Posted on 01/10/2014 8:06:50 PM PST by marshmallow
Also,
under Judaism, boys could marry or make religious vows at 14-years-old and girls at 12-years-old, both only with parental permission, which parental permission was required until both boys or girls were 21-years-old ("Adult Age," McClintock and Strong Encyclopaedia).
Still further, excerpts from my book, Biblical Companions, briefly addresses ancient, biblical marriage customs.
Ancient marriages were usually arranged between the oldest male family members within the same group or family clan (Genesis 27:46-28:2). This guaranteed the future existence of the overall group and preservation of culture and values. Girls were given in marriage when they were old enough to bear children, whereas men married when they either received their inheritance or obtained their own resources. It was also common for the groom to give a dowry, or purchase his wife from his future father-in-law. In the case of Jacob, since he evidently had no such dowry, he indentured himself to his father-in-law in exchange for his wives (Genesis 29:15-21). (Rushmore)
During the first century, however, it appears to have been the general rule that young people who were "of age" could arrange their own marriages. A girl was considered of age at twelve years and one day. The Jewish rabbis set the minimum age for marriage at twelve years for the girl, and thirteen years for the boy. A boy should certainly be wed by the time he was eighteen to twenty. Betrothal was a vital part of marriage in biblical times. Once a young man had chosen his prospective bride, and she had consented (if of age), a formal declaration of marital intent was made in the presence of two witnesses. The couple was then betrothed. The betrothal period was fixed by law. For a maiden, it was from ten months to a year; for a widow, three months. From the time of her betrothal until the marriage actually took place, a woman was treated as if she were actually married. The betrothal could not be dissolved except by divorce; breach of faithfulness was regarded as adultery. (Jackson) Sources : Jackson, Wayne. Background Bible Study. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, 1986. McGarvey, J.W. Lands of the Bible. Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1966. Rushmore, Louis. Biblical Companions: Geography, Archaeology & Sacred History. Cameron: Louis Rushmore, 2000. http://www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2005/may/page20.htm
The Case for Early Marriage Amid our purity pledges and attempts to make chastity hip, we forgot to teach young Christians how to tie the knot. - Christianity Today
Humans can learn self-control if they think it's important.
We should ALL be fully aware of the effects as well as the workings of the pill and, were I still able to conceive a baby (had a hysterectomy at 35), I would NOT even consider taking it nor ANY other hormones that can and do prevent a fertilized egg from implanting (essentially an abortion). There are other methods available to couples wanting to space childbearing. They include:
Condoms (male or female) should always be used if you are at risk of getting or spreading a sexually transmitted disease, such as genital herpes, chlamydia, or HIV.
Fertility awareness (periodic abstinence or natural family planning)
Fertility awareness requires that a couple chart the time during a woman's menstrual cycle when she is most likely to become pregnant and avoid intercourse or use a barrier method during that time. Fertility awareness is not a good choice if you need a highly effective form of birth control.
Breast-feeding may work as a form of birth control in the first 6 months after giving birth if you follow specific guidelines. For this method to work, you must breast-feed your baby every time. You can't use formula or other supplements. This is called the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM). Although LAM has been shown to be 98.5% effective when these conditions are met, many doctors recommend that you use another birth control method.2
Permanent birth control (sterilization)
Sterilization is a surgical procedure done for men or women who decide that they do not want to have any (or more) children. Sterilization is one of the most effective forms of birth control. Sterilization is intended to be permanent, and although you can try to reverse it with another surgery, reversal is not always successful.
Tubal ligation or implants. Tubal ligation is a surgical procedure where the fallopian tubes, which carry the eggs from the ovaries to the uterus, are tied, cut, or blocked. A new nonsurgical sterilization technique uses a small metal coil, or tubal implant , inserted up into each fallopian tube. Over time, scar tissue grows around each tubal implant, permanently blocking the tubes. Most women are able to return home within a couple of hours after either procedure. You must use another form of birth control for 3 months after receiving tubal implants. At 3 months, you will need to have an X-ray taken to make sure that your tubes are closed.
Vasectomy. In this minor surgery, the vas deferens, the tubes that carry sperm from the testicles to the seminal fluid (semen), are cut and blocked so that the semen no longer contains sperm . This does not interfere with a man's ability to have an erection or enjoy sex. Men must have a sperm count check after having a vasectomy before relying on this for birth control.
Female sterilization is more complicated, has higher risks of problems after surgery, and is more expensive than male sterilization. (http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-birth-control-methods?page=2)
As young Christian couples determine how they will respond to God's will in their lives in this area, being pro-life should be the goal. Above all, trusting God to provide the means to support your children and seeing children as a blessing, rather than a burden, is the best way we Christians can do what is right before God and others. Our world needs positive role models in families and to see that God's design for society is truly best communicated in a family where both the father and the mother put the raising of their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord as their top priority. God bless you and your family!
Yes we can.
The Case for Early Marriage Amid our purity pledges and attempts to make chastity hip, we forgot to teach young Christians how to tie the knot. - Christianity Today
Great article, worth reading the whole thing.
A few things I took away from it:
“Most young Americans no longer think of marriage as a formative institution, but rather as the institution they enter once they think they are fully formed.”
The evangelical culture of the time I went to college certainly promoted this idea: you had to be “a whole person” before you married. However, becoming a whole person is a lifelong process. The emphasis on self-actualization stymied a number of people from getting married.
