Same-Sex MArriage Violates Sacrament of Marriage
Same-Sex Marriage Violates the Sacrament of
Marriage
Homosexuality, 2013
"There is not a same-sex equivalent to bride and groom. To insist that there are such equivalencies, and to act on this error, not only represents marriage as something it is not but also envisions salvation as something it is not."
Vigen Guroian is a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the author of The Melody of Faith: Theology in an Orthodox Key and other works. In the following viewpoint, Guroian argues that a same-sex union cannot be tolerated as part of the holy sacrament of marriage. As he explains, Christian marriage is not a civil partnership; it is a manifestation of God's will to join man and woman as one flesh bonded to Christ. Marriage is not a symbolic union, according to Guroian, but a religious practice that exemplifies God's prophecy and
"fulfills the goal and purpose of Creation." For these reasons, Guroian insists that it excludes same-sex partners. To keep the religious nature of marriage intact, Guroian suggests that the government perform civil ceremonies while allowing churches to enact the marriage sacrament subsequently on those who conform to the model put forth by God.
As you read, consider the following questions:
1. In what part of courtship does Guroian claim that "consent" between partners belongs, according to Orthodox teachings?
2. What civil problems does the author foresee if marriage is no longer defined as a sacrament between man and woman?
3. How does Guroian think the Orthodox Church should respond to the civil tolerance of same-sex marriage? In recent years, homosexual persons and their supporters in North America have argued that marriage should be redefined to include the union of two persons of the same sex. Increasingly, this argument has been cast as a civil liberties issue: homosexual persons seek constitutional rights and liberties that have long been denied to them, key
Marriage
Homosexuality, 2013
"There is not a same-sex equivalent to bride and groom. To insist that there are such equivalencies, and to act on this error, not only represents marriage as something it is not but also envisions salvation as something it is not."
Vigen Guroian is a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the author of The Melody of Faith: Theology in an Orthodox Key and other works. In the following viewpoint, Guroian argues that a same-sex union cannot be tolerated as part of the holy sacrament of marriage. As he explains, Christian marriage is not a civil partnership; it is a manifestation of God's will to join man and woman as one flesh bonded to Christ. Marriage is not a symbolic union, according to Guroian, but a religious practice that exemplifies God's prophecy and
"fulfills the goal and purpose of Creation." For these reasons, Guroian insists that it excludes same-sex partners. To keep the religious nature of marriage intact, Guroian suggests that the government perform civil ceremonies while allowing churches to enact the marriage sacrament subsequently on those who conform to the model put forth by God.
As you read, consider the following questions:
1. In what part of courtship does Guroian claim that "consent" between partners belongs, according to Orthodox teachings?
2. What civil problems does the author foresee if marriage is no longer defined as a sacrament between man and woman?
3. How does Guroian think the Orthodox Church should respond to the civil tolerance of same-sex marriage? In recent years, homosexual persons and their supporters in North America have argued that marriage should be redefined to include the union of two persons of the same sex. Increasingly, this argument has been cast as a civil liberties issue: homosexual persons seek constitutional rights and liberties that have long been denied to them, key