Like I said, I am coming in late on this so, forgive me for posting so much.
**Is Marriage to Unbelievers Prohibited? **
In fairness, we must acknowledge that Paul, in the passage before us, does not specifically or directly refer to the marriage relationship. **Nowhere will one find the command, **
"Thou shalt not marry an unbeliever." Indeed, we find reference in the NT writings to such unions.
Paul, in 1 Cor. 7:12-16, speaks to those who are married to unbelievers, encouraging them to stay together, working to bring their partners to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter also encourages wives of unbelievers to work to win their husbands to the Lord (1 Peter 3:1-2). Obviously, religiously mixed marriages are not the ideal situation. In fact, there are serious problems involved with such unions, and many are destined to fail. Nevertheless, they do exist, and Christians who find themselves in such circumstances should do their best to bring a positive influence to these relationships.
Very few people will argue with the premise, however, that the ideal is for believers to marry other believers. This may very well be the intent of the apostle Paul in his instruction to widows –
"if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:39). This is about as close to an injunction against marriage to unbelievers that one will find, but even this passage is open to various possible interpretations, thus one should not be dogmatic regarding his personal perception.
Since Paul, in 2 Cor. 6:14, does not specifically relate his charge to marital relationships, I personally would hesitate to declare dogmatically that it is sinful for Christians to marry non-Christians.** I have seen unbelievers brought to the Lord by believing spouses. Paul even alludes to such in 1 Cor. 7.** I would personally never encourage such a union, and would strongly counsel against it, but I would never condemn it as sinful. It is my conviction, based on my study and my observation in years of counseling couples in religiously mixed marriages, that believers should NOT marry unbelievers. I feel very strongly that such unions will present some difficult challenges to both spouses; it is simply asking for trouble! One of the passages I quote in every wedding ceremony I perform is from the first epistle of the apostle Peter. He charged husbands and wives to be
“heirs together of the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7). When husbands and wives journey together toward their heavenly
home, that is the IDEAL in marriage. That ideal is not realized when husbands and wives are traveling separate paths spiritually. They are “unequally yoked” … they are pulling in different directions. The tragedy is that many believers are pulled down the path to destruction by the unbelievers. That is the very real danger of being “unequally yoked” with unbelievers. This is especially true in the marital relationship.
“Paul does not state in specific terms just what he means by being unequally yoked with unbelievers, but already in the earlier epistle there are indications of some of the things he must have had in mind, namely, marriages between Christians and non-Christians” (Dr. Philip Hughes, Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 245). “True Christian partnership is that which exists between genuine yokefellows (Philp. 4:3), and that can apply only to those who already are one in Christ Jesus” (ibid). “There is no question that it would be better for both husband and wife to be believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ, although there is no evidence in the context to
show that Paul had this subject in mind” (Dr. T.R. Applebury, Studies in 2 Corinthians, p. 126).
More here:
www.gracecentered.com/unequally_yoked.htm
I think I know what you mean. I am Catholic a thousand percent!
This does not want to make me “beat you up” as you put it. But I do wish to enlighten you and the Protestants also.