“Unfortunately, education about marriage is now sadly perceived as self-obvious, juvenile, or feminine, the domain of disparaged home economics courses.”
Yes. Yes. Yes. We really do need to educate TEENS about the importance of marriage and setting up a household. It’s not all about me, me, me.
As an aside: I found it interesting how the author downplayed the importance of premarital chastity (even as he was apparently advocating for marriage) and cheered on the idea of the man being so much older than the woman at marriage.
I’d said earlier that you can’t talk about contraception without also talking about fornication. The men and women in that CT article must have been involved in both. Also what of venereal diseases, out-of-wedlock births, and abortion? The author does not mention these at all. I find it puzzling and a little sad.
No, that is not correct. The primary function of hormonal birth control pills is the prevention of ovulation. That's why they contain synthetic hormones that trick the woman's body into thinking she is pregnant. When women are pregnant, ovulation ceases. It is only as a backup function that, should an egg be released and fertilized, it makes the uterine lining inhospitable to implantation. There are numerous online sites that discuss the pill and how it works such as http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control/birth-control-pill-4228.htm; http://womenshealth.about.com/od/thepill/f/howpillworks.htm; http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-pills. You will have to look long and hard to find out the truth about that secondary effect. All of them use benign sounding words that most people would not find alarming - and that is their intent. I think it is inexcusable for gynecologists to fail to fully explain that part to women and many of these doctors did not know these facts when BC pills first came on the market.
Granted, many women didn't want to know the truth. When I volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center, we had an ultrasound tech and offered women who came in for counseling a free ultrasound, some didn't want to see what they already knew was growing inside of them. It is avoidance behavior at its worst. There is no excuse these days for doctors and women to not know the WHOLE truth about birth control as the information is much more readily available than it was even ten years ago. But, it was not fully known or advertised in the 60s or 70s and, even today, is couched in euphemistic terms such as, " Hormonal contraceptives can also prevent pregnancy by making the lining of the womb inhospitable for implantation." (http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-pills.
The coinciding of the invention of the pill with the "sexual revolution" created a perfect storm of moral depravity that continues to devastate our society and is why we still have over 4000 abortions occurring in the U.S. every day. I think it demonstrates how sin perverts everything and we must do all we can to promote a pro-life attitude in all we do - in the people we vote into office, in our personal lives and in the lives of others we may influence.
Honestly you’re clearly delusional or you just haven’t been on free republic for very wrong. Every thread about the Pope or anything Catholic related is filled with “christians” nitpicking every single thing that the Church has ever done. Its not normal human behavior, it borders on an obsession.
What does that have to with the mid 1800s, or does it even matter to you?
You seem obsessed with links, and cut and paste.
It looks like virginity did ok without using ancient Jewish marriage law.
And WHY it was posted?
The first provided more data related to what you said, and even substantiates your statement. Thought you would be interested. And when we make such statements we should try to substantiate them, else it is just our word.
Yet in addition, i did not specify the 1800's, but simply referred back to when people married shortly after reaching puberty. And i was mainly thinking of Bible times and women, for as Rushmore says, "Girls were given in marriage when they were old enough to bear children.."
As for virginity going ok without using ancient Jewish marriage, i hope so, but i am sure it did better even Jewish culture when the law was upheld.
But i am sure the 1800's did better than now, as along with the general moral decline, the percentage of those who do marry radically changed, and besides pop. growth being the lowest rate on record since the since the government started tracking the fertility rate in 1909, 40.7 percent of the babies born in the United States were born to unmarried.
The average age of marriage today has been pretty common in America and Britain.
While many sources give older ages than what the census bureau is describing there for America in 1890 and 1900, here are the British numbers.
This is British govt numbers.
It would thus make sense to have a lot of kids, and start early doing so. Much in contrast with today, in which most go off to college, having done little labor (unless on the GI bill), to fornicate and spend more on beer than books, and learn liberal ethos, along with being educated in something that is hopefully practical, rather than some exotic study many major in.
And few of the women know how even cook, or raise kids, but they do love pets, which now now outnumber children 4 to 1 in America
Education is necessary, but as Theodore Roosevelt stated ,
To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility.
Thanks.
That is clearly hyperbole, but do you realize how many specific articles are posted about the pope and or the RCC? Its about 40 from Jan. 7-11. Compare that with those about Prot churches or faith. That is what borders in obsession, and as it is an elitist church, it invites challenges, while even the slightest things the impugns it often finds reactionary RCs.
Meanwhile, bad news: Israel Will Offer Young Women “Free Abortions”
Not obsessed, not in the least. But the issue of contraception involves the killing of a person in some instances, as it can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall, resulting in death. Not a minor theological quibble. And all Protestants stood monolithically against contraception until that 1929 conference in London. Isn’t this an issue worth thinking about, and discussing? Even with Catholics? And NFP by the way follows the body’s own fertility cycle, and of course does not result in the destruction of a fertilized egg. A couple must prayerfully consider reasons to space births. Much self-control and mutual compassion allow NFP as a recourse to pregnancy. Artificial contraception, by contrast, as the Catholic Church in its wisdom has taught, leads to a renouncing of self-control and to a promotion of selfishness, and indeed warned that it would be the gateway to abortion. All too true.
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