Question regarding marriage/asexual/homosexual/attraction

1) should you (specifically a male if it matters) marry someone you’re not physically attracted to if you think she is very mature in her faith and you guys have been encouraging each other in Christ already? Why and why not? And also is it such a thing that your physical attraction to her could grow the more you hang out with her as a friend?

I'm not sure whether you're asking whether we have an obligation to marry this person or if you're asking whether it's just okay for us to marry this person. I don't think we have an obligation to marry anybody. I do think it's morally okay to marry somebody even if you're not physically attracted to them. Yes, it is possible for you to become more physically attracted to somebody over time.

2) if someone is asking for advice on marrying a person that they’re dating who is asexual, what advice would you give said person if said person does want to have sex? Would you say marry or no? Why or why not?

I would say don't marry because sex is really important in a relationship, and if you want to have sex and the other person doesn't, you're going to feel perpetually unloved and unwanted, and it's going to be more difficult for you to connect with them. But this may not be true for everybody. There's this book called The Five Love Languages, and according to that book, physical touch is just one of the five languages. If ranks pretty low for you, then maybe you don't need sex. But I don't think I'd recommend somebody who wants to have sex to marry somebody who is asexual.

3) if a homosexual just got saved, is now in one of your circles, and is trying to figure out what he/she should do in terms of sex and marriage: what advice would you give? Why would you give that advice?

I would tell them to either not marry or to marry somebody of the opposite sex. The reason is because opposite sex marriage is the only kind of marriage that's condoned by the Bible. Homosexual sex is forbidden, and if homosexual sex is forbidden, then obviously you can't marry somebody of the same sex.

3.5) you probably have figured I was leading this way with my last two questions. If you advise the person dating the asexual not to marry because sex drive over the long term could get too difficult, but at the same time you are telling the homosexual that they will have to suppress the temptation for same sex sexual relations, wouldn’t the sex drive over the long term be just as strong for the homosexual? Why is it fine to say to one group “this is something you will have to suffer through” but to the other group “marry someone else because this future marriage will lead to suffering”?

The sex drive could be just as strong for the homosexual, but I would think it would be more difficult to not have sex if you were married to somebody than it would be if you're not married to them, so a homosexual is still better off not marrying. The reason I'd tell the homosexual that's something they have to suffer through is because homosexual sex is strictly forbidden, and there's no way around that. But for a straight person, I would say to marry someone else who isn't asexual because that's actually allowed.

4) what advise would you give this friend? He is starting to talk to a girl/get coffee/etc to see if he would be interested in dating her and vice versa. They do not know much about each other apart from a few conversations prior and the both met at a church function. Now he is worried with thoughts like: what if she is a nominal Christian, what if there are people more mature that would be better for him to be patient and wait for. Should he hang out with her purely amongst other friends, is it safe to continue getting coffee/etc alone? Is he overthinking her, and should he just move forward? What would your advise be?

I would tell him to chillax. Stop worrying. Just get to know the girl, and you'll figure out what you need to know eventually. And there's nothing wrong with getting coffee alone with her.

/r/Reformed Thread