The Westminster Confession of Faith
CHAPTER 24
Of Marriage and Divorce.
I. 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, at the same time.a
a Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5,6;
Prov. 2:17.
II. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of
husband and wife;b for the increase of mankind
with a legitimate issue, and of the church with an holy seed;c
and for preventing of uncleanness.d
b Gen. 2:18.
c Mal. 2:15.
d 1 Cor. 7:2,9.
III. It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry
who are able with judgment to give their consent:e
yet is it the duty of Christians to marry only in the Lord.f
And therefore such as profess the true reformed religion should not
marry with infidels, Papists, or other idolaters: neither should such
as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are
notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresies.g
e Heb. 13:4; 1 Tim. 4:3; 1
Cor. 7:36-38; Gen. 24:57,58.
f 1 Cor. 7:39.
g Gen. 34:14; Exod. 34:16; Deut.
7:3,4; 1 Kings 11:4; Neh. 13:25-27; Mal. 2:11,12; 2 Cor. 6:14.
IV. Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of
consanguinity or affinity forbidden in the word;h
nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful by any law of
man, or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as
man and wife.i The man may not marry any of his
wife's kindred nearer in blood than he may of his own, nor the woman of
her husband's kindred nearer in blood than of her own.k
h Lev. chap. 18; 1 Cor.
5:1; Amos 2:7.
i Mark 6:18; Lev. 18:24-28.
k Lev. 20:19-21.
V. Adultery or fornication committed after a
contract, being detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to the
innocent party to dissolve that contract.l In
the case of adultery after marriage, it is lawful for the innocent
party to sue out a divorce,m and, after the
divorce, to marry another, as if the offending party were dead.n
l Matt. 1:18-20.
m Matt. 5:31,32.
n Matt. 19:9; Rom. 7:2,3.
VI. Although the corruption of man be such as is
apt to study arguments, unduly to put asunder those whom God hath
joined together in marriage; yet nothing but adultery, or such wilful
desertion as can no way be remedied by the church or civil magistrate,
is cause sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage:o
wherein, a publick and orderly course of proceeding is to be observed,
and the persons concerned in it not left to their own wills and
discretion in their own case.p
o Matt. 19:8,9; 1 Cor.
7:15; Matt. 19:6.
p Deut. 24:1-4.
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