Lehre und Wehre St. Louis, Missouri — November 1855, Seite 324

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324 Von Ehesachen.

Dritte Frage: Ist die Ehe zwischen zwei Personen, welche, indem entweder beide oder wenigstens die eine an einen andern Gatten verbunden war, fleischlich sich miteinander vermischt haben, nach der Scheidung oder Tode des gekränkten Theils zulässig oder nicht?

1. Von Gotteswegen und nach Seinem Willen sollen beide durch die bürgerliche Obrigkeit vom Leben zum Tode gebracht werden. Ist aber weder dies, noch lebenslängliches Gefängniß der Fall, so ist sorgfältig auf die Umstände zu achten, welche dergleichen Ehen sind vorangegangen oder dieselben begleiten. Merkwürdig bleibt der Ausspruch Luthers in dem freilich schon 1520 geschriebenen Büchlein „von dem babylonischen Gefängniß der Kirche," Leipziger Ausg. Th. XVII. S. 550: „Eine dergleichen verstockte Thorheit, ja mehr eine Ruchlosigkeit ist das Hinderniß des Lasters, impedimentum criminis, sc. Hinderniß eine Ehe zu schließen, nämlich so einer zu der Ehe nehme, die zuvor mit dem Ehebruch befleckt ist, oder hätte sich unterstanden, den vorigen Ehemann umzubringen, auf daß er mit der hinterlassenen Ehefrau sich möge vermählen. Ich bitte dich, wo kommt doch her dieses strenge Recht der Menschen gegen die Menschen, welches doch Gott niemals erfordert hat? Wissen sie nicht oder wollen sie nicht wissen, daß Bathseba, eine Hausfrau Uriä, beide Laster begangen hat, das ist, sie war beflecket mit dem Ehe-

zwischen leiblichen und Stiefgeschwistern. (Unter den letztern führt Spener namentlich die Wittenberger Fakultät wieder an, Th. IV. S. 710. Vergl. Th. II. S. 555. S. dagegen Joh. Gerhard l. c. S. 1081.) Aus 3 Mos. 20, 19. 20. 21 und hinwiederum V. 17. 9 fgg. (5 Mos. 27, 22. 20 ꝛc.) ist ersichtlich, daß ein Unterschied gemacht werden müsse. Wie könnte denn das Sterben der gezeugten Kinder oder überhaupt Unfruchtbarkeit als Strafe verhängt werden, wenn die Eheleute (nach Gottes Verordnung durch Moses, in der Schrift aber ausdrücklich nicht erwähnt,) alsbald nach ihrer Verbindung von einander geschieden worden wären? Vergl. „Lutheraner" a. O. S. 5. fg.

Anm. 2. Folgende sind die Kanones, welche in den für das heilige römische Reich sanktionirten Ehegesetzen in Bezug auf die verbotenen Verwandtschaftsgrade aufgestellt waren: 1) In linea recta ascendentium et descendentium prohibita sunt matrimonia in infinitum; 2) in lineis collateralibus, quoties alter consanguineorum unico duntaxat gradu a communi stipite abest; 3) quibus consanguineis inter se matrimonio jungi interdictum est, iisdem cum alterius conjuge jungi interdictum est. Die Grade aber werden nach dem bürgerlichen Recht also gezählt: Quot sunt generationes, tot sunt gradus. Im kanonischen Recht gilt diese Regel nur bei der graden auf- oder absteigenden Linie; daher hat man hier noch zwei andere nöthig: 1) In linea collaterali aequali personae ab invicem tot gradibus distare dicuntur, quot gradibus a communi stipite distant; 2) in linea collaterali inaequali personae ab invicem tot gradibus distare dicuntur, quot gradibus personarum ea, quae remotissima est, a stipite distat. Die Beibehaltung des letztern haben gegen Luthern die Juristen in Wittenberg äußerst vertheidigt. — Die meisten verbotenen Grade sind zusammengefaßt in folgende 4 Hexametern:

Nata, soror, neptis, matertera, fratris et uxor,

Et patrui conjux, mater, privigna, noverca,

Uxorisque soror, privigni nata, nurusque,

Atque soror patris conjungi lege vetantur. Es fehlen aber noch diese 3: socrus, privignae filia und soror ex altero tantum parente.

