Is it time for Christian priests/ministers to get out of the government-marriage business?

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 11:55 am by Gerald McDermott

Is it time for Christian priests/ministers to get out of the government-marriage business? 2015-01-08T11:55:17-04:00 Gerald McDermott

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Rusty Reno, Ephraim Radner, and Christopher Seitz think so.

Reno is editor of First Things, and Radner and Seitz are orthodox Anglican scholars at Wyclif College in Toronto.

They reason that the old agreement between culture and the church on marriage–that it is between a man and a woman with the primary purpose of raising healthy children–has broken down. And that therefore the church risks sending a mixed message by doing marriages for the state.

By signing a marriage certificate for the state, a minister suggests that he or she is accepting the new government definition (now in some states, but perhaps moving to become the law of the land) that rejects what Scripture and moral tradition have always held.

And I can foresee the day when a judge or bureaucrat will say to an orthodox priest/minister, “But you signed a state marriage certificate, which implies that you go along with our new understanding of marriage. Then how can you insist on having the right to refuse marrying gays? You have already suggested you don’t have a problem with that.”

The alternative, then, would be this: If I marry a couple, I would say to them, “We will hold your wedding in the church because only here can we recognize your new union for what it really is–a picture of Christ’s love for His Church. You will need to have a separate civil ceremony in order for your wedding to be recognized by the state.”

That might make things a bit more complex for the couple, but it enables the church to hold to the orthodox view of marriage and not be implicated in the new definition of marriage that turns the Christian vision upside down.

Would this be overreacting? Is marriage among the adiaphora, or things indifferent, that are not at the heart of the gospel?

No. In both Testaments, marriage is the primary metaphor for God’s relationship to His people. Yahweh is Israel’s husband, and the Church is Christ’s bride. Marriage is therefore at the very heart of Christian understanding of God.

And the primary victims of the state’s new understanding of marriage will be children. For now more will be raised without a mom and a dad, both of whom Scripture and social science alike say are necessary for optimal flourishing.

Here is Reno’s case: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/11/a-time-to-rend

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