Gwallard
Puritan Board Freshman
See prior discussions on this topic:
Some very good points in these two posts above on whether or not a single person ought to adopt a child. To summarize what I heard, there were two sides: one (Side only Mothers and Fathers) that spoke of children being in the context of a mother and a father, and would say it is wrong to adopt children as a single person except in very specific circumstances; mother-father relationships are the normative and ideal place for children, adopted or not. The other side (Side Anyone) would say that adoption is preferable to foster care or orphanages, and so single people can adopt; mother-father relationships are the ideal place for children, adopted or not, but by no means the normative place for children to be adopted.
*one such circumstance brought up would be if the mother and father died, but the child went to the father's sisters house and was adopted, this would be preferable to foster care.
Neither side seemed to bring Scripture much into the mix. A friend and I brought up this topic recently, and I would like to bring some exegesis to bear on this topic.
In apparent support of Side "Only Mothers and Fathers"
Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20, "Children, obey your parents..." (τοῖς γονεῦσιν in both cases)
Exodus 20:12 "“Honor your father and your mother,"
In apparent support of Side, "Anyone"
Acts 16:15 "And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us."
Genesis 48-49 The adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob (Gen 48:5-7) was when both Rachel (Gen 35:16-21) and Leah (Genesis 49:31) were dead.
If Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh while he had no wife, then I think the situation is sealed in favor of the "anyone" case. However, I'm not quite sure that Jacob was not yet still married to Bilhah or Zilpah, (Gen 30, 35) if that could be called marriage. The example of Lydia does not seem very forceful, as a household included servants, and not necessarily sons and daughters. However, Scripture does seem to always speak of children with mother and father in mind. I am on the side of "Only Mothers and Fathers" at the current moment.
Adoption for Singles?
Brothers and sisters, Suppose a single man or woman desired to be married and have children but never ended up marrying. Even if they had the ability to work at home and provide for two, would it be unadvisable to adopt? I'm not thinking of anyone in particular as I ask this question. I'm just...
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Single black women choosing to adopt
Single black women choosing to adopt - CNN.com # Story Highlights # More single black women are adopting, adoption official says # Single black woman says inability of black men to commit led to adoption decision # Single black mother: "It's the best decision I could have made in my life"...
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Some very good points in these two posts above on whether or not a single person ought to adopt a child. To summarize what I heard, there were two sides: one (Side only Mothers and Fathers) that spoke of children being in the context of a mother and a father, and would say it is wrong to adopt children as a single person except in very specific circumstances; mother-father relationships are the normative and ideal place for children, adopted or not. The other side (Side Anyone) would say that adoption is preferable to foster care or orphanages, and so single people can adopt; mother-father relationships are the ideal place for children, adopted or not, but by no means the normative place for children to be adopted.
*one such circumstance brought up would be if the mother and father died, but the child went to the father's sisters house and was adopted, this would be preferable to foster care.
Neither side seemed to bring Scripture much into the mix. A friend and I brought up this topic recently, and I would like to bring some exegesis to bear on this topic.
In apparent support of Side "Only Mothers and Fathers"
Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20, "Children, obey your parents..." (τοῖς γονεῦσιν in both cases)
Exodus 20:12 "“Honor your father and your mother,"
In apparent support of Side, "Anyone"
Acts 16:15 "And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us."
Genesis 48-49 The adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob (Gen 48:5-7) was when both Rachel (Gen 35:16-21) and Leah (Genesis 49:31) were dead.
If Jacob adopted Ephraim and Manasseh while he had no wife, then I think the situation is sealed in favor of the "anyone" case. However, I'm not quite sure that Jacob was not yet still married to Bilhah or Zilpah, (Gen 30, 35) if that could be called marriage. The example of Lydia does not seem very forceful, as a household included servants, and not necessarily sons and daughters. However, Scripture does seem to always speak of children with mother and father in mind. I am on the side of "Only Mothers and Fathers" at the current moment.