# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juli 1859_S226
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

226 Church and Contemporary History.

truly of the church, the church can have no interest whatever in marrying him; indeed she should be glad when this becomes apparent and, if he is willing to acknowledge it, she can be rid of him, to her own good and his — for the only thing that matters here is that the church do what she should and, by God's ordinance, must, and therefore also can. Were civil marriage established among us — good! The state has a right to watch over marriages, because much of its own weal and woe depends on them; let it grant the betrothed permission, as far as it is able, to live in wedlock, to found a household, to hold community of goods, to beget children entitled to inherit according to its law, and so forth. A Christian ought to acknowledge that, but he should also know that everything, if it is to prosper unto salvation and blessing, and if one is to be able to take comfort in the Lord's help and good pleasure in it, must be sanctified through God's word — that prayer and intercession are highly needful in such a work as marriage, that it must be begun in Jesus' name. Whoever does not know this, and, knowing it, does not have his marriage blessed by the church, him the church must recognize and treat as a despiser of God's word, and must establish it as a church law that whoever begins his married state with a mere civil marriage, without churchly solemnization, shall be placed under discipline and, if need be, excommunicated. Thereby the high importance of the church's blessing would be preached even more than happens without civil marriage, the gulf between the world and the church would be shown even more plainly, God's kingdom would be revealed still more brightly over against the devil's kingdom, and that would be pure blessing.

If a church does not have so much awareness of God's word, and not so much power to carry it through, then nothing at all is lost by her; let her go wherever she will — the church surely ought not to soil her hands in all manner of business that she cannot do with an unstained conscience.

To this I would also mention a secondary advantage of civil marriage. Had we such a thing in Nassau, where the writer of this is forbidden to perform marriages — that is, of the betrothed — not on account of the Lord, who will after all in the end exalt His rights and give His church victory and freedom — had we, then, civil marriage in Nassau, we would be spared much enslavement and oppression by the authorities, as would also have been the case in Prussia and Baden in former times, in the days of persecution.

Another may put it better than I, if he can; only that we too stand certain and united in this through faith.

Fr. a. M.

I feel compelled to declare that I give my full assent to the foregoing judgment on civil marriage.               D. H.

Church and Contemporary History.

I. America.
Ignorance within the Sects. How astonishingly great this ignorance is, and indeed precisely in matters of the doctrine of Christianity, every