324 On Matrimonial Matters.

Third Question: Is marriage between two persons, who, either both, or at least one of them, having previously been bound to another spouse, have carnally mingled with one another, permissible or not after the divorce or death of the wronged party?

1. By God's ordinance and according to His will, both should be put to death by the civil authority. But if this is not the case, nor life imprisonment either, then careful attention must be paid to the circumstances which have preceded, or which accompany, such marriages. Noteworthy remains the statement of Luther in the little book, written admittedly already in 1520, "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church," Leipzig edition, vol. XVII, p. 550: "One such obstinate folly — indeed, rather a wickedness — is the impediment of crime, impedimentum criminis, that is, an impediment to contracting a marriage, namely when someone takes in marriage her who was previously defiled by adultery, or who had ventured to do away with her former husband, in order that he might marry the surviving wife. I ask you, whence indeed comes this strict law of men against men, which God has never required? Do they not know, or do they not wish to know, that Bathsheba, a wife of Uriah, committed both crimes, that is, she was defiled with the

...[continuing Note 1 from the previous page] between those related by blood and step-siblings. (Among the latter, Spener names in particular the Wittenberg faculty as again in agreement, part IV, p. 710. Compare part II, p. 555. See, on the other hand, Joh. Gerhard, loc. cit., p. 1081.) From Leviticus 20:19, 20, 21, and likewise verse 17, 9ff. (Deuteronomy 27:22, 20, etc.) it is evident that a distinction must be made. For how could the death of the children begotten, or infertility in general, be inflicted as a punishment, if the married couple (according to God's ordinance through Moses, though not expressly stated in Scripture) were separated from one another immediately after their union? Compare "Der Lutheraner," loc. cit., p. 5f.

Note 2. The following are the canons which were established in the marriage laws sanctioned for the Holy Roman Empire regarding the forbidden degrees of kinship: 1) In linea recta ascendentium et descendentium prohibita sunt matrimonia in infinitum [In the direct line of ascendants and descendants, marriages are forbidden without limit]; 2) in lineis collateralibus, quoties alter consanguineorum unico duntaxat gradu a communi stipite abest [in the collateral lines, whenever either blood relation is separated from the common stock by only a single degree]; 3) quibus consanguineis inter se matrimonio jungi interdictum est, iisdem cum alterius conjuge jungi interdictum est [those blood relations forbidden to marry one another are likewise forbidden to marry each other's spouse]. The degrees, however, are counted according to civil law thus: Quot sunt generationes, tot sunt gradus [As many as the generations, so many are the degrees]. In canon law this rule holds only for the direct ascending or descending line; hence two further rules are needed here: 1) In linea collaterali aequali personae ab invicem tot gradibus distare dicuntur, quot gradibus a communi stipite distant [In the collateral line of equal degree, persons are said to be as many degrees apart from one another as they are from the common stock]; 2) in linea collaterali inaequali personae ab invicem tot gradibus distare dicuntur, quot gradibus personarum ea, quae remotissima est, a stipite distat [in the collateral line of unequal degree, persons are said to be as many degrees apart from one another as the most remote of them is from the common stock]. The retention of the latter rule was most vigorously defended, against Luther, by the jurists at Wittenberg. — Most of the forbidden degrees are summed up in the following four hexameters:

Nata, soror, neptis, matertera, fratris et uxor,

Et patrui conjux, mater, privigna, noverca,

Uxorisque soror, privigni nata, nurusque,

Atque soror patris conjungi lege vetantur.

[Daughter, sister, granddaughter, aunt, and a brother's wife; an uncle's wife, mother, stepdaughter, stepmother; a wife's sister, a stepson's daughter, and a daughter-in-law; and a father's sister — these are forbidden by law to be joined in marriage.] Still lacking, however, are these three: socrus, privignae filia, and soror ex altero tantum parente [a mother-in-law, a stepdaughter's daughter, and a sister by only one parent in common].