Archippus

In a discussion on marriage in my Bible study group, our youth pastor suggested that marriage is encouraged by the Bible, and that we as Christians (speaking to a group of teenagers) should plan to marry and have children in our lifetimes. He cited this verse:

Genesis 9:7
As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.


I thought of Paul's advice in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 7:8-9
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.


From Paul's advice, I gather that marriage should actually be the exception, not the rule. As for the verse in Genesis, God was speaking directly to Noah and his sons, in a time when the population was very low, and it was crucial to the survival of humans that the advice be followed. Nowadays our population is plenty large enough.

What are some other perspectives on this? Are there other verses dealing with the subject?

NearertoGod

Archippus, I didn't catch what you're looking for, exactly. Can you elaborate on it a little more?

__________________
NATURE should be treasured, not destroyed!
It's God's beautiful gift...treat it with respect and it'll respect you.

God Loves Everyone
God Never Favors
God's Son Jesus Christ Is The Only Way To Heaven
God Is Merciful, Kind, And True

Who am I

__________________
Blessings to all

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Rumely

Seems to me your youth pastor isn't properly taking context into account in this case, as you have noted. However, since MOST people seem to get married and have families, it is good for young people to give serious thought to their dating and relational practices in light of their potential future families. Marriage and family also provide an environment of growing and learning which teaches us about ourselves and, since marriage is a reflection of Christ and the Church, as Paul talked about in Galatians 5, it teaches us about our relationship with Him.

The bottom line is that whether one remains single or marries, he or she is to lead a life in that context that glorifies God. In either case, Paul says that one will do well. The single person can single-mindedly focus all his or her attention on ministering to others. The married individual focuses their time, energy, and resources into and through the marriage in their service to God. Neither marriage nor singleness should be used as a context for being selfishly indulgent. Honor God in whichever state you are, and you will be blessed.

Rumely

WhoAmI reminded me of another point. Why should all the non-Christians have all the kids? If we don't marry and contribute our "fair share", we might find ourselves being "squeezed out" of the earth.

Archippus

As in the last bit of the post, just some other perspectives or verses that I might have missed. There might be some passages that deal with this in more detail; after all, I only referenced two, and I think that is an understatement of the importance of the topic.

Like you said in the second sentence, isn't remaining single more conducive to serving God efficiently? It seems like your points contradict, though they all make sense individually. Do you mean the duty to elders in need of care would outweigh the spiritual advantages of staying single?

If staying single is thought of mainly in the context of serving God, would a call to serve God in general count as a call to stay single?

I should add that I had to paraphrase a lot about my youth pastor. The discussion was branching out in different directions, and that was just one point about which I was dubious. Some of the other teenagers also suggested that same verse, and probably others. I just don't remember all of the details.

Good points. The main focus in the Bible study discussion might have been on what is best for the church, not necessarily according to Paul's advice. I know some churches stress large families more in an attempt to grow fast.

Statistically I think Christians have more children per capita, but I don't know where I might have seen those figures.

As for being "squeezed out," it could be a better approach to not have as many children but focus our energies on converting adults. One child takes years and a lot of money to bring up, while you can convert a great number of people using the same time and resources. In turn, the converted adults would not bring up their own children as nonbelievers, so the increase would be exponential.

Boanerges

In the beginning God said man needed help meet of himself- I do not think that has changed for the most part. Some do have the gift of celebicy and can serve God unimpeded by natural drives- for others it is better to marry than to burn. In my own life being married has been one of the best things I ever did and my sweetie helps keep me on the straight and narrow path.

__________________
“Neither skill nor knowledge is needed to go to God, all that is necessary is a heart dedicated entirely and solely to Him out of love for Him above all others.”
Brother Lawrence

Who am I

All I was saying was this… if people stayed single and quit having children, the human race would be extinct in about 100 years. The Bible doesn’t say it is going to end like that. So… we need to keep the earth populated.




No. Every Christian is called to serve God in one way or another. Some are called to serve God by having large families. Some are called to serve God single. Some are called to serve God single until later in life. Some are called… the list goes on. God has no limits in His plan.

__________________
Blessings to all

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Archippus

True. Concerning the population, however, we might not need to keep it growing nearly as much as we do. Striving towards the goal mentioned in the Bible, that of sending the message to all the remote parts of the earth, it might be more efficient to convert more adults and have fewer children. Then, instead of just outnumbering nonbelievers, we can make them believers as well.

xlogic1

Paul encouraged his readers to remain single, if they could, because of the extreem persecution of the times. Believers at this time were better off if they remained single.

__________________
Life Is For Living