Here’s a fine piece on marriage from Melanchthon’s Apology XXIII:
Accordingly, at this time, marriage* ought to have been especially defended by the most severe laws and warning examples, and men ought to have been invited to marriage. This duty pertains to the magistrates, who ought to maintain public discipline. [God has now so blinded the world that adultery and fornication are permitted almost without punishment; on the contrary, punishment is inflicted on account of marriage. Is no this terrible to hear?] Meanwhile the teachers of the Gospel should do both; they should exhort incontinent men to marriage, and should exhort others not to despise the gift of continence.
I wonder how many Lutherans would agree with this statement and apply it to their lives today? Further, I wonder how many Lutherans, exercising their vocation as citizens and acting in charity toward their neighbor, are voicing their support of traditional marriage to their elected officials?
*The lifelong, one-flesh union of one man and one woman for the purposes of procreation and mutual aid.
Concordia Triglotta. Public domain.
