When she says your favorite chair is gone...
#1- in the eyes of god
I reckon
Is this serious? It I thought it weren’t I’d say “The first time in the bedroom when peanut butter, bananas and whip cream come into play”.
Traditionally it’s at consummation (sex).
No sex, marriage isn’t valid. Even though the ceremony has been performed.
For me it was when I was told I couldnt go to my usual Friday Happy Hour after work.
I made a vow to my wife, in the presence of my friends and a minister fifteen years ago, and have kept it. That is when my marriage began. Before that, I was a sinner and I still have sinful thoughts but, I'm happily and blessedly keeping my oath.
When your wife comes in and takes a dump while you’re brushing your teeth.
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Without your parenthetical, a lot of “marriages” happen without benefit of ceremony or commitment.
Marriage is a Biblically defined institution, and thus it’s a good idea to use that for the answer. The relevant scripture is Genesis 2:24, which implies a sexual union, though you could look at the first portion of this verse (”Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife...”) and interpret this ‘coming together’ as the act of marriage... the sexual part is indicated in most translations as coming afterward.
The Bible distinguishes between fornication and adultery, so it makes sense that the sexual act does not - in and of itself - constitute a marriage... Catholic teachings and traditions notwithstanding.
Regarding ceremonies: clearly these have changed over time, particularly since the State has stuck its nose in where it doesn’t belong. Again, because marriage is a God-defined institution, state involvement is irrelevant... though probably necessary for this day and age. In my opinion, a public declaration is important for the sake of the oaths.
It would depend on what you mean by marriage.
well, I guess it’s defined differently by different people. But in the eyes of the Traditional Church that was founded in the Bible by Jesus, the Second Person of the Triune God; marriage is a sacrament of the Church and can only be annuled if it wasn’t entered in good faith even if it was “consummated.”
I also know people who have been married in a church, broke up through adultery or just stopped loving each other and are now divorced.
What arrangement does God favor? I really don't know in this case. Is he going to condemn the first couple because they don't have a certificate in their top drawer?
When she put the engagement ring on.
Because after that point, any guy who didn’t treat her as my betrothed would be meeting God, real soon :-)
If it was sex between the parties, the Bible wouldn’t have anything to say about heterosexual fornication; just adultery, bigamy (maybe) and deviancy. The first act of what we consider fornication (premarital nookie) would be a wedding.
Personally, I lean toward #6, a mutual commitment with God as the only necessary witness and ultimate officiant. Like Adam’s and Eve’s wedding.
It's the same with calling us His Bride. He feels about us like we should feel about our spouse. As we are born again, we should feel absolutely dedicated to our Lord as we can only experience with our own family. He talked of Israel as an "adulterous" nation because they experimented with other gods. He chose that word to try to emote the hurt He felt after all He has done for us. When Jesus told His followers that He must go and prepare a place for us, He was describing a Jewish wedding. The whole Song of Solomon is basically about Jesus calling to His lover to come out and walk with Him, but she is sleping and doesn't want to help Him. She later opens the door to find Him gone. Just as the foolish virgins went to where they buy and sell to get their oil, they came back too late to join the wedding party.
I'm afraid that if you don't love Jesus with all you have, you may never know how much He loved you. He gave up His throne to come and rescue us, yet we reject Him. He suffered unimaginable pain to buy us for Himself. Would you do that for your wife?
To know when you are first married in Gods eyes will be that day that you are willing to die for her, not just spend some money, or travel with her. If your devotion reaches that level, then you might know what marriage was designed for. Is she still beautiful when she is 60? Do you still desire only her company? That is where God is on marriage.
This is why marriage is so important to the church. It is an institution set up by God to show His love for us. It is an abomination to redefine it to a lie.
A prophet was told by God to marry the town whore. He didn't want to because he was a pious man, but God insisted, so he did. Sure enough, the first chance she got, she ran off with another man and the town looked at him like "What did you expect?" Then God ordered the prophet to go find her and bring her home again. That is how God is with us. He is faithful. Are we? Will we forgive and love others as God loves us? Not likely with the divorce records today.
One more thing,....When the Bible speaks of the woman submitting to the man,...be sure and read the part before that. The man MUST love her as Christ loved the church. Many women might do more submitting with a Godly husband.
Marriage begins at th4e exchange of vows—the promise of faithfulness to one’s spouse, the promise of love and cherish, the commitment until death. It begins with a spiritual foundation, then proceeds to the physical.
It’s too bad—and shows the state of maturity in America—that a responsible discussion of this question has not been undertaken here.
Forget science and personal opinion. This is the Truth of the matter.....take it or leave it:
"Exacly what is the sacrament of marriage? It "is an inseparable bond between a man and a woman, created by human contract and ratified by divine grace. The nature of the covenant requires that the two participants be one man and one woman" and "that they be free to marry." ... "it is consent that creates marriage. Consent consists in a human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other. Consent must be a free act of the will of the consenting parties, free of coercion or grave external error. If freedom is lacking, the consent is invalid." Interestingly, "it is the spouses who are understood to confer marriage on each other. The spouses, as ministers of grace, naturally confer upon each other the sacrament of matrimony."
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Obviously, marriage is an organic synthesis -- especially as it transforms through time -- not a mechanical union. ... Marriage between man and woman is not an end in itself but a divinely ordained arrangement for the purposes of receiving the grace that will transform both parties. A dysfunctional marriage is one in which no spiritual transformation takes place -- it is spiritually "stillborn," so to speak, or "infertile" no matter how many children it produces -- like a Kennedy marriage.
This is why, strictly speaking, there can be no "secular" marriage. Or put it this way: to the extent that your marriage is only a secular affair, I do not see how or why it could transcend the state of essentially being -- as Glen Campbell sang -- "shackled by forgotten words and bonds and the ink stains that have dried upon some line." Anything short of spiritual union involves using the other person in one way or another. It merely creates the conditions for narcissism rather than its transcendence, which is surely one reason why there are so many divorces. Marriage can never do for you what it was never intended to do, which is to make you "happy" or "fulfilled" in the material sense, at least not for long. No mere earthling can do that.
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"..As Upton explains, "the Sodomite is violent against nature because he denies relatedness to the Other; his erotic energy is turned inward." This is indeed the key point. Man cannot engage in mere animal sexuality without sinking beneath even the animals, who are innocent in their animality. ..."
None of these things.
I’m not God, so I don’t know, but if we have to pick just one, I’d say #6 must come firt