What does Paul say about being yoked together with unbelievers? II Cor. vi: 14. [88] Does the yoke refer especially to marriage? Is there any yoke more intimate than that of the marriage bond? Is marriage, then, included in the precept? What limitation does Paul place on the marriage of Christian widows? I Cor. vii: 39. If it is the duty of Christian widows to marry "only in the Lord," what of Christian maidens?

      Were there any Christians in the days of the apostles married to unbelievers? I Cor. vii: 12, 13; I Peter iii: 1. Did a Christian, then, lose character in the church by being married to an unbeliever? If not, how do you reconcile this with what Paul says in II Cor. vi: 14, just quoted? Ans.--No doubt most of the marriages with unbelievers took place before either party was a Christian: and when otherwise, although such marriage was discouraged, after it took place a divorce was not allowed, and the party remained in the church.

      In such marriages what duty is enjoined on the believing wife? I Peter 3:1, 2. In such cases, who is the person most especially responsible for the conversion of the unbelieving husband? Can a Christian woman thus situated best influence her husband by joining with him to some extent in worldly practices, or by maintaining a strict religious deportment?

      In such marriages, can the believing party properly seek a divorce from the unbelieving? I Cor. vii: 12, 13. If the unbelieving party sees fit to abandon the believer, is the believer then free? 15.

      What is the duty of the husband to his wife? Eph. v: 25; I Peter iii: 7. What prayers does Peter here refer to, and how might they be hindered? What is the duty [89] of the wife her husband? Eph. v: 22, 23.

      What is Christ's law in regard to divorce? Matt. v: 32; Mark x: 12. If a woman should leave her husband and not marry another, would this be adultery? Do you think a woman is sometimes justifiable in such a course? Wherein, then, lies the chief sin; in the separation, or in the subsequent marriage? Should any one be retained in the church who marries contrary to this law, and refuses to dissolve the unlawful connection? Does the fact that the civil law allows such marriages effect the matter so far as the church is concerned?

      What does Paul say about husband and wife living apart for a time by consent? I Cor. vii: 5. What does he mean by "defraud" in this verse? Ans.--Depriving each of the society of the other and of the usual enjoyments of married life. Can such temporary separation be justified on account of incompatibility, or is it confined to purposes of religious improvement?

[FBL 88-90]