Posted on 01/17/2006 1:31:49 PM PST by WKB
I don't have a problem as far as wondering if I am sinning as a single but I do have a problem with Albert Mohler's commentary on the subject.
Is Singleness a Sin?
by Camerin Courtney
August 11, 2004
In a moment of melodrama a couple years ago, I joked with a single friend that at times voices within Christendom have been so silent or so judgmental about singleness, that I suspected they thought the s-i-n at the beginning of the word was no mistake.
Now, unfortunately, one Christian leader has made that bit of humor-laced conspiracy theory a reality. At Joshua Harris's New Attitude Conference for singles this past January, Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, said:
"I'm going to speak of the sin I think besets this generation. It is the sin of delaying marriage as a lifestyle option among those who intend someday to get married, but they just haven't yet. This is a problem shared by men and women, but it's a problem primarily of men."....
Ah, so any opinion that's not "scientific" isn't worth posting? Utter bravo sierra. Humans form opinion based on their own experiences, and that's all se_ohio_young_conservative was talking about. Notice the key phrases like "seems to me".
Because it makes the good revrund and certain FReepers happy. Haven't you been paying attention to the thread?
I have one for you. I know a young man in Seattle who is reasonably good looking, dresses nicely, well educated and has a steady job with the Coroner's office. He complained to me once how he even took a singles cruise in the hopes of meeting a woman and starting a relationship. He couldn't understand why he never had more the one or two dates with any woman.
After complaining about this he then showed me his latest "you are going to believe this one" photos. I think some people just aren't meant to have relationships.
Martin Luther said, "[T]he exceedingly foul deed of Onan, the basest of wretches . . . is a most disgraceful sin. It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her; that is, he lies with her and copulates, and when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive. Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed. Accordingly, it was a most disgraceful crime. . . . Consequently, he deserved to be killed by God. He committed an evil deed. Therefore, God punished him."What changed in 1930?John Calvin said, "The voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between man and woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is doubly monstrous. For this is to extinguish the hope of the race and to kill before he is born the hoped-for offspring."
John Wesley warned, "Those sins that dishonor the body are very displeasing to God, and the evidence of vile affections. Observe, the thing which he [Onan] did displeased the Lord—and it is to be feared; thousands, especially of single persons, by this very thing, still displease the Lord, and destroy their own souls." (These passages are quoted in Charles D. Provan, The Bible and Birth Control, which contains many quotes by historic Protestant figures who recognize contraception’s evils.)
You have all the money you will ever need because you never had children. Childless people cannot fathom how much money children cost.
For reasons I can't fathom, that's a common FReeper ailment, or so it would seem based on the dating/singles/divorce threads that pop up.
> I positively sweat insincerity.
Well... then you clearly picked the appropriate field...
And they also form their experiences to fit their opinions, that's all I was pointing out. The scientific method was just an exaggeration for effect, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
My life situations changed more in 6 months than it had or has at any point of my life before or since. When a man goes from being happily married to widower to finding a female friend who as well nearly dies just when you think you have a possible future together, she survives but never to walk, and you then marry and become a step parent all in six months time it changes a person a bit.
Change was to come within a week of almost loosing my new found at the time girl friend. The change came from what was called by Baptist as the laying on of hands for healing. But they weren't laid on me but her. Still I was in the room. I was the one who received the answer to it in a very distinct and absolute profound certain way. The rest was acting in faith despite family and friends questioning my sanity :>}
None of the more self-righteous among them ever considers the possibility that people do things for what are very good reasons (lives are complicated).
As for me, I never wanted children because (among other reasons), I knew that based on my family's health history, that I likely would not have a long life. Therefore, I arranged my life so that I could enjoy some retirement years. The only way that I could have done that was foregoing children (which never appealed to me in the first place) and their concomitant costs (college tuition, for instance).
So, I did things according to plan and retired early (and it's been nice, thank you very much).
If some think that I should have fallen into lockstep with what they think is the "correct life" and had children, thereby risking working until the day that I died, well, I'll put it politely: folks, we just don't agree.
then you might just regret not having children...
Your #36 post (which appears above) is remarkable for its absence of perspective. You identify yourself as a "young conservative." That being the case, what experience do you bring to such a conclusion as to how someone should live her life?
This might come as a surprise to you but not everyone envisions spending her old age sitting in a backyard watching over grandchildren.
You don't have to defend yourself against what some big-shot preacher says. Anyone who actually believes and states publicly that "we grow up by having children" is just plain nuts.
I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me, those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father, and his father, and all our fathers, and in front, to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond.
And their eyes were my eyes.
As I felt, so they had felt, and were to feel, as then, so now, as tomorrow and forever. Then I was not afraid, for I was in a long line that had no beginning, and no end, and the hand of his father grasped my father's hand, and his hand was in mine, and my son took my right hand, and all, up and down the line that stretched from Time That Was, to Time That Is, and is not yet, raised their hands to show the link, and we found that we were one, born of Woman, Son of Man, made in the Image, fashioned in the Womb by the Will of God, the Eternal Father.
I was of them, they were of me, and in me, and I in all of them."
Well, Christians should have kids.
if the unsaved people decide to remain childless, that's all the better.
First let me say, that I don't necessarily agree that childless by choice married couples are sinners.
God gives us marriage partners, in part, so that we can experience a tiny measure of the great love and devotion that He has for us.
Becoming a mother or father, helps us to experience a small part of the love that God holds for us. I think about my love for my children, and I know that God loves me in the same way. I find it easy to forgive my children but sometimes it is hard to understand why God so easily forgives me. When I think about truly being a child of God, it makes more sense. Because I cannot imagine turning my back on my children, it helps me to understand how it is that God will never abandon me.
These relationships (spouses and parenthood), help us to better understand and relate to God. THAT is why he wants these things for us.
Thanks.
1 Corinthians 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things...
...FReeper males who do nothing but continually bemoan their inability to attract women...
.........................................
Names not necessary. If they have honestly tried to find a nice woman and have not been able to due to some problems such as location or personality conflicts etc. etc. I suggest the international dating scene. We have several male friends who have created wonderful homes with ladies from The Philippines and Russia.
I am willing to provide them with the information they seek. Time waits for no man....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.