Big Long Dating Questionaire :)

Prinny,

You may be new here and new to the faith, but you sure know how to put together a great poll!

Although I am not a 'youth' anymore, my daughter is (she is 15). And this poll hits right where she is.

Thank you for the thought provocation.

In Christ,
Trotter

 

Prinny
in your poll the way that some of the questions were formed it was required that one lean towards dating. Here are some sites that deal with this issue since I am against dating as done in this country today.

The Dangers of Dating

Christian Courtship

Courtship vs. Betrothal

These all deal with dating, courtship, and betrothal. Dating being the loser. I st4rongly suggest that the time be taken to look these over and have a better understanding of hwat a Christian should pick.

 

I will say that I did not "date" until I was in college. I had a few "unofficial" times with a guy or two or three--not dates, though.

Group stuff is better.

Remember, the world does not revolve around dating, marriage or whatever. It is about serving God, and if you can do it better married, then find a spouse. If not, STAY SINGLE and don't worry about the opposite sex.

 

Saggywoman,

I know we can do all things through Jesus Christ. But staying single for the majority of humanity will not be easy. Both men and women need one another. Adam wasnt complete till God gave him Eve. And if it is God's will, I will not get married, but I hope and pray it is God's will that I be married. The world does not revolve around marriage, but humanity continues because of it.

 

question never 5 had no good answer. the closest answer said that "it is almost never and...."

It should say: Never.

It is never right to date a non-christian ever.
It says in God's Word:

2Cr 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

And when you are dating you should think about "would I want to marry this person?" This the case with every person you become involved with. So that is what i have to say. Have a lovely day!

 

You are correct. Every date, whether one realizes it or not, is a potential marriage partner. Therefore, if one has no intentions of marrying an unbeliever, it does not make sense that he/she should date an unbeliever.

God bless!

 

CDG,

Studies have shown that people who have normal, healthy sexual relationships (the kind you have when married to someone with God's blessing) are physically and emotionally healthier than those who don't.
The whole "single is better" philosophy has lost much credibility (if it ever had any to begin with) and is looked on disfavorably by the majority of Christians. We all go through different developmental stages in our lives and there will come a stage for most people that marriage/sex will be a vehicle for enhancement for not only your life as a Christian, but your whole well being in general. Pray that God will show you when that time is and lead you down the path and unite you with a person that will help facilitate this growth in your lives.

 

Amen Kayla!

 

Xingyi,

I appreciate your incite and advice. I have something better than studies though; I have Scriptures. But I am glad the studies you have seen agree with Scriptures. And it is my sincere hope that God in His will and time will bring me and the girl He has made for me together.

 

He will, when the time is right and with the right person. Scriptures are the final word on everything as they are God's word but are too often limited by our own lack of discernment. Never discount science. Science is a set of tools. Advocates of evolutionary theory that propose we (humans) developed from lower primates can be assumed guilty of the same missconceptions as early Christians who steadfastly believed that the earth was the center of the universe (and burned and tortured those who said otherwise). They simply did not have enough information and based their assumptions upon the theory that seemed most plausible given the knowledge base that they had to work with. Sir Isaac Newton eventually came along with irrefutable "studies" that showed the Church the err of it's ways. Although many site this as the beginning of the Church/science rift, if it had not occurred we might still be torturing and burning people today. I have said so and will say so again - Christians ignore science and its findings at their own peril. Science is not the adversary of the Church. Science seeks the truth and as such, is on a headlong collision course with God. Philosophy, the father of science, can neither prove or disprove the existence of God, but science currently denounces the existence of a God because they cannot quantify his existence. Until recently they could not quantify traveling faster than the speed of light therefore it was assumed not possible until recent advances in physics proved otherwise.
I have found that scientific studies to be of immesurable help when confronting Christians who have long held beliefs that are not well rooted in truth. What we've been discussing about the married/single situation is a classic example. It is not disputable that Paul said "It is better to be single". A literalist interpretation therefore would be to rank marriage on a lower plane of desirability. But the Bible, although God's word sometimes does not immediately illustrate the passages in the context of the situations in which they existed. If if did then we wouldn't have the plethora of different denominations we have today. There would be one Church and one dogma for all Christians. Thefeore by using the Bible as the ultimate truth and looking at self evident conclusions from good research, I beleive we can come to a greater understanding of the situations that normally result in arguements that divide the church. It doesn't help that Christianity is divided by denominations and theology is regularly reinvented everytime a new offshoot forms. I steadfastly believe that we need less Christian scientists and many more scientific Christians. For example instead of the decades long arguement over what Paul meant when he made the afforementioned statement, why not conduct an experiment to determine just how happy and effective as Christians are Christian singles as opposed to couples? We can postulate based upon theoritical assumptions but we wont really know until the results are in and interpreted. THe studies I alluded to already she dlight on the expected outcome but why not take it a step further? Thankfully, this type of research IS happening today in Churches. But science has shed much light into many areas of understanding such as, but not limited to, male/female relationships and the biological and cultural differences which accounts for the way each behaves respectively.

