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The two sides engaged in a fierce battle over gay marriage may not agree on much, but they come together on this: the institution of marriage faces a crossroads. For one camp, gay marriage marks the culmination of years that have slowly but surely weakened marriage. These conservatives have drawn a line in the sand and refuse to relent this time. For the other camp, gay marriage symbolizes a different sort of Rubicon. After a succession of smaller victories in the sexual revolution, these innovators now seek to inflict a crippling blow to traditional marriage by abolishing the two-gender definition that has guided society thus far.

Yet, as usual in America's myopic debates, not many on either side realize that the struggle over defining marriage has been going on for centuries already.

For example, during the early church period, some religious leaders denounced marriage altogether, while others advocated polygamy. And during the Reformation, Henry VIII infamously flouted the explicit teaching the Roman Catholic Church to seek a divorce.

Not surprisingly, the human tendency over the years has been to reshape marriage to fit temporal desires. But before concerned Christians can defend a "traditional, Christian definition" of marriage as the appropriate, healthy standard for society at large, we need to know what that standard looks like and how it has developed.

A Brave New World for Marriage
Determining the purpose of marriage was one of the early church fathers' most daunting challenges. They discovered rich guidance in Jesus' teachings and Paul's writings but sometimes struggled to shed pagan preconceptions and interpret Old Testament models. Compounding their difficulties, some influential religious leaders offered unorthodox interpretations of Scripture. Tatian and Marcion rejected marriage completely, but Tertullian defended marriage despite preferring celibacy. Carpocrates and Epiphanes encouraged their followers to take common wives, as some Godly men had in the Old Testament. Clement countered by holding up for imitation Peter's monogamous devotion to his wife.

The test, then, was to discover and preach God's intention for marriage. John Chrysostom, a fourth-century leader renowned for his oratorical skills, exegeted Ephesians 5 to illustrate the profound importance of marriage. "The love of husband and wife is the force that welds society together," he proclaimed. "Men will take up arms and even sacrifice their lives for the sake of this love. St. Paul would not speak so earnestly about this subject without serious reason; why else would he say, 'Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord?' Because when harmony prevails, the children are raised well, the household is kept in order, and neighbors, friends and relatives praise the result. Great benefits, both for families and states, are thus produced."

The church fathers expected a great deal from marriage, even though many of them, following Paul's example, remained celibate. Chrysostom, in fact, considered marriage suitable only for the spiritually weak and needy. Augustine of Hippo, who lived from 354 to 430 and left an indelible mark on the church, had spent his formative years indulging himself in sexual sin. But he abandoned his sensual lifestyle in the waters of baptism on Easter in 387. Like Chrysostom and Tertullian, he considered virginity a more admirable state than marriage. In his treatise On Marriage and Concupiscence, though, he pointed out marriage's foremost function: "The union, then, of male and female for the purpose of procreation is the natural good of marriage."

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April (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48