If God Regulated Marriage…

 

This pragmatic look at marriage regulation is offered by Anna Hartis, Regent Law part time 2L working on her J.D. degree by distance from Florida, and current Wills, Trusts, and Estates student:

Isaiah 55:9 says, “…[God’s] ways higher than your ways…” Marriage seems like a perfect example of this statement. For example, both individuals and the State of Virginia have different requirements for marrying than God seems to have. According to the Pew Research Center, 90% of married people cited love as the reason for getting married. Exercising its power as a state to regulate marriage as decided in U.S. v. Windsor, Virginia, the home state of the university that maintains this blog, requires that the parties: (1) be at least eighteen years old (Va. Code Ann. § 20-48), (2) get a marriage license (Va. Code Ann. § 20-13), and (3) marry within sixty days of receiving the marriage license (Va. Code Ann. § 20-14.1).

Even though God does not require a marriage license, God does say a few things about marriage regulation. God says that if a man takes advantage of a woman, he is obligated to marry her. (According to biblehub.com, “need so require” in 1 Corinthians 7:36, KJV means “to owe; figuratively, to be under obligation; morally, to fail in duty.”). God also says that, to be married, a man must provide for his household (1 Timothy 5:8) and leave his father and mother (Genesis 2:24). Of a woman, God requires that she make a mature decision on whether and who to marry (1 Corinthians 7:36, KJV). Though a woman may be ready for romantic love at a younger age (Ezekiel 16:7), the U.S. National Health Institute (Mercurio 2020) says that brains of both men and women remain immature in making long-lasting decisions for their futures until they are around the age of twenty, according to many psychologists. God also adds that a woman should also provide for her household (Proverbs 31:13-16, 18-19, 24).

Synthesizing all of this, it appears that if God issued marriage licenses, His prerequisites would probably be that (1) both men and women be mature enough to commit to their prospective spouse for life, being willing and obligated to leave their parents and financially support themselves until death separates them from each other (Romans 7:2). God’s requirements for marriage are clearly higher than ours.