Godly Courtship: 10 Principles for Dating
RAW Relationships
Godly Courtship: 10 Principles for Dating
Singleness. This term includes four groups of people, each with some similar issues but also unique problems and areas of concern: the never-married, the separated, the divorced, and the widowed. Their numbers are increasing rapidly, from 4 million in 1950 to an estimated 20 million in 1982. Social factors influence this greatly. It is now more acceptable for women to pursue their own interests, including attending college (in 1960 there were 1.2 million women in college as compared with 3.5 million in 1972), which tends to delay marriage.
There are advantages to being single. Frequently there is an increased mobility, freedom, and psychological and social autonomy. Singles often build sustaining friendships and support structures. They generally have more time to devote to career opportunities and other interests. Adams (1976) cites three factors that determine healthy singleness: economic independence, social and psychological autonomy, and the preference to remain single.
economic independence, social and psychological autonomy, and the preference to remain single.
There are also disadvantages to being single, not all of which are experienced by every single. Some have an unfulfilled desire for children and a family of their own. Others report isolation, loneliness, insecurity, or lack of social status. Peer and social pressures to marry abound. Some social policies favor the married
Men who are single tend to be less intimate in their friendships with other men than single women are in their friendships with other women. However, single women tend to be more isolated than single men. Isolation and lack of intimacy are often a result of a lack of support and care structures, combined with the stereotypes of society and role expectations
especially Jesus, condemned.
fornication. Sexual intercourse involving persons who are not married to each other. *Christian ethics condemns both promiscuity and casual sexual relations, that is, relations that lack any formal commitment. Such acts are considered demeaning and depersonalizing. They also violate God’s intention for human sexual expression.