MARRIAGE DEBATE: A PUBLIC THEOLOGY OF MARRIAGE, THE

Trinity Journal, Fall 2007 by Kynes, William L

B. Fall: A Relationship Fractured by Sin

The prototypical marriage relationship described in Gen 2:24, 25, blessed by God and so full of promise, is shattered by the disobedience of this first pair. First Eve, then Adam, choose to act contrary to God's will, resulting in alienation from God (Gen 3:8, 23) and from each other (Gen. 3:12, 16). The curse pronounced on the woman reinforces this alienation (Gen 3:16), and in the course of the biblical story the "one-flesh" union of male and female becomes manifestly distorted.

Already in Genesis 4 bigamy appears (4:19), and through the history of Israel polygamy becomes common. Though polygamy is nowhere prohibited, this distortion of God's design is almost invariably related to negative consequences in the lives of those concerned, from Abraham's failed attempt to fulfill God's promise through his surrogate Hagar to Solomon's marital excesses that resulted in the split of the nation itself. Marriage17 was the exclusive context for sexual relations, but the law included regulations for divorce, primarily as a means of protecting the weak and minimizing the negative consequences of marital failure (cf. Deut 24:1-4).

The corresponding picture of the marriage of God and his people reflects this rupture of relationship, as the people of Israel repeatedly turn from the worship of Yahweh to other gods. The divine instruction to the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute is a most vivid illustration of the moral state of the nation in God's sight. Spiritual adultery, especially in the worship of pagan deities, constitutes a central accusation of the prophetic tradition.18

C. Redemption: A Relationship Redeemed by the Son

The prophetic tradition which confronts the nation also gives words of promise and hope, for the Lord does not give up on his people. Hosea speaks of a future day when the Lord would redeem his people and draw them back to himself: "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'" (Hos 2:16), and "I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD" (Hos 2:20).

Building on that imagery in the gospels, when Jesus comes into the world he compares his own mission to a wedding. "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?" he asks (Matt 9:15). In Jesus Christ, God has come to claim his bride for himself and to do the work which will establish that marriage as one that is solid, faithful, and enduring.19 A new covenant is inaugurated in which sins are forgiven and God's people are given a new heart to love him. The new people of God in the church are depicted as the bride of Christ, as marriage once again becomes a central theological model of this most fundamental of relationships (Eph 5:25-27).

In the NT, however, this theological metaphor becomes reciprocal, throwing light back on the human relationship on which it is based. The reconciliation with God effected in the gospel provides the foundation for all human reconciliation as well. In considering the nature of the new life to which those who are in Christ are called, Paul uses the "marriage" of Christ and the church as a moral model depicting the responsibilities of husbands and wives in this new order of the Spirit (cf. Eph 5:18). Though he retains a traditional framework for marriage, the Apostle views the relationship between husbands and wives in the light of the gospel, and the result is a revolutionary reworking of the traditional form.