Marriage a Christian view

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Religious Studies GCSE

Coursework Assignment One

Mr Horsman

Marriage

1. Sexual relationships are important in Christianity because one of the sole purposes in life is to have babies and to populate the earth. However, sexual intercourse is not permitted outside of marriage in the Christian Church. Sexual intercourse must take place within a marriage because this shows that they have self-control and sexual restraint. A Christian marriage is built on breaking celibacy and having sexual relations, which lead to the birth of children.

“Be fruitful and increase in number… fill the earth.” Genesis 1:28.

This shows that God wanted people to have sexual intercourse in order to continue the job that he started and populate the earth. However, many Christians think that waiting until marriage before sex, celibacy, is too much to ask of in this time were sex is mentioned frequently in everyday life. Personally, I think that moral principles never change and so what was believed in the time of Christ should still be believed today. Racism is not seen as right because Martin Luther King has died, just because someone is deceased does not mean that what they fought for in their lives can be forgotten. In addition, if Jesus still walked the earth preaching, all Christians would be Orthodox and stay true to the content of the Bible, and celibacy would be kept until marriage. Above all, I believe that Christians should not be able to choose which parts of their religion they follow. If they are Christians they must practice all of the Church teachings not just the ones that suite them.

In this century, many items or procedures have been invented in order to make sex a common thing that can be carried out whenever someone wants with no consequences. These include abortions and contraceptives; Christian views on these vary between different denominations of the Christian Church. Abortions are viewed as undesirable in most Christian denominations. The Roman Catholic Church say it is wrong, while The Church of England say it is permissible in certain circumstances for example when having the baby could have a negative effect in the woman’s health. In my opinion the Roman Catholic, belief is right because abortion is against the sixth commandment:

“You shall not commit murder” Exodus 20:13

Even though there is considerable debate as to whether abortion is murder or not because it is believed by some that a person is not truly alive until they have been born.

The majority of the Christian Church is against contraception because God said;

“There is no God besides me. I put to death and I bring to life” Deuteronomy 32:39.

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“There is no God besides me. I put to death and I bring to life” Deuteronomy 32:39.

However, the Anglican Church suggests that contraception allows parents to plan their family in a more responsible way. The majority of the Christian Church does not see these means of family planning acceptable because the use of contraception is not life giving and the Church believes every life is sacred and abortions or contraceptives either destroy or prevent life. Personally, I do not believe in abortion because there are enough children’s homes around to care for the child. Furthermore, if, for any reason, the woman cannot care for the child she should not of had sexual intercourse in the first place. On the other hand, I do believe in barrier contraception because it is nearly 100% effective at stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS. I do not think that the Church has the right to tell some one they cannot use something that could save your life.

If a husband and wife are unable to have children for whatever reason, a form of artificial insemination called artificial insemination by the husband (AIH) is permissible as long as no one else is involved, as the sanctity of marriage is not interfered with. Artificial insemination using donated sperm (AID) is less favourable as the sperm is not the husbands’ and (IVF) In Vitro Fertilisation is not allowed as it can lead to the creation of spare embryos. Personally, I think that AIH should definitely be allowed because no one should be denied the right to a child, and nothing else contributes to fertilization so the sanctity of marriage is not tainted. AIH is assisted sex and so is fine. However, I do not agree with AID because it is effectively committing adultery because the wife is having another man’s baby, adultery is wrong so therefore AID is wrong. I strongly disagree with IVF because it is wrong for any type of human experimentation because every life is precious. In addition, by experimenting on humans, we are impersonating God, which is wrong because God says:

“I put to death and I bring to life” Deuteronomy 32:39.

Experimenting and killing embryos are destroying life and only God has the authority to do this.

Whether in or outside marriage the scriptures say that homosexuality is wrong, and was a result of bad behaviour:

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their

women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same

way the men also abandoned natural relations with women, and were

inflamed with lust for one another: males committed indecent acts

with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for there

perversion.” Romans 1:26-27.

Christianity no longer condemns homosexuality, but it is not seen as the ideal. However, many people including priests argue that the scriptures were written a long time ago in an extremely different cultural background from today, so the same standards cannot be applied. Yet, same sex marriages are still not recognised in the UK and homosexual sex goes against Church teachings so many religious gays opt for celibacy. Personally, I do not believe in homosexual relationships because God created man and women so that they could reproduce and fill the world, two men or two women cannot have babies and therefore cannot comply with one of the main reasons for marriage, to reproduce, therefore they cannot get married.

The biggest sin that can be made in a sexual relationship, marriage, is adultery because it breaks the wedding vows made, in front of God, to one and another. The main reason why it is the worst sin made in a sexual relationship is that it breaks the seventh commandment;

“You shall not commit adultery” Exodus 20:14

By breaking this commandment, you are breaking one of only ten things that God asked of us in return for our lives. That is why for many people and me adultery is the worst sin committable in a marriage.

