The Same, Yesterday, Today and Forever: #1
"God sets the lonely in families..."
(Psalm 68:6)
(Psalm 68:6)
posted by Captain Sensible at 12:21 PM
Saturday, May 26, 2007
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6 Comments:
In reading that, my first reaction was anger. (I know! It's the word of God! Why should it anger me?)
The reason for that, was that someone used that very verse (I think it might have been Carolyn McCulley?) to point out that God takes care of us, and if we're not married, He places us with family-like friends.
But, no. No, no, no, no.
The fact that THAT verse is on THIS blog means that you, Captain Sensible, see it to mean that the Lord will set us in our OWN families (and not the existing ones, either). I much prefer your (unstated) interpretation.
Thank you!!!
The quote I posted was from the NIV and the King James translation writes it: "God setteth the solitary in families"
It's no surprise to me that Carolyn McCulley might have suggested "family-like friends" as an interpretation! We must remember that the contemporary church is only pro-family for those that already have their own families! As far as singles are concerned, the church today denigrates marriage and family at every opportunity!
Captain, it seems that my version (ESV) of the Psalm 68:6 is one of the only ones that replaces the word "families" with "home" but I have a feeling that whoever assembled the English Standard Version probably meant "home" to be a place where FAMILY was. (well I certainly hope so). I sort of wish now that I had a different version of the Bible but maybe I'm worrying too much over the difference in translation.
It does seem to state quite at face value that families are God's creation (as is marriage); and not a man-made social construct, as people who denigrate marriage and family might want to claim.
Of course, I could easily show this to my "friend" (the married friend who says I should be content while single because she says it is a sin to be discontent) and she could come back with something like "Well God does not PROMISE you with a family, etc."
Hi Shazia - Actually, it's very important which Bible translation you use, and the importance of this didn't quite register with me until I started looking at the issues surrounding singleness. For example, The Living Translation has erroneously interpreted 1 Corinthians 7:7 as a "gift of singleness" and I think we all know what a bad mistake that was!
Personally, I would encourage you, if you are able, to get hold of the NIV, but you may also find it helpful to visit the site: www.biblegateway.com
There you can look up passages in a number of different versions. (Just remember to always refresh the page when you select a different version! I didn't do that at first, and found it odd how each version apparently had exactly the same translation, from the very traditional King James to the modern paraphrase The Message! Ahem, not-so-Sensible, Captain!)
For now I will use the Bible Gateway website when it comes to comparing passages of my interest, but when I went to Bible Gateway and looked up 1 Corinthians 7:7, I was indeed appalled to see that The Living Translation included "the gift of marriage" and "the gift of singleness."
I did Update the page each time I chose a different version. I saw that in terms of THIS passage (1 Corinthians 7:7), that the ESV version was similar to that of many other versions. It seems as though Paul is saying that each person has his own gift from God, but it looks as if he did not say that the gift was either marriage or singleness. It looks as if each man (because each man has his own unique set of characteristics within him) has his own gift from God, that is exclusive to him (the man) alone, but it doesn't preclude the fact that another man/woman won't have his/her own unique gift from God either.
As far as I am concerned, the gift provided to one man, another man, etc. is not a "choice" between marriage and singleness.
Gee, they should ban the Living Translation or something (I know it won't happen, but that is what I WISH would); it seems destructive to me. Obviously more people than we care to admit, are basing their claims on the "gift of singleness" on that version of the Bible, because those very words are in that translation.
A part of me wishes there were not so many translations of the Bible though. I know it is to make reading easier for some people I fear that if you have a translation such as The Living Version, you can erode the original meaning of crucial passages (such as the Corinthians one - and even Psalm 68:6 for example) if the translation is too different. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know.
Ah, well that's why everyone should also read Debbie Maken's book, so that they are not mislead by silly Christian writers and erroneous Bible translations that add to the Bible all sorts of things that aren't actually there; like the "gift of singleness"!
We are warned in the Bible that it is a dangerous practice to add or take away from the words of Scripture, and sadly, this is exactly what the contemporary church has done, and we are reaping the bad fruits of it now.
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