A Biblical View of Marriage: Responding to Chick-Fil-A

For the past two weeks, we’ve been inundated by the rantings of Chick-fil-A's president stating that millions of dollars are donated by the company to anti-gay causes, in order to protect the ‘Biblical view of marriage’. Frankly, I’m tired of hearing it. Chick-fil-A has the right to spend their profits in whatever way they want, but to proclaim that in doing so, their desire is to make sure that a ‘one man-one woman’ idea of marriage is the official Biblical view. Hogwash! If Chick-fil-A wants to make the Biblical view of marriage the law of the land, then let’s look and see what the Bible has to say about marriage.

The creation of marriage is recorded in Genesis 2:23-24: "The man said, ‘this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” According the this scripture, marriage is God’s attempt to fix his mistake. Genesis 2:18 states, “It is not good for man to be alone.” I guess God didn’t realize that Adam might want a little company.

The word “helper” used to describe Eve in Genesis 2:20 means, “to surround, to protect or aid, help.” Eve was created to be his aid and his helper. This means that, from the very beginning of time, women were created to serve men. Forget equal rights, God has spoken and his words say that women are NOT equal. The first element of a Biblical marriage is that a woman is her husband’s servant.

There are several epistles written in the New Testament by the apostle Paul that refer to marriage and how Christians are to operate within the marriage relationship. One such passage is 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and another is Ephesians 5:22-33. When studied together, these two passages provide biblical principles that form a framework for a “God-pleasing” marriage relationship. 

The Ephesians passage is especially profound in reference to a successful biblical marriage. "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior" 

There it is again! Women, according to the Bible, are to submit to their husbands. So, if we take this definition from the very pages of the Bible, then the second principle of a Biblical marriage is the right for a man to do with his wife whatever he wants to do. Her only role in life is to submit. The husband wants to abuse his wife; she must submit. He wants to have mistress; she must submit. He wants to keep her locked up in the back room without proper food or water; she must submit. If he wants her to wear a full length dress, head wrap and veil; she must submit. I could go on and on, but the point is clear: a woman doesn’t have any rights in the Biblical view of marriage.

There are so many other passages of Scripture that paint a very clear picture of the ‘Biblical view of marriage’. Consider the following:

The Biblical Definition of marriage is…

• An arranged marriage—Genesis 24:1-4 (and many other passages)
• A levirate marriage (If a man died leaving no male heir, his brother was required to marry his widow and produce children)—Deuteronomy 25:5-10
• A polygamous marriage—1 Kings 11:3 (and many, many other passages)
• Not inter-racial—Deuteronomy 7:14; 1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Corinthians 6:14
• Filled with sexual prohibitions—no intercourse during menstruation (The woman is unclean. Yet another degradation of women.) —The woman cannot withhold sex from her husband; she has to fulfill his desire for sex when he wants it. (And another example of the Bible’s misogyny)
• Not allowed to be dissolved, i.e. NO DIVORCE—Matthew 5:31-32; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18
• Except when the man wanted to because his wife had become ‘displeasing’ to him—Deuteronomy 24:1-4
• Between a rapist and his victim—Deuteronomy 22:28-29
• An arranged marriage by a slave owner for his slaves—Genesis 24:4
• Can be between brother and sister—How else do you explain where Cain’s wife came from!
• Intended to produce children—Without children a woman was:
• Shamed—a barren woman was looked upon as cursed by God
• Unable to be saved—1 Timothy 2:15 
• And on, and on… ad nauseam!

Many will read this article and bring up the old defense, “Those things are from the Old Testament. We are Christians, we follow the New Testament.” Christians love to talk about how Jesus abolished the Old Testament and the horribly offensive parts about slavery, keeping women in their place, killing gays, etc. In fact, he did no such thing.

Let’s listen to Jesus’ own words as recorded in the gospels:

“For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:18-19

“It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” (Luke 16:17)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Matthew 5:17)

“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law” (John7:19)

Jesus expects, no demands that every person who claims to be his follower must obey what is written in the Old Testament. You will hear a big ‘AMEN’ from the religious when we’re talking about the Ten Commandments, which is Old Testament teaching, on government property, but when we start defining marriage well…the Old Testament is off limits; outdated; not relevant; a part of the old way of thinking. You can’t have it both ways. Either you believe what the Bible says or you don’t.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the Biblical definition of marriage. I prefer marriage to consist of two adults who make a commitment to each other based on love and mutual respect. I’ll take that over a ‘Biblical marriage’ any day.

 ~Teresa MacBain