2. A Christian marriage is a life long union. It is a solemn contract between two people involving commitment and responsibility that reflects Gods love. Christian teachings state that the purpose of marriage is for two people to offer mutual support and to have children. If some one does not think that marriage is for them, they must remain celibate. In a Christian marriage, one of the main purposes is to have children, as illustrated by;

“Be fruitful and increase in number… fill the earth.” Genesis 1:28.

This forces Christian spouses to make a serious decision, as they are not allowed to use contraception or have an abortion, they must decide whether or not they are ready to break celibacy or not and commit to life with a child. This would cause a major change in their lifestyles because a baby costs a lot of money to care for and a lot of time.

This causes spouses to make a huge decision, do they have children or not? It is a Christian duty to have children as it says in Genesis 1:28. However many spouses do not think they are not ready to have children yet, so they have to prolong it. However many people wish to show their love to their spouses by breaking celibacy with them. This is fine except many of these people are not ready for a child so they either make a life changing decision to have children and get on with life or they use forms of family planning. This is having sexual intercourse with contraception thus stopping the sperm from meeting the ovum and making a baby. This is wrong in most of the Christian denominations as it is preventing new life from being born which is wrong in the eyes of the Church because the church believes all live is sacred. The Bible also says that it is not up to us to decide whether someone lives or dies.

“I put to death and I bring to life” Deuteronomy 32:39.

This is why contraception is not allowed in most Christian denominations.

The other form of family planning is abortions; this is when the zygote is killed inside the woman. The Catholic Church states that artificial contraception is not acceptable. This is because the church believes that sexual intercourse is when the husband and wife become physically one, the purpose of this is to create new life as stated in Genesis 1:28. This causes a huge dilemma for Christian spouses because they cannot express their love for one another without having a baby. Which would mean a major change in lifestyle as a baby consumes lots of money and time. In the modern world many spouses do not have time for a baby and so the church suggest natural family planning.

Natural family planning is when the wife learns about the timings of her menstrual cycle and is aware when ovulation happens. The husband supports his wife during this time by sharing with her learning. This leads to greater closeness between the spouses.

Some spouses are not capable of natural family planning and so may commit adultery. This is when the husband or wife sleeps with some one else. This is against the Church as it breaks the seventh commandment:

“You shall not commit adultery” Exodus 20:14.

This is often seen as the worst sin in marriage as it is against Gods will and it is

breaking their wedding vows, so they were therefore lying to God on their wedding day. Many spouses feel that they were forced into committing adultery because their other spouse refused to have sexual intercourse because he or she is not yet ready for a child. Although adultery is never permitted because if one of the spouses refuses to have children the marriage can be annulled.

3. I do not agree with the statement “To be married to the same person for your whole life is too difficult for many people today. The church should be willing to drop this vow.” I do not agree with it because in Mark 10:2-12 Jesus says the creation of mankind marriages were meant to last for life, and if a divorcee remarries it is the same as committing adultery. I believe in this because this is the way that God wanted it to be. However, I can see that as times change cultures change and many people are having sex at young ages, drinking more then they would, watching television and all kinds of things that could not be done when Jesus patrolled the earth.

Many people believe that in this day and age it is acceptable to divorce because times have changed since the Bible was written and so should religion should adapt accordingly. Even more people start to believe that divorce is acceptable because of Free Churches saying that a marriage is ended by the death of love not by physical death so it is better to divorce then to live a lie. The Church of England also believes that under some circumstances divorce is acceptable. People also start to believe that divorce is acceptable because ‘Celebrities’ divorce each other so it is seen as okay. This could not be more wrong because when people try to behave like some one else they are idolising them, which breaks the second commandment;

“You shall not bow down before idols” Exodus 20:4.

By copying these people they are being idolised, therefore they are not allowed to be copied which is why just because someone else divorces doest mean it is right for you to.

Personally, I do not believe that any reason for divorce being acceptable because if the marriage is not working it can be annulled made to have never been a true marriage. This is done if either partner did not consent to the marriage or did not know what it was. Alternatively, if the couple did not or could not have sex or one person did not want children.

In conclusion, I can see the reasons why a divorce might be wanted, but I can justify that it should never be needed. If the two people get to know each other probably before engaging in marriage then it would defiantly be true love. However if it turned out not to be true love, or one of them did not understand, the marriage can be annulled. Overall, I do not believe in the statement because religion cannot be simply changed, you either live by the Bible or not. A religion does not and cannot change because people change. This is why I do not believe in the statement.