macike,
you wrote:
Do not hold back on how you feel.
OK, I'll try not to. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Not to be snarky but THIS took a doctoral dissertation?
No, it did not take a Doctoral Dissertation to show that there are more women than men in churches. What it took was a little bit of research to determine if that phenomenon is limited to those few churches where I have had personal experience, or if it is a general phenomenon that is true in most churches. It is a general phenomenon, as my research shows. And it is even more out-of-balance in the Roman Catholic Church, where the ratio is as high as 20:1 in some parishes! Remember, that is the church that started the whole goddess-worshiping ("Holy Mary mother of God...") monogamy-at-most-but-celibacy-is-more-holy-yet false doctrine within Christianity.
It also took research to properly document that in the Dissertation. You can't just use anecdotal evidence when you are developing a position in a dissertation, it needs to be backed up by solid research. (Thanks to The Barna Group for doing that research and making the results available. I would not have had the resources to do the original research, but that is what they do to earn a living.)
James 1:27 NKJV Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Here's what Thayer's Greek Definitions says about "visit":
G1980
ἐπισκέπτομαι
episkeptomai
Thayer Definition:
1) to look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes
1a) in order to see how he is, i.e. to visit, go to see one
1a1) the poor and afflicted, the sick
1b) to look upon in order to help or to benefit
1b1) to look after, have care for, provide for: of God
1c) to look (about) for, look out (one to choose, employ, etc.)
Take special note of definition 1b and 1b1. Shouldn't we be doing the Father's business instead of our own?
Here's what Strong's says about "widow":
G5503
χήρα
chēra
khay'-rah
Feminine of a presumed derivation apparently from the base of G5490 through the idea of deficiency; a widow (as lacking a husband), literally or figuratively: - widow.
Notice it says "(as lacking a husband), literally or figuratively." No reason given for the lack - it might be due to death, or it might be because she never had one.
And back to Thayer for "orphan":
G3737
ὀρφανός
orphanos
Thayer Definition:
1) bereft (of a father, of parents)
1a) of those bereft of a teacher, guide, guardian
1b) orphaned
Part of Speech: adjective
Again, note that one meaning is "bereft (of father...)" and another is "bereft of a teacher, guide, guardian." You could argue that the mother is "teacher, guide, guardian," but then, what about Ephesians 6:4?
And back to Dr. Strong for "affliction" ("trouble" in some translations):
G2347
θλίψις
thlipsis
thlip'-sis
From G2346; pressure (literally or figuratively): - afflicted, (-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble.
As to definitions, etc., remember that context matters, and the entire Bible is the general context for any given passage. That means no one passage will contradict any other passage if both are properly understood. So what I said about "visit" is valid, because elsewhere in the Bible, in Ephesians 6:4, for example, fathers are specifically given the responsibility to "...bring them [children] up in the training and admonition of the Lord." What worse affliction can a person have than to not be properly brought up in the training and admonition of the Lord, and, as a result of that, spend eternity in hell? Just looking in on a widow and her orphan(s) and saying, "Yup. You have a problem. Here's a few bucks for you to eat on. Good luck on finding a father to teach you the way of the Lord" does not do any good. According to Ephesians 6:4, every child needs a father, not someone who will just visit them when it's convenient.
Another consideration: who is the head of a single mom? Her Pastor? As if he wasn't overworked and underpaid already without trying to be husband and father to a whole church full of widows and orphans. Her father? Then where was he when she became a single mom? The Lord, Christ Jesus? Here's what He says about that:
1 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV (3) But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
He delegated headship over women to us men. So which man is her head, if she has no husband? That could be thought of as another form of "trouble" or "affliction."
IMHO, it's time for the Church to return to what the Bible teaches about family values. Of course, that is what this forum is all about.
If we could only come to agreement on what that means...
Marv
