RCF Themes and Ch 25 of Savoy Declaration
[At the RCF Conference in] 2018 we will be addressing Chapter 25 of the Savoy Declaration, which deals with “of Marriage.” A copy of this chapter is given below.
The following are some suggested topics/themes/titles that you might consider, but you’re not limited to them,
- How do we reconcile the OT practice of multiple wives with the call for one wife, one husband?
- Are there biblical grounds for divorce, and, if so, does the call for one wife or husband extend to prohibition of remarriage after divorce?
- How does this chapter inform the qualification of an elder to “be the husband of one wife?” Is that a prescription? Does divorce disqualify?
- “It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry”: should marriage be treated as a civil institution? If so, should pastors perform marriages for non-Christians, or Christians for that matter? Does it inform the church’s response to recent state-sanctioned same-sex marriages? How can the church protect itself from state interference regarding marriage?
- “Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife”: What is the biblical role of the husband? What is the biblical role of the wife? How can the church be an agent of grace in correcting abuse within the home?
- Sub-point 2 strikes a pragmatic tone. Should ‘romantic’ love be a factor in marriage?
- The motif of marriage in the Scripture as a metaphor for the relationship between God and his people.
- The practical and pastoral challenges of one party of a couple coming to faith after marriage
- Should the pastor engage in pre-marital counseling, and, if so, what are practical guidelines for the pastor to follow?
- Children are anticipated, is birth control permissible?
- The word covenant is not used in the chapter. Is marriage a covenant and, if so, how does it inform the relationship?
- Why exchange vows in a wedding? Why not just live together?
Chapter 25
Of Marriage
- Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time.
- Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife; for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church with an holy seed, and for preventing of uncleanness.
- It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry, who are able with judgment to give their consent. Yet it is the duty of Christians to marry in the Lord; and therefore such as profess the true reformed religion, should not marry with infidels, Papists, or other idolaters: neither should such as are godly, be unequally yoked by marrying with such as are wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresies.
- Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguity or affinity forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife.