There’s nothing more telling about religious practice when its loudest adherents clearly fabricate what is NOT in the bible.
One of the greatest contributors to disbelief for me was this very argument of the biblical view of marriage. After a huge breakup during college, I searched the bible for what I was taught and came up with nothing biblical about the traditional views that I had been taught.
At that time, leaders of the church explained that “If something in the bible is untrue, all of it is.”
If there is going to be that level of ultimatum, the bible should stand up to criticism.
That, dear readers, it cannot do.
Here’s a bit from Salon.com on Biblical marriage. Read the whole thing here.
Some people would have you believe that marriage began with Adam and Eve. But in the account in Genesis where Adam and Eve become one flesh (presumably through their mutual commitment and sexual intimacy), there is no mention of an “institution” of marriage nor any liturgy, vows, promises or other ritual used to solemnize their relationship. This prehistorical account can only serve as a backdrop to the meaning (not the “institution”) of marriage that developed over time.
The fact of the matter is, marriage has not been consistent or unchanging over time. Indeed, even in biblical times, we see a constant evolution in the practice of marriage. One man and one woman, united in marriage for life, mutually exclusive and “faithful” sexually, and joined because of their love for each other, is a relatively modern notion of marriage. Such was not the case in ancient times.
