Must elders have more than one child?<\/a><\/p>\nAn adopted child is still a man’s child. For example, Jesus was the son of Mary by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). However, Jesus was known as Joseph’s son because Joseph raised him (Luke 4:22; John 1:45). Because Jesus was Joseph’s first son (even though adopted), he was in line to inherit the throne of David through Joseph. This was how the curse on Jeconiah was bypassed (Jeremiah 22:24-30). Therefore, a man who raises adopted children is still qualified to be an elder.<\/p>\n
If a man adopts an older child, the child wasn’t under his roof long. If that child turns out to be rebellious and unfaithful, the situation would need to be considered carefully, but I would not automatically rule out his qualification to an elder — especially if all his other children are faithful. But if the child was his to raise from a young age, then I would treat the situation just like any other where a man’s children were not all faithful.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you very much. Your reply was very helpful!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, I have a question about the children in the qualifications for elders. If a man has a natural-born child and adopts a child, would this be plural children? What if the adopted child is unruly and irreverent and eventually moves away from home?\u00a0To me, this does not fit the bill for believing children.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[123],"class_list":["post-47990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2861,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-elders-have-more-than-one-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":47990,"position":0},"title":"Must elders have more than one child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Must elders have more than one child? Answer: \"one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence\" (I Timothy 3:4). \"if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination\" (Titus 1:6). The Greek\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-elders-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":47990,"position":1},"title":"The Elder’s Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry C. Ray The Gospel Guardian, 26 November 1964 In the study of the qualifications for elders, one of the most frequently asked questions is regarding the \"children\" (I Timothy 3:4; Titus 1:6). Does the expression necessitate a plurality, or does it mean that a man is qualified with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36030,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-your-definition-of-tekna-consistent\/","url_meta":{"origin":47990,"position":2},"title":"Is your definition of tekna consistent?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In light of the position you take with regard to\u00a0Elders and the number of children they should have, I would like to know your thoughts with regard to the following scriptures. We are in the process of studying deacons and elders at the congregation I attend, and I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52505,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-titus-15-6-be-a-plural-of-class-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":47990,"position":3},"title":"Could Titus 1:5-6 be a “plural of class” case?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have been diligently studying the qualifications for Elders. I recently stumbled upon a discussion regarding the use of\u00a0tekna. In\u00a0one of your articles,\u00a0you stated the exception of \"plural of class\" using widows in I Timothy 5. You stated that I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 show no indication\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40749,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-be-a-deacon-in-the-church-if-he-doesnt-have-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":47990,"position":4},"title":"Can a man be a deacon in the church if he doesn’t have children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question I would very much like an answer to: Can a man be a deacon in the church if he doesn't have children? Answer: \"Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households\" (I Timothy 3:12). \"Must\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-an-elder-have-faithful-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":47990,"position":5},"title":"Must an elder have faithful children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it necessary for an elder to have children faithful in the church? If yes, then how many? Answer: \"Having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion\" (Titus 1:6). \"He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47990\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}