Is Marriage Obligatory?
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?
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?