A question popped into my head earlier, and I think that this might be the right thread to ask it on.
We know that Peter and James had wives, and we also know that they had very productive ministries.
At the same time, we also know that Paul was single, and he also had a very productive mininstry.
What then is the real difference as far as either being married or unmarried is concerned?
I mean, I wish that the Bible told us more about Peter's and James' wives. We have the account of Jesus healing Peter's mother-in-law, but, off the top of my head, I do not recall any real mention of them elsewhere in scripture other than Paul's passing mention of them in 1 Corinthians. What were their wives doing while they were out ministering? I would kind of like to know.
At the moment, and I have not fully thought this out yet, the differences between the married apostles and the unmarried Paul seem to be that Peter and John seem to have ministered more locally in that they are normally found in Jerusalem whereas Paul did a lot of traveling. Paul did say, in relation to the other apostles, that he labored more abundantly than they all did, so maybe he had less restrictions or family responsibilities than the married apostles did. I do not know.
Any thoughts anybody?