Category Archives: Marriage

Theology of sexuality and gender

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Here I summarise this essay by Andrew T. Walker, entitled, ‘Gender and Sexuality’.

Gender refers to the biological differences between males and females and to the different cultural ways in which creational distinctions are expressed.  Sexuality refers to God’s design for the procreative relationship between men and women and to the experience of erotic desire within that relationship.

Sexuality and gender in God’s design

Several axiomatic truths related to gender and sexuality are found in the Genesis 1–2 narrative.…

Marriage: antidote to loneliness

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There is an epidemic of loneliness today.  This is due, not just to the (hopefully) short-term effects of Covid-19 lockdown.  There is the wider, and more persistent, problem of loneliness which is linked to the decline in marriage rates and the increase in marriage breakdowns.

God, in his wise and generous love, has provided a wonderful blueprint for flourishing marriages, and has used this blueprint to point towards a yet deeper and more lasting marriage – that between Christ and his people.…

LGBT: what does it mean to be ‘welcoming but not affirming’?

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In the eyes of many, the idea that churches can take a ‘welcoming but not affirming’ attitude towards LGBT people is absurd.  It inevitably leads to treating people as second class Christians, tolerated but not fully integrated into the life of the church.

The perceived absurdity is compounded by the myth that only two possibilities exist: either that of full and unconditional acceptance and affirmation, or that of rejection.  Any kind of middle ground is rarely explored.…

1 Corinthians 15:44 – ‘Raised a spiritual body’

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1 Corinthians 15:42 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 15:43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 15:44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Paul’s teaching here has led some to interpret the resurrection appearances of vv5-8 as non-physical, amounting to something like subjective visions.  …

Divorce and remarriage

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Some time ago, I participated in a debate about divorce and remarriage in Church.  I argued that a divorced person may be remarried in church during the lifetime of a former spouse, certainly if the divorce had been occasioned by adultery on the part of the former spouse, and possibly for other reasons also.  I’m afraid I don’t have a record of the counter-argument, but here’s what I presented:-

There are many things that we should be able to agree on:-

  • that marriage is ordained by God, Gen 2:24.
…

God’s good plan for men and women: our unfinished business

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If the Christian church is to adhere to (or recover) God’s good plan for men and women, then its pastoral care and witness will need some clarification and strengthening in a number of areas.

For example, we need to ask, How can we more effectively

  • witness to God’s good purposes in our own marriages and families?
  • recognise the distinctive roles of husbands and wives?
  • nurture young people who are capable of faithful covenant relationships?
  • honour both married and single people in the family of the church?
…

Gay marriage and the ‘trajectory’ of Scripture

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The ‘trajectory’ argument, briefly, is that there are certain practices (such as slavery) that are permitted in Scripture, but Scripture itself sows the seeds of their eventual abolition.  Conversely, there are certain practices (such as same-sex relations) that are forbidden in Scripture, but Scripture itself sows the seeds of their acceptance.

The Bishop of Bangor in the Church in Wales, Andy John, has invoked such a trajectory argument in his support of marriage for homosexual couples.…

Civil partnerships

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The Civil Partnership Act 2004 provided for the legal recognition of homosexual relationships in the UK.  The Act came into force in December 2005.  Over the next seven years a total of 60,454 were formed.

In 2018 (the most recent year for which statistics are available at the time of writing) 956 civil partnerships were formed in England and Wales.  In the same year, there were 927 civil partnership dissolutions. (Source)

The Act extended all the legal rights and privileges of marriage to homosexual couples. …