{"id":28351,"date":"2011-08-08T10:18:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T15:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=28351"},"modified":"2020-12-08T10:22:18","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T16:22:18","slug":"can-a-marriage-be-done-by-a-civil-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-marriage-be-done-by-a-civil-official\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a marriage be done by a civil official?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>If both a man and a woman love each other, is it OK to have a civil marriage done by our local public official to be able to save money?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>There is no requirement in the scriptures that a marriage must be done in church or by a preacher. A wedding before a justice of the peace or some other recognized official is just as binding.<\/p>\n<p>See:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/scriptural-marriage-traditional-customs-and-civil-laws\/\">Scriptural Marriage, Traditional Customs, and Civil Laws<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-constitutes-a-marriage\/\">What constitutes a marriage?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: If both a man and a woman love each other, is it OK to have a civil marriage done by our local public official to be able to save money? Answer: There is no requirement in the scriptures that a marriage must be done in church or by a preacher. A wedding before a&hellip;<\/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":[64],"class_list":["post-28351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-prayed-together-and-made-vows-to-god-but-our-wedding-is-not-until-next-year-are-we-committing-fornication-as-we-have-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":28351,"position":0},"title":"We prayed together and made vows to God, but our wedding is not until next year. Are we committing fornication as we have sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to ask you a question: I have read\u00a0your responses\u00a0to other people. I\u00a0am in a relationship. Both of us are Christians and we love God. We prayed together and vowed to God about our lives for our marriage. We are preparing for our wedding next year. We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53529,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-i-pay-the-dowry-now-have-sex-and-get-married-later\/","url_meta":{"origin":28351,"position":1},"title":"Could I pay the dowry now, have sex, and get married later?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a few questions I'd like to ask. I have been reading your posts, and I like your answers because they are in line with God. I have a girlfriend whom I love so much and want to spend the rest of my life with. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33253,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-marriage-still-valid-if-it-was-done-by-a-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":28351,"position":2},"title":"Is a marriage still valid if it was done by a woman?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening brother. I would again like to commend you for the wonderful work you and the brethren are doing on your website on behalf of the Lord and His church. My question:\u00a0 A friend of mine recently got married.\u00a0 She and her husband were wed in a denominational\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-couple-get-married-by-simply-taking-a-personal-vow-between-them-and-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":28351,"position":3},"title":"Can a couple get married by simply taking a personal vow between them and God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about marriage: Is it biblical for a man and woman to get married simply by taking a personal vow between them and God, or must it be done legally? Answer: What creates a marriage is a covenant. \"Yet she is your companion and your wife\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-not-to-get-married-in-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":28351,"position":4},"title":"Is it a sin not to get married in a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am in my late twenties and my fiancee is a year younger than me. We live in an African country, and we have been engaged for several years now. We have been waiting for the approval of my fiancee's parents. They don't want the marriage because I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/scriptural-marriage-traditional-customs-and-civil-laws\/","url_meta":{"origin":28351,"position":5},"title":"Scriptural Marriage, Traditional Customs, and Civil Laws","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sunday Ayandare via Words of Life, Vol. 15, Nos. 2 and 3. April - Sept. 2007. [This has been adapted. It does not include the many customs and traditions practiced by the Nigerian people that Sunday had included in his writings. James W. Sasser] The subject of what constitutes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Nigerian-wedding-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28351","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=28351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}