Dating outside your Religion.

[Bronco99]

Which leads me to question, what are your views of divorce and re-marriage?

 

In the Catholic Church, marriage is considered a one-time deal. Without an annullment, one is not free to divorce and remarry with the Church's approval. Even if you are allowed a civil divorce, it does not dissolve your marriage as far as the Church is concerned. An annullment is simply the Tribunal's ruling that there were, in fact, errors made in two people marrying. They don't issue them willy-nilly, either.

 

I also believe it is a one time deal and you can only re-marry and not live in sin if your spouse dies or is unfaithful. If you divorce and re-marry for any other reason then you will be living in sin.

 

I have read all of the posts and I am not sure exactly how I feel about the annullment issue. I think this may just be a case where man has created a loop-hole to circumvent what the Bible teaches us about marriage but admit that I am not very educated about the annullment process and where the history of its existance comes from so, I will not say that my feelings on the subject is 100% right.

 

Please someone answer these question for me and it might help me with my thoughts. if a couple gets married and has children, then they are granted an anullment where these children born out of wedlock?

 

If the same two people are and have children or not, then get granted an annullment have they been living in sin by sleeping with each other and not really beining married?

 

The reason I ask these questions is someone said that two people are granted an annullment because it was decided that the marriage never happened in the first place and in my mind I am say if the marriage never happened then the couple were living in sin. I am not saying that my mind is right (my wife says that I am never in my right mind) and if my understaning is wrong then I am very open to someone explaining it to me so that I can understand.

 

I find this topic very interesting, I have been married for 19 years and I grew up going to a Church of Christ and my wife is Babtist. We have different beliefs on several issues that deal with our different religions but we are in total agreement with our salvation and that we belong to the same church whichis made up of all christians. So, we never gave our religious backgrounds a second thought and it has never been an issue during our 19 years of marriage.

[Bronco99]

God still sees them married, so the bible doesn't see the remarriage as being married and are therefore committing a sin, thats not how I feel, but what the bible states.

 

I agree 100%.

[5wide]

I don't have a lot to contribute to this marriage discussion and I'm not familiar with all the Catholic teachings regarding marriage, divorce, annulments, etc, so I can't say definitively if I agree with all they teach. But, I can tell you one thing I like about the Catholic Church's stance...I like the high importance and regard that they place on marriage. I think all Christians should view and hold marriage in this high esteem, and take it very seriously. Unfortunately, I don't think that is always the case. It seems the Catholic Church does a very good job of conveying that. And I know some Protestant Church's do as well, but I think some let that slip by.

 

I can't say if I agree with what they teach with regards to annulments and such, but it sounds like they don't just hand them out upon request. That, in itself, would help to convey the seriousness with which they view marriage.

 

I just don't think marriage should be viewed lightly, or entered into with anything less than 100% committment to the vow that says, "...til death do us part."

 

In many ways, I think the Catholic Church may be doing a better job of conveying that sense of importance and seriousness.

[HHSDad]

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."

 

So, does this mean that everyone you "sleep" with becomes your spouse in the eyes of God?

[Bronco99]

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."

 

So, does this mean that everyone you "sleep" with becomes your spouse in the eyes of God?

 

This made my head spin for a second! I think if you sleep with someone, even a prostitute, then you are fornicating which is a sin in Gods eyes. However, I don't think sleeping with someone and being married is what is meant here (please give me the scripture - book, chapter and verse). So, my answer would be no, God would not view you as being married just because you committed fornication. He would however view you as someone who has committed sin. IMHO!

[Devilman]

I never was forbidden to date out side of my religion or my race for the matter but that's another topic.

Once I dated a girl that was a Baptisit, and I was Penetcostal, I went to her church and I took her to Easter Service at my church and at the easter service, as within the Penecostal way of speaking in tongues it scared her. I had to explain to her to try to make her understand what was going on. I still don't think she's got it yet.

[Alabama Larry]

^^^Devilman, poor girl. It would have scared me too.

[ladiesbballcoach]

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."

 

So, does this mean that everyone you "sleep" with becomes your spouse in the eyes of God?

I believe so.

[ladiesbballcoach]

This made my head spin for a second! I think if you sleep with someone, even a prostitute, then you are fornicating which is a sin in Gods eyes. However, I don't think sleeping with someone and being married is what is meant here (please give me the scripture - book, chapter and verse). So, my answer would be no, God would not view you as being married just because you committed fornication. He would however view you as someone who has committed sin. IMHO!

So, do you think that God waits to classify a person as being married when the paperwork is signed?

[5wide]

I believe so.

 

So, hypothetically speaking...suppose you went out and had "pre-marital" sex with some woman...you continue to do so with the same woman, the two of you live together but never officially get married, but that's the only woman you're ever with...

 

...that would be considered acceptable to God?

[ladiesbballcoach]

So, hypothetically speaking...suppose you went out and had "pre-marital" sex with some woman...you continue to do so with the same woman, the two of you live together but never officially get married, but that's the only woman you're ever with...

 

...that would be considered acceptable to God?

Do you believe that God has to wait on the paperwork to be filed at the county courthouse to recognize an union as a marriage?

 

I am not sure when God recognizes a marriage, but I do believe it is closer to the first time you had sex with a female than when the paperwork is signed and filed at the courthouse.

[5wide]

Do you believe that God has to wait on the paperwork to be filed at the county courthouse to recognize an union as a marriage?

