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Date:         Mon, 6 Apr 1992 11:24:00 EDT
From:         Jeff Shirton <SHIRTON@MCMASTER.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Marrying a non-Christian
X-cc:         EPRM107@Hueco.Uni-Wien.AC.AT

Attila,

Good to hear from you again!

> In my  translation  (Good News for Modern Man,  NT in  Today's English
> (c) '66, '76 American Bible Society) 2 Cor 6:14-15 is translated a bit
> other way:  'Do not try to work together as equals  with  unbelievers,
> for it cannot be done.  How can right and  wrong be partners?  How can
> light and darkness live together? (15)  How can Christ  and Devil live
> together? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?'

Different translations are made differently with different purposes in
mind.  Of the translations I own, the TEV ("Good News Bible") is often
the most encouraging and easiest to read, the RSV (and usually the KJV)
are the most literal, and so are the best to use for matters of doctrine,
and the New International Version (NIV) I find to be the best compromise
of readibility and accuracy (IMO).

It's also useful, if references are handy, to use lexicons to determine
the definitions of the original Hebrew and (in this case) Greek terms
used.

> However, whenever I'm in doubt about a passage, or am studying it seriously,
> I try to look over the different translations, to get an overall view.

RSV:  "Do not be mismated with unbelievers..."
NIV:  "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers..."
KJV:  "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers..."

> Interpreting these verses, I felt that it's not verse 14 that tells us
> not to marry non-Christians, however in my old  Hungarian  translation
> verse 14 sounds similar to yours, so does in the latest.

It seems that the TEV stresses the workplace, the RSV stresses marriage,
and the NIV and KJV are more general, arguably referring to both.  There is
also a case for arguing that marriage can be described as "working together
as equals", as the TEV describes.

I tend to believe that 2 Cor. 6:14 is referring to any long-term continuous
exposure with non-believers, in terms of being a detriment to spiritual
growth.

> But there's a verse I have never heard about when discussing  marrying
> a non-Christian. This is 1 Cor 7:14, in my Bible: 'For the unbelieving
> husband is made acceptable to God being united to his wife, and the un-
> believing wife is made acceptable to God by being united to her husband.
> If this were not so, their children would be like pagan children, but as
> it is, they are acceptable to God.' In Hungarian, in the place of 'made
> acceptable to God' stands 'saint'. That's not saying NO to such marriages!

I don't find this passage at all contradictory to my interpretation of the
previous passage.  IMO, the situation seems to be a married couple of
non-believers, of which one subsequently accepts Christ, while the other
doesn't.  In this case, although it is not the preferred situation, divorce
isn't a valid option for the Christian, so the spouse becomes sanctified
because of the Christian spouse.

As Paul said, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial.
1 Cor. 14 shows us that mix (Christian/non-Christian) marriages are
permissible, but 2 Cor. 14 tells us it's not necessarily beneficial.

I know there are testimonies of Christians marrying non-Christians that
turned out to glorify God (usually through salvation of the unsaved spouse),
but I believe that in general it is best to heed Paul's instructions.

In Christ,
.-------------------------. .--------v---------------------------------------.
| Jeff Shirton            | | Job    | "Cast all your anxiety on Him because |
| Shirton@McMaster.Bitnet | |   1:21 |  He cares for you." -- 1 Peter 5:7    |
`-------------------------' `--------^---------------------------------------'
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