The following statement is being circulated for signatures among faculty members at Bible colleges and other institutions of higher learning in Canada. Please read the news article.
We are opposed to the proposal to redefine the institution of marriage, and feel a responsibility as scholars and teachers to publish our views on the subject. We sense the profound brokenness of our society, and our church, over this issue, and appeal for a humble, honest and compassionate concern to be shown for those who particularly struggle with it. We also believe that true healing can only transpire when people have been restored to a right relationship with God in Christ, and are taught to live in reverence as those who bear His image.
Since the subject relates so profoundly to the human condition, we appeal to the Creation text that first lends us insight into it: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). The relationship of marriage and the "one flesh" it creates out of bodies opposite yet complementary in their sexual nature is part of God’s good creation.
This text does not explain what it means to be human so much as it tells us that we can only understand that status in our likeness to God. As such, it establishes that the deepest human truths relate us to Him; they are not merely intellectual. Nor can they be gained through autonomous means. Even at this stage, it also suggests how in the relationship of male and female in marriage we discover something profound about the triune nature of God.
The blurring of the boundaries of the marriage relationship has rent deep fissures in the edifice of our society, as has widespread promiscuity. The expression of human sexuality is clearly not merely a private act, but a covenant relationship. It affects the whole of society.
While the state may and, we believe, ought to affirm the importance of marriage, it lies beyond the scope of its sovereignty to define it. That is the prerogative of the Creator.
We understand that the relationship of marriage, like all of creation, has been marred by human sinfulness. The idealisation of romantic love even in the Christian community has not helped matters. It has placed an unbearable burden of expectation on what remains a relationship of fallen individuals. The contrasting picture of a battle of the sexes is no less a caricature.
More accurate is to say that a faithful union of marriage, and the human sexuality expressed within its confines, possesses great power to nourish and protect. It bears fruit not simply in the procreation of children, but in the mutual support and comfort of husband and wife. Yet like all gifts, it also has disastrous potential when it is misused or its duties and cares are neglected.
In the New Testament, however, we see an alternative to marriage also being lauded as good: celibate singleness for Christ. Jesus tells us that there will be no marriage in heaven. This is not to denigrate the fundamental goodness of marriage; it clearly remains normative in this world. But it does show that marriage and singleness are both presently and ultimately intended to serve as active parables of God’s relationship to His people. Hosea, Ephesians 5 and Revelation 21-22 reveal this clearly, and the latter passage reveals both the personal and corporate nature of this union in its mixed metaphor of a city, clothed as a bride, the counterpart to Christ the heavenly Bridegroom.
We, the undersigned, believe that any attempt to distort this picture through a redefinition of marriage will prove disastrous not only in relating to our Creator, but also to each other, and thus we add our voices to the Roman Catholic bishops who have opposed it.
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