# The primary ends of marriage?



## ransomed__ (Sep 20, 2017)

What are the primary ends of marriage other than procreation?


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## RamistThomist (Sep 20, 2017)

From the Book of Common Prayer:

The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Edward (Sep 20, 2017)

WCF:
Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church with an holy seed, and for preventing of uncleanness.

Reactions: Like 2


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## RamistThomist (Sep 20, 2017)

Edward said:


> WCF:
> Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church with an holy seed, and for preventing of uncleanness.



I appreciate WCF's clarity on this, especially as noting uncleanness. While sex in marriage won't fix any sexual hang ups one might have before marriage, it is the proper outlet for sexual desire and can prevent a lot of problems. I mention that because I just finished reading medieval history, which dealt with enforced celibacy.


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## earl40 (Sep 20, 2017)

A simple answer to OP title is death.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Jack K (Sep 20, 2017)

Companionship should be included. "It is not good for man to be alone" speaks not only to our need for help and for a partner in procreation and child rearing. We need togetherness for its own sake.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Edward (Sep 20, 2017)

Jack K said:


> Companionship should be included.



That could be subsumed in "mutual help".

Reactions: Like 2


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## timfost (Sep 21, 2017)

The name Adam = mankind. Man is not mankind unless there is woman. Woman completes man, since Adam needed her when in his innocency.

Consider:

"Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was *very good*. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." (Gen. 1:31)

"And the Lord God said, '*It is not good* that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'" (2:18)

Apart from creating woman in day 6, the creation of mankind would not have been "very good." If we limit the "need" for woman to procreation, we haven't understood "comparable to him." She is to help him in all things, not just the propagation of the race.

I honestly think that men would respect women much more if they understood the Genesis account as it was written.

Reactions: Like 2


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## arapahoepark (Sep 21, 2017)

timfost said:


> The name Adam = mankind. Man is not mankind unless there is woman. Woman completes man, since Adam needed her when in his innocency.
> 
> Consider:
> 
> ...


Indeed. From what I have heard the Hebrew word for helper is better conveyed "necessary ally."


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## deleteduser99 (Oct 13, 2017)

I've heard one pastor say that the ordination of marriage in the garden shows that in the ordinary course a man or woman is not everything they can be without marriage. Both fulfill the creation mandate together, and both help one another in their faith, sanctity, and walk to heaven. Some like Paul have no need to be married, but that is not usually the case.

I can say that I am more than I could have been as a single, much thanks to my wife.

Truly a necessary ally.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Douglas P. (Oct 13, 2017)

earl40 said:


> A simple answer to OP title is death.



I think by "ends" the OP was referencing the telos or goals of marriage, not the possible termination of marriage.

Reactions: Like 1


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## jwithnell (Oct 13, 2017)

The scriptures and confession both see children and companionship as ends.


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## earl40 (Oct 13, 2017)

Douglas Padgett said:


> I think by "ends" the OP was referencing the telos or goals of marriage, not the possible termination of marriage.



No way. BTW I was joking.


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## deathtolife (Oct 13, 2017)

It is a glorious way of serving the Lord Jesus while on earth!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Rev. Todd Ruddell (Oct 13, 2017)

The Confession states a fourfold purpose:
1. For the mutual help of the married couple. This is in order to the other ends described, as they are both to "get to work" in their union for the glory of God. As Adam was first created, and the Lord endowed him with great responsibility, it would have been fitting for him to say, "Wow! I have a lot of work to do". The woman was designed to help him, and through her, the additional hands of their children, to do what the Lord had commanded him to do regarding subduing the world for the glory of God. 

2. For the furnishing of mankind with a legitimate issue: This provision shows that marriage is a natural institution, for mankind generally, irrespective of ecclesiastical consideration. Under God, there is a legitimate issue--this speaks to "heirship" and the preservation of wealth, knowledge, and wisdom, for the good and the advancement of the race. Having legitimate heirs is the way the Lord has designed how the work of one generation is advanced in the next.

3. For the furnishing of the Church with a Godly seed: Obvious enough in itself, the offspring of professing Christians are discipled in the things of Christ from their infancy, and grow, under the Lord's good grace, into professing Christians themselves, who will labor in their world unto their Lord's glory, their Biblical faith informing all they do, and providing for the continuation of the Church in her official and membership duties, providing officers and members. 

4. To prevent uncleanness. Although often considered one of the first priorities, these other considerations place this one in its proper perspective. We are not animals, despite what the world teaches us, and are able to temper and control our appetites, the Lord helping us, so that this last end is subservient to these other, larger ends. The personal comes last, because we must consider ourselves part of something greater (mankind, on the one hand, and the Church, on the other) rather than our appetites taking the lead.

Reactions: Like 2 | Informative 1 | Edifying 1


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## bookslover (Oct 14, 2017)

Marriage is a conspiracy by the furniture industry to sell more bedroom furniture.

Now you know.

Reactions: Funny 1


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