Lesson 463

(Lesson 463)(11-21-12) 1 Corinthians 7:1-9, "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn."

In this lesson, Paul makes a very good case for marriage. Note that he said, "But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment." He is telling us that there is no commandment that requires marriage, however, as he saw it, "it is better to marry than to burn."

What Paul says here is one of the primary sources from which the Catholic "Church" establishes its demand that priests (preachers) are to remain celibate. And that women (nuns), who devote themselves totally to the work of the "Church", are also to be celibate and abstain from marriage. The nuns, supposedly, consider themselves already "married to God".

I find that notion ludicrous, and find absolutely NOTHING within this text, or anywhere else in the bible, that supports any part of it.

I know there are those who wonder how so many, supposedly clear thinking, people could fall for something so notably unfounded. The answer is simple, Matthew 7:14, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." ~