3 | What is Marriage?

Powerpoint:

*A note about the “Eastern Church” that I mention at the end of this lecture. Please see Philip Jenkins:,The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—and How It Died

Questions for reflection:

In  Matthew 5 and 19, and in Mark 10 Jesus articulates a sexual ethic that aligns us with the Kingdom of God. Based upon these passages:

  • Righteousness means:

    1. True virtue - the highest good in personal behavior

    2. Justice - making wrong things right

    3. Behavior acceptable and glorifying to God

    4. The character of Christ

    5. Demonstrating the Great Command - Loving God wholeheartedly and loving others sacrificially

    6. All of the above

  • By pointing to Genesis, Jesus’ teaching cast vision for a pre-fall restoration He called the Kingdom of God/Heaven. By living according to His instruction we are living with that vision in mind and therefore bringing His Kingdom to earth.

    1. True

    2. False

 

  • Jesus is highly critical of legalism by spiritual authorities. Why?

    1. It offers no redemption

    2. It does not restore the human heart

    3. He is paving the way for the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s new creation promises

    4. It excludes and condemns

    5. All of the above

 

  • Jesus demands that we do not objectify one another, particularly through sex. How does He make this clear?

    1. By condemning sexual sin and offering no redemption

    2. By offering redemption with no required change in behavior

    3. By requiring self-sacrificial care for the sexual partner and the sacred union, which is covenantal.

    4. By rejecting all objectification of others through the pursuit of sexual gratification or self-centered focus

    5. Both C and D

  • How does Jesus articulate that humanity is designed to have only one sex partner for life?

    1. By stating: “What God has joined together, let no man separate”

    2. By stating: “They are no longer two, but one flesh”

    3. By stating: “whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery”

    4. All of the above

Elizabeth Woning