No Place for Same-Sex Marriage: The Reformed and Baptist Confession

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The biblical view of marriage is under attack in many post-Christian societies like the United States. In particular, advocates of “same-sex marriage” either reject the idea that marriage is instituted by God (and, therefore, regulated by him), or they endeavor to “reinterpret” the Bible to allow for homosexuality and legal unions between partners of the same sex. In light of the rising opposition what we know as the traditional view of marriage, I thought it might be useful to offer a brief exposition of the Baptist Confession of Faith’s contribution to this topic. 

Chapter 25 of the Baptist Confession addresses the institution of marriage. For the most part, the Baptists closely followed the wording of the Westminster Confession. However, they omitted the last two paragraphs of the WCF, which deal with the subject of divorce. Neither the WCF nor the 1689 provide a definition of marriage.1 To make up for this deficiency, we’ll begin our study with a biblical definition of marriage. Then we will expound the four paragraphs of our Confession. Finally, we’ll briefly note the helpful paragraphs in the WCF on divorce.

A Biblical View of Marriage

The Bible defines marriage as a “covenant” (Prov. 2:17; Mal. 2:14).2 A covenant is a solemn oath-bound promise in which the parties make a formal commitment to one another in the presence of God and human witnesses (Gen. 21:22-32; 26:28-31; 31:44-54; Ezek. 17:13-19; Heb. 6:17-18). The covenant of marriage was originally instituted by God for the purpose of life-long companionship and procreation (Matt. 19:6; Gen. 1:28; 2:18, 24). Thus, we may define marriage as a divinely-ordained human institution in which a man and woman make an oath-bound promise to one another in the presence of God and human witnesses to enter into life-long covenantal companionship.3

At least two important ramifications follow from this definition of marriage. First, sexual union in itself does not constitute marriage. In support of this assertion, the Bible treats those who engage in premarital sex as yet unmarried (Gen. 34:1-4; Exo. 22:16-17; Deut. 22:28-29).4 Furthermore, in Jewish society the marriage covenant was initiated by the pre-sexual betrothal relationship (Deut. 20:7; 22:23-24; 2Sam. 3:14; Hos. 2:16-20).5 Consequently, one who had entered into betrothal could not terminate the relationship without a bill of divorce (Matt. 1:18-20, 24). The second ramification of the definition of marriage is the vital importance of a formal ceremony in which the marriage covenant is ratified. In other words, we must not treat the exchanging of marital vows in the presence of witness as merely human tradition that may be discarded. On the contrary, such a formal ceremony serves to draw a clear line between the married and non-married status of the individuals involved and determines the lawfulness of any sexual relations in which they may engage.

The Baptist Confession on Marriage

The four paragraphs found in our Confession address the monogamous rule, primary purposes, and lawful parties for the marriage relationship.

The monogamous rule of marriage

1   Marriage is to be between one man and one woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband.1
1Gen 2:24 with Matt. 19:5, 6; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6

The first paragraph supports monogamy (Greek: monos = ‘one’ + gamos = ‘marriage) and condemns polygamy (Greek: polys = ‘many’ + gamos = ‘marriage’). The fact that God only created one wife in order to provide companionship for Adam strongly suggests monogamy as the divine intended norm for marriage (Gen. 2:18, 21-22). Moreover, Genesis 2:24 describes the marriage union as two—not three or four—becoming one.6 As Jochem Douma remarks, “If we take seriously this communion, which includes body and soul, then polygamy is for us something illegitimate.”7 The Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul also see monogamy as the biblical norm for marriage (Matt. 19:5-6; 1Tim. 3:2; Tit. 1:6).

But what shall we say about the examples of polygamy among certain Old Testament believers, such as Jacob (Gen. 29:16-24), Elkanah (1Sam. 1:6-8), or David (1Sam. 25:42-44; 27:3)? Three responses are in order. First, when Scripture mentions the practice of an OT saint without an explicit or immediate censure, it is not necessarily condoning the practice.8 Second, in God’s dealings with Israel, He sometimes chose to regulate rather than immediately to condemn some otherwise sinful practices because the people as a whole were not able to pull away from all their sinful practices at once. This seems to be Jesus’ point when He bases the seeming laxity of the OT regarding the possible grounds for divorce on “the hardness of [the Israelites’] hearts” (Matt. 19:8).9 Third, the OT is not completely silent on polygamous relationships, especially those of the godly. In fact, the Scripture writers are careful to highlight the strife and familial dysfunction that often characterized polygamous marriages (Gen. 16:4-6; 29:26; 30:1-3; 1Sam. 1:1-6).

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