I have been wanting to post this for several days but my internet connection has been down. This post deals with the issue of marriage and specifically the controversy over homosexual marriage. I hope you find this interesting and perhaps thought provoking.
What is “Marriage”? Merriam-Webster Dictionary (
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary) defines marriage as “the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law”. This of course is the primary definition. The same entry also contains references to “same sex marriage” due to the ongoing controversy surrounding this issue. The issue of homosexual or same-sex marriage is quickly becoming a very divisive issue in the United States. Many homosexual couples are protesting in ever greater numbers for the right to wed or marry the person that they love. The question arises, “Does the State have the right and authority to regulate and/or restrict marriage to only those of the opposite gender?” To answer this I believe that one must at least take a look at the history of marriage as far back as possible.
From a secular standpoint no one can answer with one hundred percent certainty when the first marriage occurred. If you are Christian like I am then you accept the biblical history that the first marriage occurred in the Garden of Eden when God created woman (Eve) from the rib of man (Adam) to be “a helpmeet” or “helper” for man – Genesis 2:18. Obviously there was no ceremony before a priest or judge back then as it all occurred in the direct presence of God Almighty. Genesis 2:21-24 (NIV) further states “
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Even after this event there were no formal wedding or marriage ceremonies in most cases. In most cases marriages in ancient history were informal affairs between two different families. There are three references to such occurrences in the Book of Genesis chapter 34. Verse 8 (NIV) states “
But Hamor said to them “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.” Verses 11 and 12 state, “
Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife.” Verse 21 states, “
These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.” As this illustrates in most if not all occasions a man would become attracted to a particular woman and would then seek to marry her by the consent of his father and the woman’s father. In virtually every case a gift and/or payment would be made from the prospective bride-groom to the father of his intended to win favor in his eyes. Conversely if a man was attempting to arrange a marriage between his daughter and the son of another family, the family of the bride would put together a large payment or gift to the family of the groom and thus came the term “
dowry”. If permission was given for the “marriage” to occur then perhaps there would be a feast to celebrate the union of these two families after which the bride would be given to her husband and he would take her home and then consummate the union. Similar situations would also occur in various different lands and amongst different peoples not just those mentioned in the Bible.
In the ancient past marriages did not have to occur based on love or romance. In fact history is replete with examples of marriages being arranged between two prominent or wealthy families to create stronger economic or political ties between each family. Marriages between royal or noble houses were good examples of this. A woman from a foreign noble house would be given in marriage to the prince of another land and such a union would create greater ties of diplomacy between these foreign nobles. In some cases it may even result in the uniting of two kingdoms as one nation if the woman was the sole heir to that nation upon the death of her father, the king. Her husband would then rule both combined kingdoms.
Whenever a man gave his daughter in marriage, she generally did not take anything with her (land or wealth) if her father had one or more sons to inherit the families property. But in the ancient past whenever a man had only one child, a daughter, and she married, her husband would inherit the property she would have inherited upon the death of her father. When the issue of inheritance would come up, then there could be disputes and conflict if a woman married outside her family, clan or tribe. This is illustrated in the Book of Numbers chapter 36:1-9 (NIV), “
The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite Families. They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our forefathers.” Then at the Lords’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites; “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters; they may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their father. No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers. Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers. No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.” As you can see such an incident could cause major problems for a family if a daughter was their only heir and she were to marry a husband from outside the tribe or clan, he would then inherit her father’s lands. Thus there began to be laws being enacted or codified to address such issues as the above passages from the Book of Numbers testifies to.
Since the church became such a powerful force in the centuries after the death of Christ, its teachings and/or traditions began to hold much sway over society, especially in the areas of marriage and what was considered a legitimate marriage. Many nations would not recognize a marriage that did not occur according to the laws of the Church. Such unions were viewed as illegitimate and thus any children born from such a union were also illegitimate. In many cases an illegitimate child could not inherit the lands, properties or titles of their father and inheritance would pass to the next closest kin that was legitimate. In the Hollywood film “Elizabeth” on the life of Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary was heard shouting at her court “My sister was born of that whore Ann Boleyn! She was born a bastard! She will never rule England!” Ann Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII after his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, a divorce that the Roman Catholic Church refused to grant thus conferring illegitimacy on the union and by virtue of her birth from an illegitimate union; Elizabeth was also illegitimate. Elizabeth would eventually become Queen anyway upon the death of Mary.
