On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 14:17:17 GMT,
Ninurenohate@Rainbow-Christian.tk (. Ninure Saunders)
spake thusly:

Biblical marriage: a bad source for debate
By Vaughn Roste

We've heard a lot about "biblical marriage" lately,

And you hate the fact that nowhere does God ordain
homosexual marriage.

--

"And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house;
and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the
Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way
as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."
- Acts 9:17

Would a loving God send people to Hell?

http://godandscience.org/apologetics/hell.html

Well done :-)

". Ninure Saunders" <Ninurenohate@Rainbow-Christian.tk> wrote in message

Biblical marriage: a bad source for debate
By Vaughn Roste

We've heard a lot about "biblical marriage" lately, largely as a
defensive reaction against same-sex marriage. I read one letter to the
editor written by a Lutheran pastor that claimed "the Bible
clearly teaches that marriage is the God-ordained covenantal union of

man to one woman." How very applicable to the contemporary situation, I
thought. If the Bible really teaches that (and in such modern language
too!), then we all should be paying the Bible a lot more heed.

So I picked up my Bible and looked up all the passages that have
anything to do with marriage (I had help: I used a concordance). I
examined the scriptural use of all the words I could think of
related to marriage: marriage, marriages, marry, marries, married,
wedding, weddings, wed, husband, husbands, wife, and wives.

All told, I looked up over 800 references. Exempting the references that
are narrative (e.g. "Adam named his wife Eve" Gen 3:20) or
metaphorical (Christ's marriage to the church, Rev 21:9), I was able to
distil those 825 verse references into 12 general principles: 12

"rules" or guidelines
regarding marriage that encompass the gamut of scripture. I hereby

the list, with the applicable references.

12 Biblical Principles of Marriage

Marriage consists of one man and one or more women (Gen 4:19, 4:23,

28:9, 29:26-30, 30:26, 31:17, 32:22, 36:2, 36:10, 37:2, Ex. 21:10,

8:30, 1 Sam 1:2, 25:43, 27:3, 30:5, 30:18, 2 Sam 2:2, 3:2-5, 1 Chron
3:1-3, 4:5, 8:8, 14:3, 2 Chron 11:21, 13:21, 24:3).

Nothing prevents a man from taking on concubines in addition to the wife
or wives he may already have (Gen 25:6, Judges 8:31, 2 Sam
5:13, 1 Kings 11:3, 1 Chron 3:9, 2 Chron 11:21, Dan 5:2-3).

A man might choose any woman he wants for his wife (Gen 6:2, Deut
21:11), provided only that she is not already another man's wife
(Lev 18:14-16, Deut. 22:30) or his [half-] sister (Lev 18:11,
20:17), nor the mother (Lev 20:14) or the sister (Lev 18:18) of a
woman who is already his wife. The concept of a woman giving her
consent to being married is foreign to the Biblical mindset.

If a woman cannot be proven to be a virgin at the time of marriage, she
shall be stoned (Deut 22:13-21).

A rapist must marry his victim (Ex. 22:16, Deut. 22:28-29) - unless she
was already a fiancee, in which case he should be put to death if he

her in the country, but both of them killed if he raped her in town

22:23-27).

If a man dies childless, his brother must marry the widow (Gen 38:6- 10,
Deut 25:5-10, Mark12: 19, Luke 20:28).

Women marry the man of their father's choosing (Gen. 24:4, Josh.
15:16-17, Judges 1:12-13, 12:9, 21:1, 1 Sam 17:25, 18:19, 1 Kings
2:21, 1 Chron 2:35, Jer 29:6, Dan 11:17).

Women are the property of their father until married and their
husband after that (Ex. 20:17, 22:17, Deut. 22:24, Mat 22:25).

The value of a woman might be approximately seven years' work (Gen
29:14-30).

Inter-faith marriages are prohibited (Gen 24:3, 28:1, 28:6, Num 25:1- 9,
Ezra 9:12, Neh 10:30, 2 Cor 6:14). Divorce is forbidden (Deut
22:19, Matt 5:32, 19:9, Mark10:9-12, Luke 16:18, Rom 7:2, 1 Cor 7:10-

7:39).

Better to not get married at all - although marriage is not a sin
(Matt 19:10, I Cor 7:1, 7:27-28, 7:32-34, 7:38).

How many of these Biblical principles are followed by Christians
today? Not a single one [with the possible exception of number 3 - some
Christian women may still have no choice in their marital
partner!] Nowhere in the Bible does it say, "Marriage is the God-
ordained covenantal union of one man and one woman;" in fact, it
says explicitly to the contrary! The Bible lists at least 15
polygamists (not including Herod, who is known from the historical - but
not Biblical - record to have had 9 wives), and in not a single place

polygamy carry with it any sense of opprobrium.
Unfortunately, the pastor mentioned above would have been far more

to say that "the Bible teaches that marriage is a covenantal union of

man to as many women as he might want and can afford."

So the next time your favorite politician or preacher claims to use the
Bible in support of traditional marriage, ask him or her which of these

principles he or she is actually advocating. Probably none. Anyone who
claims to use the Bible in support of a strictly monogamous union of one
male and one female based on love,
mutuality, and commitment will be hard pressed to find 2,000 year- old
Bible verses in support of that very modern position. In fact, I daresay
they cannot. The Biblical view of marriage is not
monogamous: it is not necessarily based on love, or on any amount of
mutuality.

Most Christians would consider these Biblical principles of marriage to

misogynistic and repulsive - and judging by today's
standards, they'd be right. Views have changed since Biblical times, as
has our concept of marriage. Some would claim that this is the result of
the Holy Spirit working in our world; most agree that just about all of
the changes are a good thing. But if we concede that our concept of
marriage has evolved, is it not potentially arrogant to summarily

the possibility that marriage should continue evolving, or even that it
might be God's will that it do so?

From the looks of the above list, it's a good thing our perspectives

changed from the Biblical model. Thus as we continue to dialog and
prayerfully discern God's will in the area of same-sex
marriages, we obviously cannot consider 2,000-year-old statements
made in other cultures and contexts to be all that is important.
Please do not misinterpret that I am claiming that the Bible is not
important - of course it is. It is central to my faith, as it should be
for any Christian. But to rely on solely the Bible is to
dangerously ignore two millennia of progress in the areas of
science, technology, and human rights, a sin which we dare not let
ourselves commit if the church is to remain relevant to contemporary
society at all.

To rely solely on Scripture for church policy is to ignore the
possibility that the Holy Spirit has been active at all in the
sixteen centuries since the canon was closed in 405 CE. Indeed, we need

consider that the Holy Spirit may be actively encouraging us today to

beyond a literal reading of the Bible and to refuse to become modern
Pharisees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

son of two Lutheran pastors, Vaughn Roste has since worshipped and

in Episcopalian and Presbyterian Churches, but his
current employment is in a United Church. Holding degrees in
theology and music from two different church institutions, he
currently freelances as a writer and musician in Edmonton.
--
Pax Christi,
. Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian

Jesus is my Shepherd and He knows I'm Gay
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