Ethics and religion speak: Is Marriage Divine? | The Rapidian

[Note: Next week, we'll address the consequences of Vaughn's question as it related to the dissolution of marriage.]

The Reverend Colleen Squires, minister at All Souls group Church of West Michigan, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, responds:

"We consider marriage is a covenantal relationship between two consenting adults. A covenant is terribly different from a contract. as soon as one party breaks a contract the contract is null and void. A covenant is greater of a promise to live in relationship with one one more through thick and thin. We remember that we are human, and we will from time to time come up short in residing as much as our guarantees to at least one yet another. both spouses continue to be in relationship, one holds onto the covenant and the different works to rebuild the believe or restoration the heartache they may also have brought about. the important thing to knowing a covenant is to understand that at times as a result of we're human, we may additionally fall brief. Marriage is a very human aspect and hence now not divine as the question implies."

The Rev. Sandra Nikkel, head pastor of Conklin Reformed Church, responds:

"sure, marriage is a divine design. God intended it to reflect the form of relationship that he desires to have with us--his Church (that's why the Church is often referred to in the Bible because the Bride of Christ). Ephesians 5 offers us guidelines for the roles and responsibilities for the husband and for the spouse. however these roles and tasks are to reflect the love, care, and inter-submission that exist already in the Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So in Verse 22 when it calls other halves to put up to their husbands, it specifies, as unto the Lord. knowing that the Lord isn't an abusive Being will support us to grasp that God certainly not anticipated us to submit to abuse or forget in a wedding. suppose about this from a woman's viewpoint: Who would discover it difficult to submit to a husband that does what verse 25 says: 'Husbands, love your better halves, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.' hear up! Christ serves, protects, and loves his church. Christ's love for his church is pure. holy, and sacrificial. unless a husband is loving his spouse in the same means, he has no biblical groundwork to expect sweet submission from his wife."

Father Michael Nasser, who writes from an japanese Christian point of view and is Pastor of St. Nicholas Orthodox Christian Church, responds:

"St. Paul echoes Christ's teaching that marriage is the reflection of the holy relationship between Christ and His Church. We Orthodox Christians therefore see marriage as no longer only Divine in nature, but holy and its goals and expression.  for those that enter into marriage, it's a crucial a part of our salvation, as each companion is referred to as to sacrifice and location their spouses above themselves.  This loving sacrifice makes us more like Christ, who's divine, and brings us nearer to Him because the source of lifestyles."

Father Kevin Niehoff, O.P., a Dominican priest who serves as Adjutant Judicial Vicar, Diocese of Grand Rapids, responds:

"comfortably put, sure, for Catholics, marriage is a divine element. Let me more formally share with you the definition of marriage as present in the 1983 Code of Canon law. 'the marriage covenant, through which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life, and which of its own very nature is ordered to the smartly-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of little ones, has, between the baptized, been raised through Christ the Lord to the distinction of a sacrament.'

"The sacrament of marriage, raised by way of God to this degree, is an act that Catholic Church takes most significantly. further, it is the man and the lady who confer the sacrament… no longer the priest or deacon. The latter is only a witness to the sacramental bond. for this reason, the Catholic Church teaches that the bond created with the aid of the man and lady is permanent and might certainly not be revoked."

My response:

the first chapter of Genesis describes the introduction of the primary man or woman as both male and female. The next chapter describes God's look for a companion for the male human, Adam. finally, God creates Eve from Adam to be that partner. From this, I needless to say human beings were created to be in a sacred partnership with one other. a third or fourth century C.E. rabbinic story illustrating Jewish theology, known as a midrash, imagines that God spends all of God's time in view that introduction partnering human beings, and that doing so accurately is as elaborate as parting the Reed Sea. So I suppose that makes marriage divine! I also take into account, by the way, that the human sexual orientation is not always directed against the opposite sex, and that each one human beings deserve the opportunity to be in partnership with one other.

This column solutions questions of Ethics and religion by using submitting them to a multi-religion panel of non secular leaders within the Grand Rapids area. We'd love to hear about the average moral questions that come up at some stage in your day as well as any questions of faith that you've puzzled about. inform us the way you resolved an moral quandary and notice how individuals of the Ethics and faith talk panel would have handled the same condition. Please send your questions to [email protected].

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