Wednesday 21 November 2012

Irish Presbyterian Church Confused About Marriage - Or Is It?

The confusion amongst evangelicals within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) over what constitutes Christian marriage is continuing, with the leadership refusing to signal any steps the church will take to remove a church official who supports same-sex marriage.  This liberal elder to date carries the support of that denomination, with no one daring to speak up against this betrayal of Christian standards.  Evangelicals are silent, presumably because they either accept what Mr David Ford, a ruling elder in Second Donegore Presbyterian congregation in Co Antrim, has stated as the true position, or they are afraid to speak out against this high profile elder and politician lest the Judicial Commission of that church will remove them from the ministry within that denomination.  
 
Mr Ford's publicly stated position will no doubt have the effect of promoting sodomy, not just within Northern Ireland society at large, but also within PCI.  He now believes that marriage is not the life-long union of one man and one woman.  Another church elder refused to support his minister because the minister stated that co-habitation is wrong. Several church elders actually live with their girl-friends, if not constantly, then at weekends and whenever else suits their urges.

Does Mr Ford not know that marriage is not a human institution at all, but a divine one, marriage between one man and one woman being God's idea and provision for humanity?  In God's plan, marriage as understood in the Bible, provides a complimentarity and unity within the human race.  This is how He started mankind, and intended mankind to continue until the end of the world.  

This is not some kind of arbitrary arrangement that we are talking about, but something that tells us who God created us to be, and gave us truths about what it means to be male and female.  It is not a mere social construct of some kind, as sociologists like Mr Ford seem to believe.  As to the actual and original meaning of marriage, we have no mandate from anyone to change that; nor has Mr David Ford.  His denial of this divine institution constitutes a front-on challenge to his church and a 'dare' on his part to see what PCI will do.  


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