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34
soon as young women are past 20 to 25,
female vanity usually causes them to
want to be considered
)'Oimger
than
they are!
The Right Age for Marriage
The fact that man attains a more
complete maturity of personality, lead–
ership and in6uence by age 30 seems
fully recognized by the Eterna! God. In
ancient Israel the Levites were ordained
to full priesthood at age 30 - although
they were put into physical
service
at
age 20.
Jesus Christ, the Example of the
Christian world, did not begin His
active ministry until age 30. All years
prior to that were years of learning and
preparation.
Yet in ancient Israel men
bega11
actual service, adult work, and even
military service, at age 20. This, how–
ever, does oot mean that they were fully
and completely educated at that age.
Actually, their tirst years of service were
those of apprenticeship -
training,
preparation. They probably were not
accounted fully prepared for adult
responsibilites until 25, though the
exact facts are not given.
Apparently the Bible has not given
specitic and direct instruction or com–
mand as to the proper age for marriage.
God did not even count people in the
census, as adults, until age 20. While
there appears to be no punishable prohi·
bition against marriage prior to age 20,
there is every indication that on God's
instruction juveniles were considered
children until 20. At 20 they were con–
sidered "of age."
This by no means
implies the)' were expected to marry by
age
20! Rather that they were expected
not to marry
untii
at least 20 - OR
MORE!
Based on actual experience, my judg·
ment - and 1 think it is sound judg·
ment - is that until out of the "teens"
a boy or girl is too young to marry!
And it is also my judgment - based on
lifelong experience counseling on mar·
riage problems of hundreds of people
- that even 20 is too young to be
the
bes/ age for marriage.
Two factors are the major causes of
broken marriages, or of unhappy prob–
lem marriages, in the hundreds of
cases that have come to me for advice
The
PLAIN TRUTH
and counsel: sex ignorance and mar–
riage prior to age 20. Quite often these
two are merged in the same case. A
majority of all unhappy or broken mar–
riages that have been brought to my
attention were those of people
tvho
mm·ried too yo1mg!
Only too well I know that teen-agers
who
think
they are in !ove will not lis–
ten or heed.
That very FACT prove.r
they are too young for the responsi–
bilities of marriage. Marriage is so
much
more
than romance, necking,
lovemaking and immatu re emotional
bliss. Thousands of young people have
gone ahead heedless, and been sadly
disillusioned to learn that lesson TOO
LATE!
But in my judgment, except in rare
cases or circumstances, even twenty is
too early an age for marriage. I can only
give my judgment. But it is based on
experience. It is based on facts and
knowlege.
It
is based on what Biblical
revelation God has given us. It is based
on hundreds of case histories.
But here it is, and young people will
do well to heed it - and later be glad
they did! T he
best
age for a man to
marry is around 24 to 26, after he has
devoted those
top aptitude -years
between 16 and 25 for mature educa–
tion, experience, and preparation -
after
he has acquired the knowledge,
preparation and preliminary experience
to assume adult responsibilities -
after
he is able
to
rtwone the
responsibility
of mpporting a wife- and family!
And the
best
age for a girl to marry is
between 23 and 25, when she has utilized
those top aptitude years for prepara–
tion, and is prepared to assume the
d11ties
of wifehood and motherhood -
the responsibilities of planning, decorat–
ing, arranging a home, keeping it, and
being a help and inspiration to her
husband.
Mrs. Armstrong and I were married
when we were both 25. We were mature
enough to assume the responsibilities.
Our marriage was
httppy,
and blest
beyond words to describe. And, during
all those years during which God blest
us with four fine children, equally fine
sons- and daughters-in-law, and eleven
fine grandchildren, our marriage contin–
ued to be happy beyond words to
describe. In fact it was happier after age
July 1971
70 than ever before, because it had
grown constantly more and more happy.
\'X'HAT A
BLESSING!
Wouldn't you like yours to be
egually so? Then heed! Use wisdom !O
CHURCH
UNITY
(Contin11ed from page 23}
and religious groups all make up the
Church which Jesus Christ founded?
Can the disunited churches of today
be the
/me
Church of God? Note the
admonition of the Apostle Paul:
"1
beseech you brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak
the same thing, and that there be
no
divisiom
among you."
These are all questions and thoughts
which flood into one's mind as he views
the contemporary religious chaos and
confusion and the attempts at sorne
semblance of unity.
What Are the Possibilities
of Church Unity?
Despite the signiticant steps taken
toward unity, the end of the road is not
immediately in sight. Tbe differences
are too great, and the willingness to
compromise not strong enough. And in
spite of the majority for church unity,
there
is
always the determined minority
to whom the ecumenical movement is
complctely un-Christian.
So, the way things look now -
whether you are for it or against it -
only sorne great, overpowering event
couJd effect church unity. Only a mir–
acle could unite Christendom.
The question is, who will perform
that mirade?
For a further discussion of these
questions and their answers, write for
our free artides, "Why So Many Denom–
inations ?" and "Should You Join A
Church ?" These and many other theo–
logical questions are also discussed in
the monthly publication of the Ambas–
sador College Graduate School of Theol–
ogy, ToMORRow's WORLD. You can
receive a year's free subscription by
writing to Ambassador College, in cace
of the address nearest you listed on the
inside front cover of this magazine.
o