Age differences in Marriage The following statement on marriage is noteworthy because it is so outlandish, implying that if the age of the parents differs widely, the children will be somehow physically or morally deficient: "Another cause of the deficiency of the present generation in physical strength and moral worth, is, men and women uniting in marriage whose ages widely differ. It is frequently the case that old men choose to marry young wives. By thus doing, the life of the husband has often been prolonged, while the wife has had to feel the want of that vitality which she has imparted to her aged husband. It has not been the duty of any woman to sacrifice life and health, even if she did love one so much older than herself, and felt willing on her part to make such a sacrifice. She should have restrained her affections. She had considerations higher than her own interest to consult. She should consider, if children be born to them, what would be their condition? It is still worse for young men to marry women considerably older than themselves. The offspring of such unions in many cases, where ages widely differ, have not well-balanced minds. They have been deficient also in physical strength. In such families have frequently been manifested varied, peculiar, and often painful, traits of character. They often die prematurely, and those who reach maturity, in many cases, are deficient in physical and mental strength, and moral worth."9 It is worth noting that the Bible never forbids such marriages. In fact, one of the great romances in the Bible is between Ruth and Boaz, a man who was much older than Ruth.10 Ruth gave birth to Obed, who gave birth to Jesse, father of David. It is doubtful that Obed was "deficient in physical and mental strength, and moral worth" just because Boaz was a generation older than Ruth!
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 01:30:14 +0000
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