I been reading a few different things and started looking at the Idea that Paul was married at one point.
Possible Evidence that Paul was married
1 Corinthians 9:5
Don't we have the right to takea believing wife along with us, as do the other Apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
The implication could be made that Paul was speaking about a wife he left behind
Galatians 1:14
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews my own age and extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
One of the traditions, especially if he was a member of the Sanhedrin, is that he would have to be marry.
Acts 26:9,10
I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazarath. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priest I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death,I cast my vote against them.
"I cast my vote against them" suggest he was in fact a member of the Sanhedrin which was a role normally for married men. Which suggest he was married.
Evidence he was not married
1 Corinthians 7:7
Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me - a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.
Paul States he is celibate. Which was a common practice for widowers.
Original defintions of celibate: the state of being unmarried
1 Corinthians 7:8
I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me.
Most see this a statement that he is not married, which could also mean he is a widower.
Now this next part is not scripture but it seems some of the early church fathers believed he was married.
"History of the Church" by Eusebius
Eusebius quotes Clement "And Paul does not hesitate, in one of his epistles, to greet his wife, whom he did not take about with him, that he might not be inconvenienced in his Minisrty.".
If it is true that Paul was married, this could change the way we look at his statements about marriage.
Any takes on the subject.
Possible Evidence that Paul was married
1 Corinthians 9:5
Don't we have the right to takea believing wife along with us, as do the other Apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?
The implication could be made that Paul was speaking about a wife he left behind
Galatians 1:14
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews my own age and extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
One of the traditions, especially if he was a member of the Sanhedrin, is that he would have to be marry.
Acts 26:9,10
I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazarath. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priest I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death,I cast my vote against them.
"I cast my vote against them" suggest he was in fact a member of the Sanhedrin which was a role normally for married men. Which suggest he was married.
Evidence he was not married
1 Corinthians 7:7
Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me - a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.
Paul States he is celibate. Which was a common practice for widowers.
Original defintions of celibate: the state of being unmarried
1 Corinthians 7:8
I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me.
Most see this a statement that he is not married, which could also mean he is a widower.
Now this next part is not scripture but it seems some of the early church fathers believed he was married.
"History of the Church" by Eusebius
Eusebius quotes Clement "And Paul does not hesitate, in one of his epistles, to greet his wife, whom he did not take about with him, that he might not be inconvenienced in his Minisrty.".
If it is true that Paul was married, this could change the way we look at his statements about marriage.
Any takes on the subject.
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