Page 69 boundaries of God’s will that were not shared with other believers. Moses delivered the Law from Mount Sinai. That was the beginning of the 613 laws found in the Old Covenant. Interestingly, Christians have devised their own set of laws. What follows is a list of convictions held by various Christians that I have known throughout the years: God’s will is for all Christians . . . to never listen to secular music. to vote Republican. to vote Democrat. to begin a ministry for homeless people and prisoners. to begin a campaign to fight abortion, pornography, and gay marriage. to not own a television set. to not own two television sets. to never support the military and to be against all wars. to have home births. to homeschool their children. to not use birth control. to have as many children as possible. to watch only G or PG movies. to not attend movie cinemas or theaters.
The answer to the “Who can I date?” question has two parts: 1. You can date anyone it would be okay to marry; and 2. You can’t date anyone it wouldn’t be okay to marry. Why these rules? Because dating is about marriage. It’s not a search for fun or a search for sex. It’s a search for a suitable marriage partner. Marriage is the state men and women were designed for, not dating. If you merely want to socialize without excluding members of the other sex and without the intention of marriage, okay, but you’re better off doing that in groups. Face it, when a guy’s out with a girl, it’s just not like being out with another guy – not even when they both insist it’s “not a date.”
J. Budziszewski