Marriage: Scripture and Rights
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith The recent announcement from the Supreme Court is one of mixed response across the land. It should be noted how mixed it even was within the court as it barely passed (5-4). Now what are Christians to do? The 1689 (and likewise the WCF) brings us comfort when in their own day, our Puritan forefathers foresaw that the government would oppose what is right and lawful before God. The confession states in paragraph 4 of chapter 25: Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity, forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful, by any law of man or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife. Obviously, the context of this given paragraph is dealing with the issue of incest, but the concept dwelling behind it is applicable: the government may try, and the people may try, but neither can actually change or redef...