So when did the State begin regulating marriages? An exact date is not so easy to pin down. After the Exodus from Egypt when God gave his laws to the Children of Israel through Moses these came to be known as the Law of Moses or simply “The Law”. These laws governed everything from living together in peace with ones neighbor to marriage and to business and religious rules. Tribal peoples also had rules and traditions that governed such things as marriage between tribal members and those from outside the tribe. The Justinian Code of Emperor Justinian (525 AD to 565 AD) also had laws in place dealing with marriage. A good example of the laws of marriage as applied by the Justinian Code can be seen at the following site (
www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/535institutes.html).
The concept of the Common Law Marriage has been around for a very long time. This is a marriage that occurs without a license or a religious or civil ceremony but not all States recognize Common Law marriages. According to Nolo.com (
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/faqEditorial-29086.html) a couple may not simply live together for a specified amount of time to have a Common Law marriage. “In order to have a valid common law marriage, the couple must do all of the following:
• live together for a significant period of time (not defined in any state)
• hold themselves out as a married couple -- typically this means using the same last name, referring to the other as "my husband" or "my wife," and filing a joint tax return, and
• intend to be married.
“When a common law marriage exists, the spouses receive the same legal treatment given to formally married couples, including the requirement that they go through a legal divorce to end the marriage.”
Every US State and all nations have various laws on their books that regulate marriage. There are laws specifying how old one must be to legally wed, laws against children marrying, laws against homosexuals marrying, laws against marrying a close family member, and even laws against having multiple or plural marriages. There are even laws specifying when and how divorces shall be handled. The reasons for the various laws are as varied as the laws themselves. Most are meant merely to promote social order while others were inspired due to health concerns (i.e. laws against marrying a close relative are due to the dangers of inbreeding). So does the State have the right and authority to regulate marriage? From the fact that the State has been regulating marriage for thousands of years the answer is a definite yes. Even from Christian teachings the state has this right. The Bible tells us that we are to obey and submit to those in authority as illustrated in the Book of Romans 13:1-7 (NIV): “
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Many people and activists claim that homosexuals (gays and lesbians) have the Constitutional right to marry whom they choose. But there is no specific right enumerated in the US Constitution to marriage. The Constitution says absolutely nothing about marriage one way or the other. The only possible way that a Right to Marry could be construed is by using the 9th Amendment in the Bill of Rights, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The reason for this is because the Founding Fathers believed that all our rights came from God (“that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”). And to list every God given right in the Constitution would create a document that was too large and unwieldy. It could have been longer in page count than the Obama Care health bill recently passed. But even then the State would still have the right to regulate marriage. The Constitution specifically enumerates the Freedom of Speech, but there are still laws governing speech in certain limited circumstances as the Supreme Court has decreed that the Freedom of Speech is not unlimited. (i.e. You can’t go into a crowded theater and yell “FIRE!”) The “right to keep and bear arms” has recently been ruled an individual right enumerated by the Constitution but it too is not unlimited as laws against the civilian possession of fully automatic firearms attests to. Likewise if the SCOTUS were to rule that the 9th Amendment does provide for a Right to Marry, it too would be subject to reasonable restrictions, laws and regulation. Otherwise if an unlimited Right to Marry were decreed, then all of the laws on the books governing such things as the marriage of underage minors would be null and void as would the laws against forced marriages, plural marriages (polygamy), marriages between a man and an animal and marriages between brother and sister as just a few examples.
Therefore the regulation of marriage and the codification of laws by the State regarding marriage are just as lawful and proper as any other law the State imposes that we the people must live under. But while the State may ban homosexual marriage in its sole discretion so may it provide for it as well, as three US states have done already. Even when the Courts rule that Marriage is a fundamental right, the people of California have shown that they can overrule that court by amending the Constitution of the State of California. That can be done on a Federal level as well. At one time the Federal Government tried to ban alcohol. The Supreme Court ruled the attempt unconstitutional so the Great Experiment aka Prohibition was added to the US Constitution (the 18th Amendment). It created a bigger mess than it was supposed to fix and thus was eventually repealed (the 21st Amendment), but Prohibition shows what the Supreme Court has said before, “The people made the Constitution and the people can unmake it.”
