Russell Moore (Dean of the School of Theology, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) addresses the common issue of Christians asking dating partners about their sexual past. He doesn’t have a problem with it, but he make some very insightful points about the usual motivations behind such judgments:
“You are not ‘owed’ a virgin because you are. Your sexual purity wasn’t part of a quid pro quo in which God would guarantee you a sexually unbroken man. Your sexual purity is your obligation as a creature of God. And you have rebelled at other points, and been forgiven. If you believe the gospel, you believe the gospel for everyone, and not just for yourself.”
He closes with one of the best Gospel perspectives on purity of a potential marriage partner:
“Jesus was a virgin. His Bride wasn’t. He loved us anyway.”
Read it all: How Much Do I Need to Know About My Potential Spouse’s Sexual Past? My Response
[HT: Tim Challies]
Well besides the fact the there is no evidence that Jesus ever married Mary Magdalene, forgiving someone doesn’t mean that you have to tolerate something that hurts you badly. This isn’t some black & white “forgiveness” issue, it goes much deeper than that. I struggled with this issue for years. The only thing that ever helped me was a guide I bought at [link removed by moderator] — the author was the first I’ve ever seen that gave a complete and accurate description of what we go through, why we go through it….and how to deal with it.
Nick: I’m not sure if your comment was legitimate, as it seemed to just be promoting a book. But at any rate, I approved it in order to respond to your statement about Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene. When Dr. Moore spoke of “His Bride” Ii.e., the bride of Christ) this is not referring to Mary Magdalene, but rather to the Church. See such passages as Ephesians 5:25-27, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelations chapters 19 thru 21, etc. The idea of the Church as Christ’s bride is one of the best known and most agreed upon doctrines in Christian theology; agreed upon by all major branches of the church and explicitly taught in Scripture.