In the nearly 10 years since I first wrote the Biblical Dating series on Boundless, I and other Boundless authors have addressed some pretty nuanced and specific questions about dating relationships. One of the great things about Boundless is that the community here is, within the confines of a clear and evangelical understanding of the Gospel, often pretty diverse in terms of the specific recommendations and approaches to dating represented by various authors.
Recent months and years have also seen a more robust discussion about whether the Bible really has anything practical or specific to teach us about dating.
So I thought it might be helpful to mark the nearly year anniversary of the Biblical Dating series by asking again, What exactly does the Bible say about dating?
So where does all that leave us? Does the fact that the Bible has nothing explicit to say about dating mean that it has nothing practical or authoritative to teach us about how to conduct a dating relationship? To borrow a favorite phrase of the apostle Paul, by no means! The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture holds that the Bible guides and instructs us authoritatively in all areas of our faith and life, and that there is no area of life about which the Bible has no guidance for us.
Second Timothy teaches us that. That teaching, reproof and correction may be only at the level of broad principles in some areas of life like dating , but it will be there nonetheless. So to take one of my examples above, the story of Jacob and Rachel is found in Genesis, a historical narrative. How does that play out? So, keeping things like genre and context in mind, what are some of the broad biblical principles that can guide us in the more specific question of how to date in a way that glorifies God?
