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry [12] and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. [13] Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. [14] So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. [15] For some have already strayed after Satan. [16] If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are really widows.

Refuse to enroll younger widows. From what I can figure between these two things is widows were enrolled in some special manner at the church. They took some sort of vow to work in the church, and in return were cared for by the church. Younger widows were not to be enrolled in this order, because they might yet marry. If they did take interest in a man, they would be forced to break their vows. Paul would have younger widows remarry.
We might learn something about the foolishness of nunnery. It is unconscionable that large swaths of Christendom teach women that motherhood, and marriage are things to be despised, and that the high road is lifelong virginity in service to the church. Stories abound of abusive nuns teaching kids. Do you blame them? God gave us the gift of marriage for a reason. Virginity is not a virtue, chastity is. Lifelong virginity more often than not is nothing, but a path to a neurological disorder, and frustration.

2 comments:

Elizabeth F said...

I have been thinking for the past few days about your comment on chastity being the virtue, not virginity. I very much agree with it. It does not mean we should not encourage virginity, but it is not the end all to what constitutes a virtue. In fact, there are some great Biblical examples of this (as I am sure you know). Mary Magdalene is definitely one. But my favorite has always been Rahab. Not only did she hear God's Word and joyfully receive it, but she showed courage in protecting two men she barely knew. She also repented and turned from her past life to a life that relied on the grace of God. And to top it all off, she is in the lineage of Christ. Now there is virtue. Also, I must say I had a good chuckle about the rest of your comment on virginity. I don't know the actual statistics on that, but it sounds good. Thank you.

Bror Erickson said...

Elizabeth F,
thanks for the comment. Yes we should definitely encourage virginity to a point. That is we don't want to encourage premarital sex. But we should be encouraging marriage also. Chastity is the virtue, and as you say you can turn from a life of promiscuity and take back living a chaste life. Chastity is the virtue.