Wrested Scriptures

Resurrection
Common
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
"Saved"
Baptism
Resurrection
  Psalm 50:5
  Matthew 2:17,18
  John 5:28,29
  1 Cor. 7:14
  1 Cor. 15:22
  1 Cor. 15:52
  Philippians 4:3
  Hebrews 13:20
  1 John 1:9
  1 John 2:2
  Revelation 20:5
Antichrist

Unique
Catholic
Mormon
SDA
JW
British Israel
Church
of Christ
Pentecostal
Islam

Science
Miracles
Evolution
Creation
Carbon Dating

Inspiration
Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies

1 Corinthians 7:14
"For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."

Problem:
J.W.'s reason that children of believers who die before reaching the age of accountability would not be termed "holy" if their destiny was that of perishing with the rest of the ignorant.1

Solution:
  1. "Holy" in the New Testament means "separate, set apart".2 It is used with this meaning in the following two passages:
    1. "Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord." (Luke 2:23).
    2. Israel is spoken of as the "holy" firstfruit. (Rom. 11:16).
    But neither passage carries the implication that all Israelites or all first-born sons have a resurrectional destiny with the faithful.3

  2. The context of 1 Cor. 7:14 is a consideration of the status of a Christian believer having previously married a pagan partner. The marriage may have been anything but a Christian union4 when contracted, but Paul affirms that the children of such a union are legitimate. The believing partner would have the responsibility to bring the children up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord". (Eph. 6:4). For this reason, and for the sake of the believing parent, the children are "set aside" or "separate" under God's special care. In the Old Testament the whole house of Abraham was blessed for Abraham's righteousness and Paul indicates to the believers in Corinth the effect of the same principle.5 But the passage nowhere states that "holy" has any application to resurrection.
Footnotes:
  1. See "The Watchtower", (August, 1962), No. 15, Vol. LXXXIII p. 475. Return

  2. The Greek word "hagios" translated "holy" means "separate, set apart, holy." Robert Young, Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible, (London: Lutterworth Press, 1965). Return

  3. The Apostle states that the unbelieving partner is "sanctified" by the believing mate. (1 Cor. 7:14). But "sanctified" comes from the same root word in the Greek as does "holy". Does this imply the resurrection of all or even some unbelieving partners? J.W.'s indicate the inconsistency in their argumentation since in their literature no claim is made for the resurrection of all unbelieving partners. See "The Watchtower", (March 1, 1965), No. 5, Vol. LXXXVI, pp. 146-148. No doubt some mates would be Gentiles "without hope". (1 Thess. 4:13; Eph. 4:18, 19; 2:11, 12). Return

  4. Marriage is not a sacrament of the ecclesia. Marriage between believers and unbelievers is still a marriage and binding in God's sight. Return

  5. The same principle is illustrated in Gen. 39:5, 6: "And it came to pass from the time that he {Potiphar} had made him {Joseph} overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field." Cf. also Gen. 30:27. Return