The Christian Vanguard

I recorded my class session at Holy Innocents. I may do this regularly. The topic for today was on marriage and divorce.

The following is a handout I typed up for the Newman Bible Study. Feel free to use it as you see fit. What Does the Bible Say About: Marriage Biblical Data Ephesians 5:21-33 21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates ...

Here is a brief review I wrote on Amazon for this resentful little book.

1st Corinthians 6:16 says that when we are united with a prostitute, we are one body with her. I'm not exactly sure what this means, or rather, what this assumes. So, we know that sex is a unitive act. However, when you use contraceptives, that unity isn't consummated. If you were to use contraceptives, are you not really united with the prostitute and hence not one body? I wonder if there were contraceptives in Paul's day for him to consider this. I don't know if there were or if there were not. Another thing that makes me wonder is the language of one body, which is used to communicate marriage. Is Paul saying that in sex with a prostitute (assume the union, contraceptives or not, is real) we are therefore married to that prostitute? That doesn't seem correct. Then one prostitute has multiple husbands, and so does anyone who is not faithful to their spouse. I dunno. 

Today was an enlightening day. I met Alexander Pruss, someone I highly admire and respect, and to be honest, am a little intimidated by. I took notes on my phone from his lecture, and I'll copy it here, but do scroll down for my interaction with him during Q&A. 

There may be an inconsistency in my thinking about marriage (yes, another marriage post. Sorry). On one hand, I believe in arranged marriages. I think this is very Biblical. Adam and Eve were an arranged marriage, and they are supposed to be models of how we humans are supposed to be in a state of grace, for which Jesus died, to restore us to our Edenic glory, and then some. On the other hand, I think it is a bit foolish that couples get engaged, or married, too early. What exactly is the tension here? 

I've dipped my toe back in the dating scene. I'm not dating, but I've started investing a little more in my friendships with women. Women I wouldn't mind dating. This is probably a bad idea though, as I can't really afford to invest this time anyways. But why do I desire this? What about marriage makes a man want to spend himself so much? Many of my philosopher friends will say that it is because marriage is a good, and goods are worth pursuing for precisely that reason. While I agree that marriage is a good, it's a little more than that. Pitching it as a mere good is to sell it short. Marriage isn't just good, it's sacred.  When I reflect on that, I become a little embarrassed. When I think of things that are sacred, I have in mind something reverent and so glorious, that it keeps one silent. "Be still and know that I am God" says the Bible. When I am in front of the blessed sacrament, I am quite, still, at ease, at peace, etc. Or if I we...

C. S. Lewis describes a fascinating scene at the end of my favorite of his works, The Great Divorce. He describes seeing in heaven a beautiful and glorious woman. The protagonist asks his guide, an angel, who she was, thinking it may be Mary. The angel says she was a married woman who earned this glory by being a mother to children she met and a kind of lover to men she met. To qualify this last statement, the angel says that when she met men, the virtuosity that radiated in her character spurred these men to be better husbands for their wives. This always bugged me. I always thought there was a kind of impropriety to it. But, I've changed my mind. 

A few months ago, I went on a date with a woman. We met on Facebook, through common Catholic circles, and she was incredibly smart and pretty, so, we met up. Nothing really happened, but I learned from her that she was about 12 years older than I was. That surprised me, because she didn't look it. I thought she was my age, probably older, but not by much, a year or two maybe. So, I'm a bit disappointed that it didn't work out, and sometimes I wonder what would have happened if it did (it was mutually understood that it wasn't going to happen, so I wasn't like rejected or anything). Particularly, I wondered if age would be a factor. 

My friends got married recently. My Catholic friends. Yeah, that means they're never getting divorced. My protestant friends hate on this. I guess they love divorce? No, I'm kidding. But no, seriously, divorce is never permitted. 

Many non Catholics believe Catholic priests cannot be married. This is false.

Are the differences between Democrats and Republicans substantial and important enough to keep the two from getting married? Yes, because of Same-Sex marriage and Abortion.