St Paul's Exhortation to the Unmarried

[nobdysfool]

Personally, I oppose this interpretation. The Scripture is the word of God, not Paul. I even think the greetings exist in the epistles, as well as the Epistle to Philemon, to give us an accurate idea of what the Spirit-driven life consists of. There are no useless speculations and opinions in Scripture. All Scripture is God-breathed.

As for Paul, he ends the chapter saying, "and I think that I too have the Spirit of God" (1 Cor 7:40). I think Paul is being humble. He knows he is talking by the Spirit, just not from a specific commandment from Jesus' ministry.

Then you're ignoring the last part of what he says, where he specifically says it's better to remarry than to burn. By your measure, that is just as much Holy Spirit inspired as the rest. So, you have painted yourself into a corner. Nice going! LOL!

 

[GQ Chris]

Then you're ignoring the last part of what he says, where he specifically says it's better to remarry than to burn. By your measure, that is just as much Holy Spirit inspired as the rest. So, you have painted yourself into a corner. Nice going! LOL!

 

[saintboniface]

True that. I remember when I was in my 20's I told myself if I wasn't married by 30 I would become a monk. What a peaceful existence that would be. But I did get married at 27 so that did not happen

Classic.

It brings up a good point. Off the top of my head the Catholic priesthood, in this regard, consists of at least three groups: homosexuals, men who would probably marry but can't find a woman or don't know how to, and men who truly fore-go marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God. I truly pray for more of the latter but acknowledge that saints and heroes can come from any of the groups.

 

[abacabb3]

Then you're ignoring the last part of what he says, where he specifically says it's better to remarry than to burn. By your measure, that is just as much Holy Spirit inspired as the rest. So, you have painted yourself into a corner. Nice going! LOL!

Wait, aren't we on the same side?

This is the sort of spiritual blindness that has been plaguing Protestants (and by the way I worship at a Reformed Baptist church I am not a Catholic). The whole chapter is God breathed, this is the portion you refer to:

To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. (1 Cor 7:8, 9)

Clearly, Paul's instruction is that it is preferable to remain unmarried, but if the individual does not have the gift of celibacy (which is the presumption) then Paul says by all means, don't struggle with lust and marry.

It is a pretty straight forward teaching, with no corners to get painted into.