Evening journal., 1915-05-12


he is not bound to do so. In !
reaching the conclusion, the approved
method of obtaining evidence of the
fact is the record of the court The
reason for this requirement is that
there may be no doubt in The eyes of
the community as to the church's en-
tire loyalty to the Christian standard.
THE law of the church on this point
is nothing more nor less than the law
of Christ. The authority to which we
defer is not that of our own general
convention, nor of any school or gen.
GRAFTON of Christians, even the earliest,
but the authority of our Divine Lord
Himself II was He who said, Who
soever shall put away his wife and
marry another, committeth adultery
against her. And if woman shall
put away her husband and be married
TO another, she committeth adultery
So record two of the evangelists. (St.
Mark XII; st. Luke xvi:1S).
"A third evangelist. st. Matthew,
adds clause, whatsoever shall put
away his wife, except il be for fOrni-
cation, and shall marry another, conf
mitteth adultery The only doubt as
to our Lords teaching on this point,
according to the evidence of the Cos
pels, is as to whether he allowed re-
marriage after divorce in any case at
all. Many think the clause in st.
Matthew an unauthentic interpreta-
ton. Our church canon, therefore.
only follows the more lenient--or
more lax-interpretation of our Lords
own words. To oppose the teaching
of the church on this point is to de-
ny the express teaching of our Lord
for clergy of the church to do So
in whose case there can be no plea
of ignorance-is an act of manifest
treason. Those who do not recognize
our Lord as having right to speak
with absolute authority, and right TO
claim our implicit obedience, nay
consistently ignore His teaching On
this point as on others; but for us
who own Him as Divine Lord and
Master, and His words as the teach
ing of God. there can be no question
and no choice The Christian law
of marriage is the union of one man
and one woman until death. The
Pharisees came to Him and asked
Him, is it lawful for a man to put
away his wife? tempting Him. He an
swered and said unto them, What did
Moses command your They said,
Moses suffered to write a bill of di-
vorcement and to put her away Jes-
us answered and said unto them, For
the hardness of your heart he wrote
you this precept. But from the begun.
ming of the creation God made them
male and female. For this cause shall
man leave his father and mother
and cleave to his wife; and they twain
shall be one flesh. What therefore
God has joined together, let no man
put asunder' (St. Mark x:2-9).
Our Lords law of the indissolubil-
ity of the marriage tie save by death
merely puts the cOnjugal bond on a
par with the bonds of blood-relation-
ship. The tie between parents and
children is in the nature of things
unique and indissoluble. The physi-
cal fact of share in common blood
common heredity. involves mutual re-
sponsibilities from which there is nc
escape, mutual obligations of love and
loyalty for better or worse till deatf
mart here-and beyond death. Sin II
parents or children may mar the re-
lationship and the tie of blood prove
the worst of handicaps. Yet the phy
steal bond cannot be loosed, nor re
sulting responsibilities be Ignored
Moreover, apart from this fact, IL II
doubtful whether any serious-minde'
person would urge that 1t would D.
good for society to have parents at VII
oh whim-free to repudiate chill
dren. or children free at will to re
nounce parents. Ties of blood may b.
ignored: nevertheless they exist ant
cannot be changed. Individualists re
gard individual men and women a
independent, isolated units, and dis
parage all ties and obligations. Thi
. is contrary to the law of creation
which is a social, corporate law. tn
, human unit is not the individual bu
, the family: humanity is an organism
! not a dust-heap. The great fact 1
+ human life is not independence, bu
interdependence Fathers and chi
dren are inextricably bound; and 'lif
, is the sum of our relationships
! THE Christian law of marriag
I places the union of husband and wifi
! on a par with the bond between pal
! ents and child, common share in th
= process of a particular creation on
n
= of heredity. All human ties involV
b limitations, discipline. obligation
e burdens; but from acceptance and us
n of these comes life in the fullest sens
Y For all relationships the Chrlstia
!. ideal is that of lifelong fidelity.
d the face of tragic failures due to 81
l. and selfishness. the church holds vii
10 the more passionate devotion to hi
[ ideals of family holiness. The OF
@ happy marriage is typical, rath'
n than ninety-nine caricatures and fai
3 ures. as the perfect flower or fru
4 is typical, rather than any number
stunted growths. All marriages ms
be holy and happy, if entered an
l. lived 'reverently, discretely, sober
: and in the fear of Cod and in tn
/ belief the church. following her Lor
o only sanctions and blesses the unlol
i of those who may be expected 10
! saking all others to continue mutua
e ly true so long as they both sha
: live
q "Other questions Of difficulty a
= raised concerning the church's du
e in administering sacraments TO al
l. who have been married otherwise tn;
Al as Gods Word doth allow In al
r case of deliberate defiance of o.
Lords known law this could not
, course be allowed; nor would any wi
n were persistently disobeying His col
E. mands sincerely wish to share the
,e ner life of the church with its NOR
lie obligations. But there are cases OF
" norance, when people have not know
d the Christian law, and could not ha
"a been expected TO understand that I