Are "Our Orphan Homes" Divine Institutions?
In his debate with brother Curtis W. Porter in 1953 brother Guy N. Woods raised the following question and gave the following answer:
"Now, what is the orphan home, my friends? Basically, the orphan home is that which simply results when the church restores that which (the natural home) no longer exists. God has ordained two divine institutions the church and the home." Woods-Porter Debate, Page 53.
Now consider this question and answer by brother Woods. First, "God has ordained two divine institutions the church and the home."
First, "God has ordained two divine institutions the church and the home."
Second, upon the death of the parents in the natural home a divine institution it "No longer exists."
Third, but, according to brother Woods, when the church establishes an "orphan home" it thereby "restores" the natural home.
Fourth, if the natural home is divine and the "orphan home" established by the church is "the home restored," then why wouldn't the "orphan home" be divine?
The Lord "restored" Lazarus to life when he raised him from the dead; but he was the same individual that he was before his death. I see no difference in the nature of the "home" which "God ordained" and that same "home" if and when it is "restored." The "orphan home," to say the least and the truth about it is a human institution and a substitute for the natural home which, as brother Woods says, is divine.
There are but two ways by which one may be a member of the natural home, namely, by natural birth or by process of adoption. When orphan children are placed in "our orphan homes" there is neither a birth nor an adoption. This being the case, it is not right to refer to such institutions as "the home restored" which the child lost upon the death of its parents. The nearest approach to a "restoration" of the natural home for the orphan child would be for the parents of a natural home to adopt it into that divine institution.
If a child made orphan by the death of its parents cannot be adopted into a natural home then the next best thing is for it to have institutional care. So far as I know there is not any opposition to the idea of individuals establishing, owning, and operating such institutions. As to the churches or government engaging in the establishment and operating of such is another question with many people.