Why Atheists don't believe

Paul was writing in a time of persecution when to have a spouse and children would be an extra anxiety. That is the only reason for his discouraging marriage. He never discouraged it in general, made it clear it was in God's will.

I was an atheist for most of my life, and the reason was that some people I considered to be smart told me when I was a teenager it was stupid to believe in God, that there was no evidence for God and that people needed to grow up and face life without God. Well I'd never depended on God personally before anyway, though I had a sort of thin belief based on childhood church attendance, so I had no problem giving up my belief such as it was, for a life of "mature self-reliance," the approval of smart friends and teachers, and of course lots of fun kinds of sin. I felt a little pang of loss but that was about it. Edited by Faith, : grammar, clarity