Amending Marriage - The BAS Library
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Home > Magazines > Bible Review > October 2004

Amending Marriage

If we’re going to use the Bible as a model, why not go all the way?

By Ronald S. Hendel

Shakespeare observed that “many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage.” Since nowadays hanging is out of favor, some people are trying to prevent what they regard as bad marriages by a constitutional amendment. The recently proposed Federal Marriage Amendment defines marriage as “the union of a man and a woman.” By this definition, gay marriage would forever be prohibited. This proposed amendment is said to appeal to traditionalist Christians, who want the institution of marriage to be Bible-based. I have no particular objection to these people’s preferences, though I agree with the majority of the Senate, which has […]

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Endnotes

1.

Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 restore the exception of “unchastity,” perhaps because Joseph was planning to divorce Mary for this reason (Matthew 1:19). The prohibition of divorce was probably also instituted by the Dead Sea sect (Damascus Document 4:20–5:2); see John J. Collins, “Marriage, Divorce, and Family in Second Temple Judaism,” in Leo G. Perdue, et al., Families in Ancient Israel (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), p. 129.