{"id":21761,"date":"2010-01-21T20:42:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-22T02:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=21761"},"modified":"2020-04-21T20:49:52","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T01:49:52","slug":"doesnt-a-marriage-license-mean-the-government-controls-marriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-a-marriage-license-mean-the-government-controls-marriages\/","title":{"rendered":"Doesn’t a marriage license mean the government controls marriages?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

You said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“They imagine all sorts of nonsense regarding giving up rights, but the reality is that the government is serving as a repository of the covenant.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

License is a prior restraint. It presumes that the activity is not a right but stems from the licensor (government in this case), is illegal otherwise and can only be done with the permission of the licensor. Is this the case with marriage?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

The government does have a right to decide who it recognizes as married since it gives special privileges to those who are married. “The American colonies officially required marriages to be registered, but until the mid-19th century, state supreme courts routinely ruled that public cohabitation was sufficient evidence of a valid marriage.” [Stephanie Coontz, “Taking Marriage Private,”\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, 11\/26\/2007]. The government ought to restrict the right of marriage to only those who have the right to marry in God’s sight, but the government being what it is, often includes and excludes more than it should.<\/p>\n

For example, there was a period of time in the United States history when people of different national heritage could not marry. In such cases, the government is violating the laws God gave them to uphold (Romans 13:1-2) and Christians follow God’s laws before man’s laws. We now have states which grant licenses to married to homosexuals, but this is a violation of God’s laws as well. Christians will not recognize such unions since the people are not married in God’s sight.<\/p>\n

It is called a marriage license because the state attempts to make some determination as to whether a couple has the right to marry. The government has age restrictions, which do not interfere with Christian principles. It restricts marriage to a single partner at a time, which is something Christians find agreeable. The main grievance Christians have with the government at the moment is that the government is too accepting. From a Christian’s point of view, the government merely serves as a repository for the covenant made. Getting a marriage license does not violate any law of God and since we are commanded to be obedient to the government when possible, we should abide by those laws.<\/p>\n

What I was referring to in regards to giving up rights are people who think that signing a marriage license gives the government control over your children [See “Can I tell you about a way to get married without government involvement?<\/a>“]. These are baseless fears.<\/p>\n

Yes, a license does restrict some rights. Two fourteen-year-olds can’t get married. A person can’t have multiple wives or multiple husbands. None of these restrictions on a recognized marriage are disagreeable to Christians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: You said: “They imagine all sorts of nonsense regarding giving up rights, but the reality is that the government is serving as a repository of the covenant.” License is a prior restraint. It presumes that the activity is not a right but stems from the licensor (government in this case), is illegal otherwise and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[310,64],"class_list":["post-21761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-government","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-tell-you-about-a-way-to-get-married-without-government-involvement\/","url_meta":{"origin":21761,"position":0},"title":"Can I tell you about a way to get married without government involvement?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I noticed a guy wrote\u00a0a piece about marriage claiming he didn't need a piece of paper. He is right by all means; all you need is two witnesses and you can be married by American law. But if you do get a marriage license, you put your kids under\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34890,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-think-the-government-is-corrupt-so-can-i-get-married-without-the-government-being-involved\/","url_meta":{"origin":21761,"position":1},"title":"I think the government is corrupt, so can I get married without the government being involved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My girlfriend and I would like to marry outside of the state due to the condition of the corruption and anti-God position of the government and states. I know the Scripture indicates to obey the laws of the land, and I always have attempted to abide by them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-know-someone-who-will-marry-us-without-a-state-marriage-license\/","url_meta":{"origin":21761,"position":2},"title":"Do you know someone who will marry us without a state marriage license?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to get married without the state's license and with a preacher, of course. Could you please help me find a preacher that would marry in my state?\u00a0 I would also like to obtain more information on this subject.\u00a0 Could I get some more information on how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-marry-without-getting-a-license-or-having-a-witness\/","url_meta":{"origin":21761,"position":3},"title":"Is it a sin to marry without getting a license or having a witness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin to marry without getting a license or having a witness? Can you marry someone in God's eyes and a couple of years later, when I have the money saved up to actually have a wedding, and then get the license? My girlfriend and I don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23203,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-young-man-overcome-sexual-sin-when-he-is-not-yet-financially-able-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":21761,"position":4},"title":"How can a young man overcome sexual sin when he is not yet financially able to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a new convert. I have read several of your articles, which have helped in building up my faith. American marriages are quite different from marriages in my country. Here the bride's parents will give the groom-to-be a list of things to buy or pay that can add\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-took-vows-before-god-isnt-that-enough-to-say-we-are-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":21761,"position":5},"title":"We took vows before God, isn’t that enough to say we are married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God disapprove of my marriage? I have been with my (wife) for over 3 years now. I know that a marriage must have a witness for it to be true. The day we wed we were under the canopy of heaven (outside.) We asked God to be a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}