Marriage from the biblical point of view
Article* published on the site The Reformation Project (United States), freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro
Negative message: Homosexual relationships do not correspond to the fundamental meaning of marriage as outlined in the Scriptures, therefore they should not be blessed.
Positive message: Marriage is a covenant.
Many Christians consider Ephesians 5:21-33 to be the foundational biblical text on marriage. Here is a part of it:
“Be submissive to one another out of fear of Christ. Let wives submit to their husbands as to the Lord; in fact the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, he who is the savior of his body. And just as the Church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject to their husbands in everything.
“And you, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, to make her holy [...] 'for this reason the man will leave his father and mother and join his woman and Two will form one meat '. This mystery is great; I say this in reference to Christ and the Church! ". (Ephesians 5: 21-26a, 31-32)
- According to the letter to the Ephesians, marriage is basically a commitment: we observe the pact with our spouse as a reflection of the pact that God has tightened with us through Jesus, and homosexual couples are capable of keeping faith with the pact as much as the couples heterosexuals.
But the Bible speaks of marriage always in heterosexual terms: this in itself excludes homosexual relationships, regardless of any text that condemns them ...
- The homosexual marriage was not conceivable in ancient societies. We do not have examples of two men or two women, of the same social class, who undertake a monogamous and lasting relationship and form a domestic hearth, led less by enjoying the support of society.
- The Scriptures speak of marriage only in a heterosexual context because nobody thought of a homosexual marriage, and not because the latter was judged against the will of God.
- The fact that gay and Christian lesbian Christians exist means that the Church must choose whether to review the celibacy vocation, or the purpose of marriage. We must ask ourselves if the heart of biblical teaching on marriage can be applied to homosexual unions.
From a biological point of view, only a man and a woman can procreate. The impossibility, for homosexual couples, to procreate, means that these relationships are not biblically founded ...
- The procreation is very important in the Old Testament, because then God built his kingdom and his people especially through biological reproduction. But the life, death and resurrection of Jesus have radically modified the meaning of procreation for the people of God, who now builds his kingdom through our personal confession of faith, and not through biological procreation.
- Furthermore, even in the Old Testament, a marriage unable to procreate is never considered invalid: see the marriage between Abraham and Sara in Genesis 18 and that between Elkana and Anna in 1 Samuele 1.
-In Matthew 19: 1-12 Jesus authorizes the divorce in case of adultery, but does not mention infertility; This indicates that keeping the pact is more important than being able to procreate.
- From the Cantico dei Cantici, to the teachings on the sex of 1 Corinthian 7, the Bible never states that sexuality, to be moral, must be open to procreation.
Ephesians 5 states that the husband is “the boss” of the wife, which indicates a hierarchy in marriage; therefore marriage is only between a man and a woman...
– The Bible is certainly steeped in patriarchal norms, even in passages regarding marriage. The best way to deal with this topic is to treat it in the same way as the passages relating to slavery, asking ourselves in which direction the Scriptures move starting from the culture that gave rise to them.
– Whether in the case of slavery or the role of women, the Scriptures move in the direction of equality. Paul recommends that Onesimus treat Philemon (a runaway slave) not as a slave, but as a brother, and recommends that married couples (both husband and wife) love and care for each other (1 Corinthians 7 ).
– Galatians 3:28 gives us a sign of the Kingdom of God: “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave nor free; there is no longer male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.
– In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs his followers to pray for the Kingdom of God to come both in heaven and on earth.
– The Bible points to a Kingdom in which the major subdivisions of humanity (Jew/Gentile, slave/free, male/female) are wiped out by Christ. Christians have supported the abolition of slavery in the past, and today we should support gender equality, rejecting marriage based on hierarchical gender roles.
God created the male and female body to meet and become become "One meat". Human anatomy tells us that two men or two women are not created to join as "One meat"...
- As we wrote In our article on gender complementarity, the expression "One meat" It refers to the formation of a new primary family bond, not to the anatomical characteristics of male and female bodies. When the letter to the Ephesians tells us "The two will form one meat" (Genesis 2:24) It actually refers to the union between Christ and the Church, based on the pact of God with humanity, in turn based on love, not on human anatomy: “For this reason, the man will leave his father and mother and join his woman and the two will form one flesh. ' This mystery is great; I say this in reference to Christ and the Church! " (Ephesians 5: 31-32).
The essence of marriage, according to the Bible, is the love pact, not procreation, generous hierarchies or anatomical complementarity. Homosexual couples live daily according to this vision of marriage.
* The biblical passages are taken from the Jerusalem Bible/CEI.
Original text: 10. Marriage is about Covenant.
