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WEDDING BELLS. A photographer takes advantage of rainfall during an engagement photo shoot at Savin Hill, Boston. Bachelor Paul, in the Bible, says Christians bring holiness to the marriage—and that unbelieving partners share in it. Scholars are still trying to figure out what he meant by that. Photo by Jason Corey.
PAUL MAKES NO SENSE to me sometimes.
He really did seem to need some follow up questions from news journalists. Those could have helped us a lot.
Let me ask for your ideas about something. I know that folks don’t usually respond to blog articles. So many blog articles. So little time. But perhaps a few of you will give me a hand with something here.
At the moment, I’m paraphrasing 1, 2 Corinthians for the Casual English Bible. I’m in part of the letter where bachelor Paul is giving advice about sex and marriage.
I’m wondering how on earth I’m supposed to put 1 Corinthians 7:14 into the kind of casual English that we use when we talk to each other.
Here’s how the first part of this verse reads in an extremely literal translation from the Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament, which you can read on the free Bible Gateway website. This Bible resource shows the words side-by-side in English with the original Greek language that Paul used when he wrote the letter.
“For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through union with his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through union with her husband.”
“For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband.”
“For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage.”
Is holiness a thing?
It sounds as though Paul is saying that a Christian woman, for example, can take some of her holiness, put it on a platter, and serve it to her partner—making the partner as holy as she is.
That’s pretty much the question Bible scholars ask: Is Paul treating holiness like it’s a thing that one person can give to another?
As I think about this, I’m wondering if Paul means that we can pass holiness on to someone else the way we give them the flu. Someone else can catch what we’ve got. And it doesn’t always have to be something as nasty as nausea and diarrhea. It can actually be something good, for a change. Like catching a ride, a fly ball, or a rainbow trout in the Missouri Ozarks.
See what you think of my first pass at paraphrasing the verse, along with the footnote I’ve written to accompany it.
I welcome insights, brainstorms, or passing thoughts. Just please don’t cuss me out. I get enough of that in the comments on my YouTube channel.
“A believing wife brings her devotion to God into the marriage. This holiness will save her husband.[1] The same is true for a believing husband with a wife who’s not a believer.”
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[1] 7:14. Bible scholars struggle to understand what Paul meant when he said, more literally, “the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife.” It sounds as though Paul is treating holiness as an object you can pass around from person to person instead of as a matter of personal devotion to God. Something or someone is considered holy when it is devoted to God (Leviticus 8:11). One suggestion scholars make is that because the unbelieving husband is devoted enough to his Christian wife to stay with her, he comes into contact with the devotion she has to God, and he will be changed by that holiness. She gives him her holiness by exposing him to it and letting him catch it.
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Paul: Christians make their unbelieving partners holy by Stephen M. Miller for Thursday, 1 June 2017 - Stephen M. Miller - Bible blog of award-winning bestselling
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