What Scripture Says About Singleness: Part One

What does Scripture say about singleness?

The truth is, it doesn't say much directly. Scripture is definitely  much quieter on this than it is on the topic of marriage. But, that doesn't mean it's something we can ignore in the church today. There are simply too many single adults, whoa re past college-age, in our church to not take time to talk about this.

In my searching of Scripture on this, I found there really was only one passage where singleness is spoken about specifically and directly. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul talks about singleness, alongside marriage.

As I began to look what biblical scholars and teachers had to say on this passage, I very quickly became frustrated. Very few even acknowledged Paul's words about singleness here. And those who did, almost exclusively talked about it as being a temporary thing as one prepared for marriage.

So, what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 7? What can we learn from what he writes?

Verses 7-9 say:

"I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to unmarried and widows I say: it is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."

While Paul may have been married at one point, he wasn't when he wrote this letter. In these verses, Paul is encouraging people to remain single. Scholars I read debate the reason why Paul encourages this here. Some saying it was because of persecution the Corinthian Christians were facing; others said it was because Paul was convinced that Jesus' second coming would happen very soon; still others said it was because Paul didn't like marriage.

That last reason seems most unlikely to me given all that Paul says about marriage in the rest of this chapter and in other letters he writes. The other two opinions seem more plausible to use, but I'm not sure we can be completely cure of why Paul wrote what he did.

Whatever he reasons for writing these words, one thing is clear: Paul saw singleness as something valuable and honourable. In saying he wished all could be like he was, Paul is giving singleness a place of importance in God's kingdom alongside marriage.

Even in his acknowledgement that marriage is better than burning with passion, Paul is not making singleness out to just a temporary waiting place in life. He is acknowledging that both are important.

I think we often skip these verses because they're not something we're comfortable with. I know that's been what I've done. The truth is they're not 100% clear. Paul doesn't say this is how you should look at singleness here.

There is still more than 1 Corinthians 7 has to say on this topic, but for the sake of keeping these posts a readable length, that will be the subject of the next post.