Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 5, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 23.

1153. Mrs. B.—The so-called “letter written by Jesus Christ” is one of the many palpable frauds palmed off on a credulous public. This is so manifest in the language of the “letter” that we do not see how any observant Bible-reader could believe it.

1154. R. N. H. Marriage Relations.—We do not see why the prohibitions contained in Lev. 18:6-24 and 20:10-21 in reference to sexual relationships are not still in force. They are all based on moral considerations. “But,” you ask, “would it be wrong for any man to contract marriage with his uncle’s widow (either paternal or maternal), there being no blood connections?” At the very least, we reply, it would be exceedingly bad taste. It is a mixing up of relationships which confuses the mind and spiritual discernment. Think of the confusion of relationships in such a union. The widow may have children by both husbands, the uncle and the nephew. The latter husband is step-father and cousin to these children; the woman is the aunt and wife of the second husband; he is her nephew and husband; she is the mother and cousin-by-marriage of her own children; her children by the second husband are half brothers or sisters of both of the children of the second husband; and these children are also cousins. Relations which work out such confusion do not seem to us right.

1155. A. B.—You ask, “Is it right to stay with a neighbor’s child while its parents attend a dance?” What would you do, leave it alone? If parents do wrong, so much the more the child should be protected and cared for. What the parents do is another thing. Let that be a matter of good missionary work with them.