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Dr Cathy Northrup
The Reverend Doctor Cathy Northrup was born in Ft. Meade, MD, and was raised in a variety of places in the United State and Germany, as her father was in Counter Intelligence with the Army. She graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, with a double major in English and Religion. She graduated from Georgetown Law Center in Washington, DC, and practiced law with the Federal Reserve Board for a number of years before attending Union Theological Seminaryin Richmond, VA. She graduated from Union, and served several churches in North and South Carolina, at the same time obtaining her Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. Dr. Northrup is currently the Pastor/Head of Staff of First Presbyterian Church, Wichita, KS. She is married and has two black Labrador dogs who were rescued from abusive situations. You can contact Dr. Northrup at cnorthrup@firstpresbywichita.org or by phone at (316) 263-0248, ext. 26.
Religion
2008-08-01 09:35:00
Marriage of Christians and unbelievers
Question: 2nd Corinthians 6:14 says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Does this mean a marriage between a “believer” and a “non-believer” is invalid?
Answer: In this section of his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul is telling the Corinthians how to deal with false teachers. It has been argued that his statement about a believer not being “yoked together” with an unbeliever does not, then, refer to marriage. It refers instead to working together with those who preach a false gospel. I would agree with this, for several reasons in addition to the context of the statement. First, this interpretation makes Paul’s advice consistent, for in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul does speak about marriage between believers and non-believers, and there, he urges such couples not to divorce. He writes, in 1 Corinthians 7:14, “for the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.” If the unbelieving spouse leaves, however, Paul tells the believing spouse to let him/her do so. Also, the interpretation is supported by the point that those who are married are not “yoked together,” but in fact, those who are married become “one flesh.” Therefore, the passage in 2nd Corinthians 6:14 does not make a marriage between a believer and non-believer invalid.
 
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