The vast majority of people throughout the world, myself included, regard homosexuality as repugnant. Those who identify themselves as Christians and believe in the divinely inspired word of God must accept that the Bible specifically speaks against homosexuality in at least three different books. In the Old Testament it says: Leviticus 18:22 (NIV), “
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”, Leviticus 20:13 (NIV), “
If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” In the New Testament, Romans 1:24-32 (NIV), “
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV), “
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that it what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Sprit of our God.”
Many people say that we should not judge or condemn what a person does in the privacy of their own homes, with their own bodies, that we must respect their choices in our “free” society. The Bible does speak about “Judgment”; Matthew 7:1-5 (NIV), “
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”, John 7:24 (NIV), “
Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”, Romans 2:1-4 (NIV), “
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?” These passages teach us that we should remember that we are just as sinful as those that we condemn as sinners. Romans 3:11 (NIV), “
There is no one righteous, not even one;”, Romans 3:23 (NIV), “
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”.
We too were and are sinners; guilty, corrupt, immoral, iniquitous, “stiff-necked”, stubborn people. Not only have we committed crimes and transgressions against each other but we have committed crimes and transgressions against God Almighty. Every sin we commit is an affront to God. But because of Jesus, God is quick to forgive us. 1 John 1:9 says “
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Isaiah 55:7 says “
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Ephesians 1:7 “
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” The Bible tells us that there is only one unforgivable sin. Jesus says in Matthew 12:32 “
And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
But does this mean that we should unconditionally accept and forgive all that another person does when his actions are clearly opposed to what the Bible teaches us? Not necessarily. St. Paul speaks to that in 1 Corinthians 5:1-12 (NIV), “
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."” St. Paul says that he is not teaching us to refrain from associating with sexually immoral or the otherwise sinful people of the world, just those within the Church who claim to be a brother or sister in Christ and yet still continues to live in depravity or wickedness. Paul says that God will judge those outside the Church, we should judge those within the Church according to the teachings of God. In our everyday lives we are unable to avoid associating or dealing with such people that are outside the church just by the sheer volume of people living on this world. We should not associate with anyone who calls himself/herself a brother/sister in Christ and is sexually immoral or greedy, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a swindler.
A good example of this is V. Gene Robinson, a Bishop for the Diocese of New Hampshire within the Episcopal Church. For those who don’t know of this man he is an openly Gay (homosexual) man living in a “committed relationship” with another man and was still consecrated as a Bishop in the Episcopal Church. He is the first openly gay, non-celibate priest ordained a bishop within the Christian Church. “Wait a minute!” you say. “He is an Episcopalian, a member of the ‘Episcopal Church’ not a member of my Church. Why should I be judging his lifestyle since he is outside my Church.” The point is this; Episcopalians are Christians, Catholics are Christians, Baptists are Christians, Methodists are Christians, Lutherans are Christians, Eastern Orthodox are all Christians, even the non-denominational faiths (of which I belong to one) like the Disciples of Christ, the Church of Christ, the Christian Church, etc. are all Christians. Matthew 18:20 (NIV) Jesus says, “
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” When two or more come together in the name of Jesus Christ, there is Jesus with them. When they have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior they are now part of the Body of Christ, they are now part of the “Bride of Christ”, Christ’s Church regardless of denomination or sect. The members of the “Body of Christ” in the Episcopal Church celebrated the ordination of a homosexual as one of their Bishops or leaders within the Church. This man, V. Gene Robinson, should have been expelled from the church until such time as he had repented of his sexual immorality. It does not matter if the State of New Hampshire recognizes homosexual unions or not. It does not matter if homosexuality is legal or not. We as Christians are instructed not to associate with a brother who claims to be a follower of Christ and yet still continues to openly wallow in sexual depravity. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 St. Paul says, “
Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
The point of the whole matter is this; the State does have the power to allow or to criminalize homosexuality within the limits of the US Constitution and any given states Constitution, but we who are Christians must not accept or condone such sexual immorality within the Church. We are to “flee from sexual immorality”. Your state may permit homosexual marriages or unions as legal and the United States of America as a whole may eventually be forced to do this as well, but we in the Christian Church should never celebrate or accept such things within the Church. Let those outside the Church be judged by God when the day of the Lords Judgment comes, but we are to judge those within the Church as instructed by God in the divinely inspired Word of God, the Bible. As it says in Matthey 22:21 (NIV), "
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