 

I am not sure when God recognizes a marriage, but I do believe it is closer to the first time you had sex with a female than when the paperwork is signed and filed at the courthouse.

 

So, going back to my question...is that acceptable to God?

[ladiesbballcoach]

So, going back to my question...is that acceptable to God?

I do not have the authority to say what is acceptable to God or not.

 

I do believe that might be closer to a marriage in God's eyes than we believe. I don't believe a marriage in God's eyes is dependent on a legal ceremony. In fact, I will go as far as to say, God may give diddly or squat about a legal ceremony in His definition of marriage.

 

I do believe that a person who goes through their younger age and has slept with numerous young ladies and then got married in their late 20's, very well may have been committing adultery, in God's eyes, all that time.

 

I don't know the exact answer but have a sneaking feeling that HHSDad was right on with his post.

 

We may be more tied, in God's eyes, to our first sexual partner than what we realize.

 

Now, answer my question, do you believe God has to wait for a legal ceremony to recognize a marriage as being a marriage?

[5wide]

I do not have the authority to say what is acceptable to God or not.

 

I do believe that might be closer to a marriage in God's eyes than we believe. I don't believe a marriage in God's eyes is dependent on a legal ceremony. In fact, I will go as far as to say, God may give diddly or squat about a legal ceremony in His definition of marriage.

 

I do believe that a person who goes through their younger age and has slept with numerous young ladies and then got married in their late 20's, very well may have been committing adultery, in God's eyes, all that time.

 

I don't know the exact answer but have a sneaking feeling that HHSDad was right on with his post.

 

We may be more tied, in God's eyes, to our first sexual partner than what we realize.

 

Now, answer my question, do you believe God has to wait for a legal ceremony to recognize a marriage as being a marriage?

 

 

Do you believe that God has to wait on the paperwork to be filed at the county courthouse to recognize an union as a marriage?

 

I don't really know the order I need to address these points, but by saying we are married to the first person we have sex or that having sex is the check point for when God considers us married raises a whole new set of questions and problems.

 

One I already asked, basically..."Can I have sex with a woman, the same woman all my life, live with her without every 'getting married' and that be acceptable to God?" If I'm to go by the definition you are offering, then the answer to that has to be yes.

 

Two...another hypothetical, suppose a person goes through a marriage ceremony and for some reason or other...say one of them dies...they never have sex...were they ever married at all? Again, by that definition, the answer would be no. Or, when people go through the marriage ceremony, are they not married until they actually have sex?

 

 

But, to answer your question(s), I don't believe God waits on the paperwork to be processed through the courthouse.

 

I do not believe we are considered married to the first person we have sex with. I believe it's wrong, yes, but it doesn't make us married to that person and it doesn't make us adulterers for the remainder of our life.

 

I believe when two people decide to get married, they set a wedding date, and they have a ceremony. During that ceremony, performed by an minister of God, they say vows to each other...they commit their lives to one another before God. In my opinion, at that moment, when they say those vows, those two people are essentially acknowledging before God and publicly that they are committing themselves to marriage, and to live by the God's standards of marriage...then the preacher pronounces them husband and wife. I think at some point during that process, we're considered married in God's eyes. I consider it to be like a binding, lifetime contract made between the two parties and God...

 

...could I be wrong? Sure. But, that's what I think.

[ladiesbballcoach]

I don't really know the order I need to address these points, but by saying we are married to the first person we have sex or that having sex is the check point for when God considers us married raises a whole new set of questions and problems.

 

One I already asked, basically..."Can I have sex with a woman, the same woman all my life, live with her without every 'getting married' and that be acceptable to God?" If I'm to go by the definition you are offering, then the answer to that has to be yes.

 

Two...another hypothetical, suppose a person goes through a marriage ceremony and for some reason or other...say one of them dies...they never have sex...were they ever married at all? Again, by that definition, the answer would be no. Or, when people go through the marriage ceremony, are they not married until they actually have sex?

 

 

But, to answer your question(s), I don't believe God waits on the paperwork to be processed through the courthouse.

 

I do not believe we are considered married to the first person we have sex with. I believe it's wrong, yes, but it doesn't make us married to that person and it doesn't make us adulterers for the remainder of our life.

 

I believe when two people decide to get married, they set a wedding date, and they have a ceremony. During that ceremony, performed by an minister of God, they say vows to each other...they commit their lives to one another before God. In my opinion, at that moment, when they say those vows, those two people are essentially acknowledging before God and publicly that they are committing themselves to marriage, and to live by the God's standards of marriage...then the preacher pronounces them husband and wife. I think at some point during that process, we're considered married in God's eyes. I consider it to be like a binding, lifetime contract made between the two parties and God...

 

...could I be wrong? Sure. But, that's what I think.

If God ties marriage to sex, yes your scenario would seem to be appropriate. Again, I am not sure that God waits for some marriage ceremony to classify whether you are married or not.

 

On the part I bolded, are people who are married by a justice of the peace or captain of a boat or someone other than a minister seen as married in the eyes of God?

 

I think God ties marriage to the sexual act more than we realize and the reason why adultery is such a no-no in the Bible.

 

Also, remember in Genesis it says that God brought Eve to Adam. Women could/should be seen as a gift FROM God to man. Would you not expect God to hold that relationship that he created in high regard?