 

So you're saying that Catholics are not Christians? Obviously anyone who would perpetrate such acts are not living according to the example of what Christ taught and could by most standards be ruled non Christian. But you lumped all Catholics into the mix. You're posting on this forum so I assume you are a Baptist. And as Baptists we are descended from the Catholic Church as all other Christian denominations in one way or another (remember Martin Luther? - he sort of started a trend) So Baptists, Methodists, Penticostal, Church of God, Church of Christ, etc... are Christian but the Catholic Church and related Ortodoxy, which all of the above can eventually trace their lineages to, arent? Please explain.

Did I recommend otherwise? In fact when there was one Chruch and dogma (Catholic)is when all the shameful incidents in the history of the Church occured. I was simply using that as an example to illustrate the innumerable doctrinal interpretations of the Bible that exist to make my original point that not everything in it appears black and white. If you don't agree then read Revelation and if you still feel that way then lets get together so we can collaborate on a book that will finally end 2000+ years of speculation and theological debate.
We need a diversity of opinion and ritual as there are many different sorts of individuals with different backgrounds and needs. The only time its bad is when a particular group starts arguements over stupid stuff like "Will women who wear jeans go to Heaven?" And sadly, if you peruse through the Baptist Board long enough you'll find some of those people.

 

read the thread "baptist didn't come..."
Baptist did not come out of the catholic church, but during the reformation some of the catholics did become involved in the baptist. So there were catholics who became members.

 

Kayla, we may have not come out directly from the Catholic church, but the whole prodestant movement was a breakoff of the Catholic church. Before Martin Luther there was only 1 church - the Catholic. The only way that the Baptists could have become a seperatist movement is if an angel or Jesus himself appeared to a heathen barbarian who never had contact with the theocracy and gave him insight and instructions to form a seperatist movement. In middle ages the only religeous texts were written in Latin and the only ones who had access to primary religious texts were Catholic clergy who were educated enough to decipher them and then translate what they interpreted to the masses of uneducated parishoners. Catholic clergy were held in incredible esteem by everyone due to the fact that they were officially designated the primary conduit to God. That lasted until the Black Plague wreaked havac on the clergy and commoners alike and created social dissolution of the likes never seen before in Europe. Any Christian knowledge that exists today in written form was originally the domain of the Catholic Church unbless you know of any other crypitc texts apart from the Church that I don't. And anyone who had any biblical knowledge got it in some way through, perhaps not directly, but through material that was gleaned from texts that were originally in the hold of the Catholic church. So divorcing any facet of Christianity from the Catholic church really cannot be accomplished in lieu of the fact that for centuries the Catholic church was the only purveyor of Christian inspired literature, regardless of what your opinion of their theology happens to be.

 

yes.

Catholics are not Christians because their doctrines are soul-damning. They are not saved. I was a catholic before I got saved and knew that I had to get out of the catholic church which is just a cult.

There have always been true bible-believing christians thru the ages that preached the gospel. They didn't worship Mary, didn't have a plethora of demi-god "saints", didn't pretend to eat their god (i.e. the mass) and perform many of the other Papist abominations.

These people also set up churches that were indepensent from the Catholic church.
They are known by many names here's some of them:
donatists
Paulicians
Waldenses
Albigenses
Anabaptists
etc.

"The Baptists were the only Christians who had not symbolized with Rome" -Sir Isaac Newton

"Baptist churches have existed in practice, though not by name, in every century" - Frank S. Mead


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Xingyi,

I am not here to condemn anyone, but I believe the Catholic church and the Church of Christ are both cults. I dont know everything, there probably are some saved people in those cults, but I would say if anyone is trusting in what the Catholics and Campbellites are trusting in, then according to the Bible they cant be saved.
But, I also believe there are many in those other churches lost. I am a Baptist and believe there are many Baptists that have a from of godliness but no power there of.

Also, science is important. Science has greatly aided the human race. But when studying the Scriptures, a science book along side the Scriptures is not essiential to understanding the Scriptures.

Nicholas,

I agree with you mostly if not completely.

 

If you cannot stay single because your hormones rage, by golly, get married, but wait til you are married. But as stated in the Bible, you can serve God better as a single person, and if you can do it better married, get married.

 

I am all for normal sexual healthy relationships. But I would take singlehood over an unhappy relationship any day.