Paul’s perspective on widowhood (1 Corinthians 7:39-40): A case study of the challenges of widowhood in the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Kisii County, Kenya.

Abstract

The S.D.A Church accepts the Bible as the only creed that the Holy Scriptures is infallible revelation of God’s will. Widow remarriage continues to be a thorn in the flesh, The main issue is whether widows should be married or remain unmarried and the experiences widows go through in trying to live out Paul’s teachings in 1Corinthians 7:39-40. The purpose of this study was to bring into focus Paul’s perspective of widowhood and the challenges widows face in the S.D.A Church in trying to live out Paul’s teachings. Further the focus is on the role played by S.D.A Church in dealing with these challenges in Kisii County. The objectives of the study were: To do an exegesis of 1Corinthians 7:39-40 expounding the challenges of widowhood in the time of Paul; to identify the challenges that the widows are facing in S.D.A Church in their endeavour to embrace Paul’s advice to widows whether to remarry or not to remarry; to investigate the role the S.D.A Church plays in supporting widows and alleviating the challenges of widowhood in Kisii County. This case study used the empirical survey design .The research was conducted in S.D.A Churches in Kisii County. The target population was 325 churches divided into four stations. 8 churches were selected from each station totalling to 32 churches. 150 church members were selected from each church totalling to 1200 church members from the targeted churches. Random sampling was used in selecting these churches as well as the various participating church members. A questionnaire comprised of 8 closed ended questions items on the likert scale were used to collect data. To ensure validity of the instrument, a pilot study test was conducted at Kisii Central and Jogoo S.D.A Churches, the results of the pilot test facilitated the review of the survey questions. Data analysis was done through frequencies and percentage counts.