Our liturgy for a wedding is based on the marriage solemnization found in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. It lists these three purposes for marriage:
First, marriage is given for the mutual society, help, and comfort that man and wife should have from the other, both in prosperity and adversity. Second, marriage is given for the procreation of children, to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of God. Third, marriage is instituted as a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication, so that those who are married might live in the purity of marriage, and keep themselves undefiled as members of Christ’s body.
These purposes have been foundational to our understanding of Christian marriage in the West for many centuries, but they sound foreign to our modern ears. And so we get reaquainted with them in this episode.
Register now for the Helpful Marriage Conference!
Support our work:
