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What is marriage?
- Thread starter JillLars
- Start date
Many are called to the married life rather than to the religious life or to a life as a single person. Marriage always involves 3 parties, the bride, the groom and God. When 2 Christians receive the sacrament of matrimony, God is with them, witnessing and blessing their marriage covenant. For Catholics, God does this through the priest or deacon who presides at the wedding as the Church's witness.
A sacrament marriage is permanent .... only death can break it (Mark 10:1-12, Rom. 7:2-3, 1 Cor. 7:10-11). This holy union is a living symbol of the unbreakable relationship between Christ and his Church (Eph. 5:21-33).
A sacrament marriage is permanent .... only death can break it (Mark 10:1-12, Rom. 7:2-3, 1 Cor. 7:10-11). This holy union is a living symbol of the unbreakable relationship between Christ and his Church (Eph. 5:21-33).
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Nathan David
Well-Known Member
A planned lifelong monogamous partnership between two people in romantic love with each other, with legal recognition from the government.
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A marriage is made up of two people who have mutually agreed to a lifelong and sexually exclusive partnership --- and who have made this commitment publicly known in a way that is socially recognized.
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Marriage is a joining. The manner and mnifestation of the joining is as varied as the human species. Fiat, for instance, has given one of the Christian definitions of marriage. The definition would be different for a person from one of the religions that condones polygamy, and different again from a religion that recognises same sex marriages.
Then again we have marriages which don't involve any diety at all. Fiats definition would not recognise any but Christian marriages, but we all know other marriages exist. There are also marriages in which strict fidelity is not required by the parties involved, yet they are marriages.
The only conclusion we are left with is that marriage, in all the forms in which it has been "officially recognised" and legal in all societies throughout history, shares only one common attribute. That one attribute is that marriage is a joining of people.
Then again we have marriages which don't involve any diety at all. Fiats definition would not recognise any but Christian marriages, but we all know other marriages exist. There are also marriages in which strict fidelity is not required by the parties involved, yet they are marriages.
The only conclusion we are left with is that marriage, in all the forms in which it has been "officially recognised" and legal in all societies throughout history, shares only one common attribute. That one attribute is that marriage is a joining of people.
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Another Question- does a marriage have to be recognized by the entire society (legally or otherwise) to be a marriage?
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Hmmm . Whats the "entire society?" My community? My state? My country? The whole world? What? My general feeling is that it mainly needs to apply to the people you come into contact regularly with. It is a symbol that speaks to those people and lets them know that you are "spoken for."
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Marriage is a spiritual contract between a man and a woman. A contract mediated by God. And for this reason I do not believe in divorce.
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What the Bible says about Marriage:
Genesis 2:18-24 Marriage is God's idea
Gen 24:58-60 Commitment is essential
Song of Songs 4:9-10 Romance is important
Jeremiah 33:10-11 Marriage holds times of great joy
Malachi 2:14-15 Marriage creats the best enviroment for raising children
Matthew 5:32 Unfaithfulness breaks the bond of trust, the foundationn of all relationships
Matthew 19:6 Marriage is permanent
Romans 7:2-3 Ideally, only death should dissolve marriage
Ephesians 5:21-33 Marriage is based on the principled practice of love, not on feelings
Ephesians 5:23, 32 Marriage is a living symbol of Christ and the church
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is good and honorable
Genesis 2:18-24 Marriage is God's idea
Gen 24:58-60 Commitment is essential
Song of Songs 4:9-10 Romance is important
Jeremiah 33:10-11 Marriage holds times of great joy
Malachi 2:14-15 Marriage creats the best enviroment for raising children
Matthew 5:32 Unfaithfulness breaks the bond of trust, the foundationn of all relationships
Matthew 19:6 Marriage is permanent
Romans 7:2-3 Ideally, only death should dissolve marriage
Ephesians 5:21-33 Marriage is based on the principled practice of love, not on feelings
Ephesians 5:23, 32 Marriage is a living symbol of Christ and the church
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is good and honorable
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Interesting answers everyone! What do you think about marriages between non-religious people, are they still considered marriages (I know this was touched briefly before, just wondering what others think). 
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JillLars said:Interesting answers everyone! What do you think about marriages between non-religious people, are they still considered marriages
Yes, I think marriage is socially defined.
Anyway, if it only applied to religious people, then wouldn't new christians have a ready excuse for divorce?
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Good point evening mist! Do you think a marriage can be socially defined but not legally defined?
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JillLars said:
I think the legal recognition is a manifestation of our society's definition of marriage. I am sure there have been and still are societies in existance with no government sort of "legal" mechanisms in place for validating a marriage, but for whom marriage is still a real distinct thing. Do I think they are still married? Yes.
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Law is simply the dictation of morality to society. And since society can change, then so does law (with changing concepts of morality). I think to place the defintion of marriage upon law or society, is to say that marriage also, has no inhertant true definition.
If marriage has a true definition it would be:
Marriage is a word that embodies a spiritual concept invovling a man & woman.
I believe that people want to generalize the word marriage to include other concepts (eg. same sex unions) in an attempt to qualify the ideas as legitmate. Not based on the "new" concepts own merits, but on those of the already established definition. So instead of getting a new word...they try and qualify it through misuse of an establish one.
If marriage has a true definition it would be:
Marriage is a word that embodies a spiritual concept invovling a man & woman.
I believe that people want to generalize the word marriage to include other concepts (eg. same sex unions) in an attempt to qualify the ideas as legitmate. Not based on the "new" concepts own merits, but on those of the already established definition. So instead of getting a new word...they try and qualify it through misuse of an establish one.
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onionring said:
The trouble is that history and culture have presented us with many variations on the concept of marriage. It seems like what we think of as "marriage" is at least very weighted by fluxuating social expectations, if not entirely defined by them.
My spouse agrees with you onionring, that there is some absolute and perfect "ideal" definition of what consitutes a marriage and a family. I won't argue that their could be -- I just kinda doubt anyone is objective enough to figure out what it is.
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Can a marriage be defined socially but not legally? Absolutely. I have been married for seven years but there is no legal recognition for my marriage. Alex and I were married according to the traditions of his tribe and by the tenants of my religion. It was a joining of not just two people but of our families. It is a marriage with everything except legal recognition by the government.
Onionring is incorrect in his assessment for the motivation to seek legal recognition for same gendered marriage. My marriage is legitimate, we are a family, and I need no license to legitimize our relationship. We do however desire the legal, economic and social benefits to having our marriage recognized.
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