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There have been many articles in the news about “Marriage Laws” and how they need to be changed. I have served as a pastor all over the country and I know how much they vary from state to state. They also vary a lot from country to country.
An NPR story today was about Mexico City
The Christian Bible states that a Bishop must have only one wife but leaves an option for a man to have more than one wife if he is not a bishop. The bible tells us of many men both in the old and new testaments that had more than one wife. King Solomon had hundreds of them.
Culture changes over time and our laws lag behind but they also change. There was a time when adultery was the only reason the law allowed for divorce. There was a time when only the husband could sue for divorce.
In Deuteronomy 22, if a bride was found not to be a virgin on her wedding night the law called for her to be stoned to death in front of her fathers house. A lot of women today are glad we don’t do that any more.
Weddings can be both legal contract and religious ceremonies. Some countries require that the couple go to a civil service office and register their marriage and then if they wish to do so they may have a religious ceremony afterwards.
How will our marriage laws change over the next hundred years?
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in Germany you have a civil ceremony first, often 2 days before the church wedding. Today many couples only do the civil ceremony, which is more subdued (and cheaper). My daughter had both for her first marriage.... she is now getting married a second time in December with only the civil ceremony this time. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about Europe when I wrote that.
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