Welcome back to the start of a new season for the Church & Culture Podcast. In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the stunning findings of a recent Pew Research Center survey titled “A record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married.” The survey, conducted in 2021, found that 25% of 40-year-olds in the US have never been married, and many never intend to get married. Today's episode will explore the cultural implications of these findings.
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In addition to the Pew study, the Thriving Center of Psychology conducted its own study of unmarried Millennials and Gen Z finding that 40% believe marriage to be an outdated tradition. (*Note: this is the 40% that Dr. White refers to in his opening remarks and is separate from the Pew study findings). You can read more about this study and its implications in an article from The Messenger titled “Marriage Deemed ‘Outdated' by Millennials and Gen Z.”
The data from both surveys makes it clear that marriage, as we've traditionally known it, is in a free-fall. Whether because of reasons such as the cost of having a wedding or the increase in people living together before marriage, what our culture seems to have lost is the vision that marriage was created and ordained by God. It was woven into the very fabric of creation. Dr. White delivered a series at Mecklenburg Community Church to help people understand the significance of marriage titled “Holy Matrimony.” You can find other series he's given on the topics of both marriage and family HERE.
The conversation also touched on singleness, looking at this idea from several angles. First, since the pandemic culture seems to have become almost complacent about their state of loneliness. Dr. White wrote about this in his recent book Hybrid Church, and how we've essentially created a pandemic of loneliness with Gen Z. Second, there are some who view singleness as a sin. Our culture needs a good theology of singleness. Dr. White referenced an article from Christianity Today titled “Singleness Is Not a Sin.”
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Church & Culture Podcast