A website titled Let Them Marry promotes Christian standards for marriage.
“And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him”
(Genesis 2:18)There are thousands of godly young men and women who are ready to be married but are not – this is not good.
It is time for godly men to seek out the biblical path for marriage, to search out the cause of delayed or denied marriages, and to put away unbiblical ideas surrounding the marriage process.
Note: Contrary to vicious internet rumors we do not support or in any way condone child sexual activity of any sort, child marriage, or any other illegal activity. Nor do we support or condone forced marriages. We believe that parents should NOT seek a spouse for a child where that child has not actively sought for the parents to do so.
http://letthemmarry.org/basic-beliefs-1/
We believe that Scripture alone is the only perfect and infallible guide to right and godly living so that the man of God may glorify God. The Word of God speaks to all areas of life, and there is no general area of life on which the Bible is “silent” or where it leaves us to our own designs and reasoning. Therefore, Scripture is to be our only guide to determine what marriage is and how it is to be realized. [Ref. WCF Ch1; LBC Ch1; WLC Q3] We find in Scripture that the general purpose of marriage is to glorify God by fulfilling His dominion mandate, to the end that the whole earth may be filled with the knowledge of His glory (Gen. 1:27-28; Matt. 28:18-20; Hab. 2:14; 2 Cor. 10:5). God created marriage because it was not good that man be alone; and so He provided a wife as a help meet and for mutual companionship (Gen. 2:18; Prov. 31:10-31; Mal. 2:14), producing godly seed (Mal. 2:15; Ps. 127; Ps.128), and rejoicing in one another physically (1 Cor. 7:3-5, Song of Solomon, Prov. 5). Marriage is a training ground for raising up Godly elders (1 Tim. 3:5), a reflection of the picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:23-27), a vehicle for the blessings of God (Prov. 18:22; Ps. 127; Ps. 128), and is the God-given bulwark against fornication (Prov. 5, I Cor 7:2,9). [Ref. WCF Ch24; LBC Ch25; WLC Q20,138-139]
We believe that it is normative for people to marry; it is abnormal for people not to marry. The vast majority of people should get married and for them to delay or deny their marriage is sin. Scripture provides three narrow exceptions to those who should marry: 1) those with a physical deformity (congenital or due to the actions of man) making them unable to procreate (Matt. 19:12), 2) those who are not yet of age (1 Cor. 7:36; Ez. 16:7-8; SOS 2:7, SOS 7:7-8), and 3) those with a special gift and ordination from God for the sake of the Kingdom (Matt. 19:12; 1 Cor. 7:7).
We believe that not only should most people marry, they should marry in their youth. The Bible speaks of the “wife of thy youth” (Prov. 5:18; Is. 54:6; Mal. 2:14-15) and “children of the youth” (Ps. 127:4). Scripture also speaks of not letting children pass the flower of their age (1 Cor. 7:36). The purposes of marriage are blessings and responsibilities that affect the whole of one’s life. Leaving the physically mature young man struggling with fornication and leaving the physically mature young woman wallowing in fruitless, barren celibacy—these are both unscriptural and ungodly actions.
We believe it incumbent upon the church, the family, and even the young people themselves to strive to promote young, fruitful marriages. To break the chains of false, unbiblical doctrine that has forbidden and delayed marriage, and instead rejoice in a Christ honoring witness of, literally, thousands of marriages, and even more thousands of godly seed.
It should be noted that the same scriptures that recommend marriage to young men and women also condemn homosexuality. So what if you have a gay or lesbian child? This sort of attitude encourages Christian parents to force their gay children to marry members of the opposite sex, doesn’t it? Because homosexuality is also abnormal, you know.
Note: Contrary to vicious internet rumors we do not support or in any way condone child sexual activity of any sort, child marriage, or any other illegal activity. Nor do we support or condone forced marriages. We believe that parents should NOT seek a spouse for a child where that child has not actively sought for the parents to do so.
LIARS!
Doesn’t a legitimate marriage require the consent of both the people marrying? Scripture speaks of the father of the son “taking a wife” for his son, and the father of the bride “giving” her to her husband (Jeremiah 29: 6; Judges 21: 7; Ezra 9:12; Nehemiah 10: 30; 1 Corinthians 7:36-38). It gives example after example of young women being given to young men, without the young woman even being consulted, and often, in some of the most Godly marriages in Scripture, the young man is not consulted.
Comparing what we see in Scripture with various commentaries as well as the culture of our world, however, we see a very interesting linguistic clash over the word “consent”. First of all, Scripture never, ever mentions the idea of “consent” in regard to marriage. Even where the character rejects the marriage or commits adultery during their betrothal, there is usually no focus at all on the person’s “consent” but on the person’s actions in response to some situation of covenant.
Then later they say:
Aren’t you promoting forced marriages? By no means! Emphatically, an “arranged marriage” (fathers binding their children in the covenant of betrothal) is NOT synonymous with “a forced marriage”, and sadly, secular sources are often more honest in this matter to recognize this clear distinction than other Christians are. Unfortunately, this idea is far too common in our modern notions, and far too often we are accused of promoting this, either explicitly or implicitly. When the “liberty” that moderns value (especially Americans) is contrasted with the type of authority and submissiveness that the Bible teaches and demonstrates, it is challenging to us, and this sharp contrast often leads people to jump to the idea of “forced” compliance. It is difficult for the modern (again, especially Americanized cultures) to come to grips with the idea of willful, joyful submission.
And then:
In general, it is the fathers and not the man and woman themselves who take action to make the betrothal covenant. There are sometimes objections that the woman does not have a “choice” in who she marries in this respect, but it may be said just as well that the man does not have a “choice” either. There are examples in Scripture where a man takes a wife on his own without his parents being involved, but then again, this kind of thing happens all the time under dating or even courtship.
(An ironic side note: It is funny how when the father of a boy meets with the father of a girl, and they agree to a betrothal, this is seen as ‘anti-woman’ (i.e. against the girl) even though the boy and the girl were treated equally!)
Only fathers, not mothers nor the actual couple themselves, right? Men and women that are being equally oppressed by their male elders are still being abused.
Shouldn’t the man be able to support a wife first? No. This issue can be divided into three parts:
1) The false idea that the young married man needs to be financially independent of his extended family.
2) The false idea that the young man and woman have to have “their own place”.
3) The false idea that the young man should be spiritually isolated from their extended family.
Because if force is used to form the marriage, force can continue to be used to keep it.
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Dale Husband's Intellectual Rants 