[418 words]
In my work as a minister I have had several opportunities to conduct weddings. There was never any confusion as to which person was the “bride” in contrast to the “bridegroom.” The woman was always the bride. The man was always the bridegroom. Each and every time, this was reflected in the language I used when officiating at the ceremony. For example, I would begin the nuptials by saying something like: “Dearly beloved, we are here gathered together in the sight of God to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony.”
As the ceremony progressed I would ask the groom: “will you have this woman to be your wedded wife.” Similarly, I would quiz the bride: “will you have this man to be your wedded husband.” Finally, the man and woman would be pronounced as married and presented as husband and wife. This language, as it pertains to the husband/wife relationship between a man and a woman, reflects the traditional view of marriage between two people of the opposite sex.
According to history, a marital union between a male and a female is the way that marriage has always been understood. Recently, however, those promoting homosexual marriages have had to take steps to change the language on marriage certificates and in wedding ceremonies from this traditional wording. By their own admission a “gay marriage” does not involve a “husband” and “wife” relationship.
Even more importantly, this language of a “husband/wife” relationship reflects the biblical view of marriage. For example, one apostle said, “Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church” (Eph. 5:25). Another said, “In like manner, you wives be in subjection to your own husbands” (1 Pet. 3:1). The biblical view is that marriage is a union between “husband” and “wife.” This is related by the very language used. There has never been a time within biblical history in which God conveyed that two men or two women could legitimately be married to one another. From the sacred text marriage is always depicted as being between a male and a female. Tragically, the moral values of within the United States, and throughout the world, are deteriorating at a rapid pace. This is reflected by the clamor for the acceptance of”gay marriage” or “same sex marriage” in which two people of the same gender may be legally married by law. In order to do so, however, they must reject both the language of tradition and the Bible.
Stephen Wiggins
San Augustine church of Christ
San Augustine, TX