The Foundation of Marriage

For five thousand years, marriage has been the foundation of our society. The concept of marriage originates in the Bible in Genesis 2:18-25 where God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." God then created the woman from the man he had made, “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” The Lord brought Eve to Adam the way a father presents his daughter to the man she marries.

From this passage, we come to understand that marriage represents the legal and moral obligations a man and a woman have to each other. It is both permanent and exclusive. The fidelity and monogamy of marriage are unique in this the most intimate of all relationships on earth. Marriage is a public covenant that announces to the world his and her acceptance of these responsibilities with the utmost sincerity and reverence. Marriage provides stability for children born to this union and gives an example of what a mother, father, husband, and wife are to the children. Marriage satisfies the sexual and emotional desires of both the husband and wife. Of course, not all marriages are a success, but that does not diminish the concept of marriage and its potential.

The new alternatives to marriage today are cohabitation and same-sex marriage. Marriage, they say, is nothing more than the union of two people who love each other and are committed to each other.

Cohabitation is in many ways the joining of two individuals who continue to live as individuals without expecting the total commitment that marriage demands. The result is that the longevity of cohabitation is nowhere comparable to traditional marriage. Cohabitation has more difficulty joining two individuals and their extended families because of its lack of permanence and commitment.

Same-sex marriage denies the natural basis for marriage, which is procreation. All major religions of the world support traditional marriage, underscoring the natural view of marriage. Same-sex marriage also lacks the longevity of traditional marriage.

The new proposals for replacing traditional marriage will now face new challenges. Who is to say that polyamorous relationships are not legitimate? Biblically speaking, marriage is not just a social and legal arrangement but also, most importantly, a moral covenant that is made clear in the first book of the Bible.