I have a wonderful boyfriend who is perfect in every way except that he is a strongly believing atheist, but he never imposes his beliefs on me.  I wanted to know if I married him, would it be a sin, what would happen to my soul, and would it be something that would prevent me from going to heaven?  I am confused when I turn to the Bible for answers because 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 are contradictory.

P.S. I actually just broke up with him a few days ago because I didn't want to be in a relationship that God didn't approve of.  I still love him but am holding off on my permanent decision of whether to be with him or not until I get this question answered.  Thank you so much.  God Bless.

Sincerely,
Not An Atheist

Dear Not An Atheist,

It is wrong to marry someone who isn’t a christian.  1 Cor 7:12-16 deals with what to do if you are already married to an unbeliever (for example if you became a christian after already being married), and 2 Cor 6:14-18 explains what to do to avoid getting into an unhealthy marital situation.  Paul clearly states that christians should seek to marry only those who are also “in the Lord” (1 Cor 7:39).  Right now, your boyfriend doesn’t impose his beliefs on you because he is still courting your affections; once you are married, that will change – it always does.  People are always on their best behavior during the "wooing" stage of a romance.  When you marry a man, you are deciding that you trust him to be the head of your household (Eph 5:23).  You simply cannot trust a man that doesn’t believe in God to properly guide the direction of your family.  Marriage is a permanent decision; you can’t trust this man to abide by the same rules of marriage as you will.  Religion is the most important factor in a marriage because it affects your morals, how you raise children, your finances, your hobbies, how you treat one another, and a thousand other elements of your future.  Do not become unequally yoked to this man.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

I have heard over and over again, the Bible is perfect as it is.  It is what God wants us to have.  How do you explain what happened in the fourth century with the Council of Laodicea deciding what would and would not be included in the Bible or read at church?  All the books that they decided we didn't need to read... God gave man free will didn't He?  And it can be used to make bad choices and siding with evil or good choices.  If this council was able to do that for evil, then we are denied the other books of the Bible by HUMAN choice.  I have read half of the Book of Enoch which is absolutely incredible!  I was in absolute awe with this book.  I realize this book is not complete, but the thought of some council deciding what should be in the canon makes me upset.  How was it even decided?  Do I believe that what we have now is good enough to be saved?  ABSOLUTELY!!  But it also makes me think of the words “Seek and ye shall find!”  I would love to hear your feedback on this.  Thank You.

Sincerely,
Enthralled With Enoch

Dear Enthralled With Enoch,

The Council of Laodicea in 336 A.D. did make decisions about what books would be included in the canon of the Bible… but everyone completely ignored what they said, and their edicts have no impact upon the actual Bible that you read today.  If we followed the Council of Laodicea’s decisions, then we wouldn’t have the book of Revelation (which they excluded from their canon), and we would have the epistle of Jeremy and the book of Baruch (two false books that they included).  That particular council obviously did not dictate what books were or were not kept in the Bible’s canon because we don’t use their canon today.

The Bible’s canon was decided well before the Council of Laodicea; it was decided by the christians who lived during the first century and were in the best situation to know which letters were from divinely inspired apostles and prophets.  It is important to remember that even though God does give us freewill, there are certainly things that He doesn’t allow us to change – His Word is one of those immutable things.  It doesn’t make sense that God would spend thousands of years perfectly crafting the Bible only to allow us to pollute it in a couple hundred years.  Jesus says that not one jot or tittle of the Bible will pass away (Matt 5:18).  The Bible has been perfectly crafted and handed down to us with every stroke and letter right where it ought to be.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

Something I struggle with is trying to understand why the gate is so narrow (Matthew 7:14).  God could have created us any way He chose to, but He created us in such a way that most of us are not interested in taking the appropriate steps to become a christian.  Living life as a christian is hard, and we are so tempted to do the wrong thing at every turn.

Why would God create us in this way?  If He is so loving, why did He create us this way KNOWING that most of us are going to fail?

Sincerely,
Uphill Battle

Dear Uphill Battle,

The road is narrow, but it is also accessible to anyone (Jhn 3:16).  The road to salvation is designed so that salvation can only be found in Christ (Jhn 14:6).  God created mankind with the freedom to choose.  We can choose to live for ourselves (which is a wide road with a zillion different paths based upon our interests, desires, etc.), or we can choose to live for God (Rom 12:1).  The road to salvation is narrow because it is based off of one question: “Do we trust God?” (Heb 11:6).  Anyone can trust God, but very few people are interested in doing so.  It isn’t because He created us poorly; it is because He created us with the ability to choose.  Whenever you give people freedom, expect most of us to abuse it.  If God had made us without freedom, everyone would go to heaven… but no one would have chosen to go there.  So God, in His infinite wisdom, believed it better to create mankind with choice and have most people choose poorly than to create humans as mindless robots devoid of freewill.