It is all very well to rail against the warping of doctrine under the heat of a difficult situation. But it is equally important to set in place guidelines, procedures, and tactics that govern how we deal with these uncomfortable disturbances. And since my principal example in the previous post was that of a woman who is not married and who is tempted to denigrate the incredible importance of marriage and children, I thought I would start there.
Can you explain what information in Scripture that you think is being missed that would help young people who want marriage, actually to find it?
There are definitely some problems that are making it harder, and most of them are modern. But start with something that is age-old: women tend to be much more interested in marriage than men, which means that even if there were even numbers of men and women, it would be hard for women to find the husbands they want. Further, most women prefer men a few years older, but in a growing population, there are more babies born each year than in the previous year. That means, for example, that there are more eighteen-year-old women looking for twenty-one-year old men than there are twenty-year-old men.
Add to that the current cultural issues, where men tend to be more conservative than women. Among the very religious, this might not be such a problem, but if you are looking at the general population who are strongly affected by that culture, it becomes an obstacle. Online dating apps, to which many turn in hopes of finding partners, actually make things worse, as most women focus on the few highest status men. In previous times, women could assess themselves compared to their peers to get an idea of how high they could aspire.
There are approaches that have been shown to work for those who use them, of course. Among Orthodox Jews, match-makers get to know both men and women and can make recommendations. There are even marriage "resumes" which are passed to around to allow those doing introductions to learn about people they don't personally know. There are single events held on Shabbos where people spend an entire weekend meeting others - two of my friend's children met their wives that way.
What are Christian groups doing to facilitate young people meeting prospective spouses?
Sometimes I find that you answer your own question… and I think we see that here. You ask me what the CC community is doing to help get their kids married… and that is literally the truth, or one of the many truths, that Scripture teaches that is being ignored: that the families should have a role in making it happen!
Ummm… I think one part of the problem is identified, definitely. But only one part. I don’t know if you followed the link to the OP, but the woman there denies rather a large number of clear Biblical truths.
Do you mean the woman who commented on the linked post? My impression was that she hadn’t actually said anything meaningful, and I didn’t have the impression that she was CC. So I must have misunderstood something.
The post that you’re responding to is the second in a series and the first in that series had a link to an article and so what I was talking about was that person
Can you explain what information in Scripture that you think is being missed that would help young people who want marriage, actually to find it?
There are definitely some problems that are making it harder, and most of them are modern. But start with something that is age-old: women tend to be much more interested in marriage than men, which means that even if there were even numbers of men and women, it would be hard for women to find the husbands they want. Further, most women prefer men a few years older, but in a growing population, there are more babies born each year than in the previous year. That means, for example, that there are more eighteen-year-old women looking for twenty-one-year old men than there are twenty-year-old men.
Add to that the current cultural issues, where men tend to be more conservative than women. Among the very religious, this might not be such a problem, but if you are looking at the general population who are strongly affected by that culture, it becomes an obstacle. Online dating apps, to which many turn in hopes of finding partners, actually make things worse, as most women focus on the few highest status men. In previous times, women could assess themselves compared to their peers to get an idea of how high they could aspire.
There are approaches that have been shown to work for those who use them, of course. Among Orthodox Jews, match-makers get to know both men and women and can make recommendations. There are even marriage "resumes" which are passed to around to allow those doing introductions to learn about people they don't personally know. There are single events held on Shabbos where people spend an entire weekend meeting others - two of my friend's children met their wives that way.
What are Christian groups doing to facilitate young people meeting prospective spouses?
Hey, Russ, long time no hear from you :)
Sometimes I find that you answer your own question… and I think we see that here. You ask me what the CC community is doing to help get their kids married… and that is literally the truth, or one of the many truths, that Scripture teaches that is being ignored: that the families should have a role in making it happen!
So the problem is solved?
Ummm… I think one part of the problem is identified, definitely. But only one part. I don’t know if you followed the link to the OP, but the woman there denies rather a large number of clear Biblical truths.
Do you mean the woman who commented on the linked post? My impression was that she hadn’t actually said anything meaningful, and I didn’t have the impression that she was CC. So I must have misunderstood something.
https://open.substack.com/pub/maryvanweelden/p/motherhood-is-not-a-womans-highest?r=6csnm&showWelcomeOnShare=false
The post that you’re responding to is the second in a series and the first in that series had a link to an article and so what I was talking about was that person