Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-03-01
The Christian Law OF MARRIAGE

What is the real nature of divine idea Of
marriage as unfolded by the highest au-
thority, that of Jesus Christ in his inter-
probation Of the mind of the Creator at its
first institution? This is very fully and
clearly expounded in the following passage
MARX K 2-9):
And the Pharisees came to him, and
asked him, Is it lawful for man to put
away his wife? tempting him......."And
Jesus answered, For the hardness Of your
hearts, he wroteyou this precept: But from
the beginning of the creation God made
them male and female For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother,
and shall cleave to his Wife and they twain
shall be one flesh; so then they are no
msretwain but one flesh. What, therefore,
God hath joined together, let not man put
asunder.
Observe how he vndicates the authority
of Moses by explaining the reason Of his
liberation of divorce, viz: the hardness of
their hearts. or their moral incapscty for
the highest law and ideal of virtue, i'm
mersed as they were in barbarism, which
made it expedient to regulate and restrict
An evil which he could not wholly at once
remedy. The principle explains the toler-
alton of other evils, such as polygamy and
slavery, in those early times, and the argu-
ment is as good, and no better. for the con-
tinuance of these practices under the chris
tian dispensation, as for the equally bar
barous practice Of divorce. At the same
time he holds up the original divine law OF
marriage as not compromised or repealed
but still in force. The true idea of mar
rage is revealed in the original creation
of man. Let us turn to the account ofthi
creation as given in Genesis, and read i
in the light of Christ's own Interpretation
So God created man in his own image
in the image of God created he him; NAL
and female created he them........In th
day that God created man, in the Likeness
of God made he him. Male and femal
created he them, and blessed them, an
called their name Adam in the day whe
they were created.
Notice here the remarkable interchang
of singular and plural, indicating that ma
i, one in'idea and two in form and realii
alton. The true and divine idea of ma
includes both male and female-one nam
Adam, covering both for it is noticeabl
that the name Eve was given to the We
man bv the man after their transgressiol
but God called them by one name, Adam
For the man" says Paul, 'is not compe
without the woman, j. e. is not comple
without her)-neither is the woman will
out the man in the Lord, or in the dYii
idea" How many fine spun and Him
theories about woman's' rights apart fro
and independent of men, are scattered
the winds by this grand and simple trut
The right of the woman to be independe
is the right ofthe left hand to live and
Dor independently of the right; or t
right ofthe heart TO be Independent oft
head. For we are members one Of anot
or. and neither can be complete witho
the other. The ideal unity of man a
woman is still further seen in the origin
woman, as taken and made from the ms
(See Genesis ii 1929
And the Lord God said. 1t is not GO
that man should be alone. will ma
him help meet for him. (Ora hell
corresponding to him-his counterpart
And the Lord God caused deep sleep
fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he to
one of his ribs and closed up the flesh
stead thereof And the rib which