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LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1959, Page 209

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

PARISH EDUCATION 209

Church.7 Before the actual dispensation to marry is granted, the
non-Catholic party is usually urged by the parish priest to take
instruction in the Roman Catholic religion.

“The religious factor which, under normal circumstances,
should contribute to keep all the members of a family together and
which should be of great help in facing and overcoming prayer-
fully the sometimes inevitable problems between husband and
wife, parents and children, is bound instead in a marriage like this
to become an insurmountable wall dividing the parents from each
other and the children from their parents.’’>

The promise which the non-Catholic party must make places
a burden upon his conscience and silences his witness. No one, we
believe, should do anything contrary to his religious convictions
or the voice of his God-instructed conscience (1 Tim. 1:19; James
4:17). If one signs the pledge with no intention of keeping it,
this act should be classified as a morally dishonest one. (Mal. 3:5)

In summary, the Roman Catholic premarriage agreement de-
mands that the Lutheran party must sign away his rights and
obligations —

a) to testify to his or her own spouse concerning “the hope
that is in him,” namely, salvation solely through the atoning blood
of Christ and justification in God’s sight by faith alone, a faith
which works by love (1 Peter 3:15; Rom. 3:28; Gal. 5:6);

b) to teach, influence, and train his or her own children
according to the command to “bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord,” fully according to the Word of God and
not according to the traditions of man. (Eph. 6:4; John 8:31;
Mark 7:7, 9, 13)

No Christian should willfully deny the exercise of his Christian
duty or make agreements which disparage or compromise his basic
Christian beliefs. He must not submit to church laws which are
inconsistent with the Gospel.

3. Marriages Between Lutherans and Other Protestants

Although the marriage between two Protestants of different
denominations may not present the same practical and religious
difficulties as the marriage between a Protestant and a Roman
Catholic, yet religious agreement between husband and wife is
undoubtedly one of the major factors in securing that peace and

7 Canon 1062. These canons may be found in Marriage Legislation
in the New Code of Canon Law, by Rev. P. J. Lydon (New York: Ben-
ziger Brothers, Inc., 1949).

8 Colacci, p. 115.