Monday, August 14, 2023

It is the 14th of August, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Happy Monday, friends. It’s the second day of the week, the first day of school for my boys, and time to head to the mailbag. And, as I recently mentioned, Beth Anne and I just celebrated 22 years of marriage- which feels especially crazy being that I was 22 when we married. And I happen to have a mailbag question from James in Tacoma.

Now, there is a chance that this means he roots for the Mariners- and I’m still sore about that sweep last week- but I’m gonna go for it on account of my anniversary and the fact that Tacoma is the birthplace of Gary Larson- and between him and David Letterman my youth was shaped by those guys as much as any. Ok- the question.

James asked, “I was wondering if you could tell us about the history of marriage. It seems like a funny mix of state and church in America today.” Well, James- yes, marriage is really tricky. Partly because it has been, for a long time, recognized as a civil and religious affair. So… what can I say. 

First, our modern American marriages are in the minority, historically. Throughout time and space, you are more likely to be married to a first or second cousin than someone else. Also, the majority of marriages throughout time and space have been arranged. So- just like Queen Victoria’s wedding to Albert made white dresses the norm, so too did it popularize the idea of “romantic marriage.”

Marriages in the Western tradition do go back to the Bible- there was a Jewish tradition of betrothal and then marriage- separated by up to a year- so that’s the origin of the engagement. By 1215 the Catholic Church decided it needed to regulate marriage- they made official the operation of engagement and marriage so that the union could be announced ahead of time just in case someone knew something and so that the proper dowry arrangements could be made. Before this, marriage ceremonies were more for political reasons- for alliances and the like. If you were middle or lower class, you would often simply make the pledge- in old English- the pledge was a “Wed,” and you would exchange pledges- most often with a ring.

The ring goes back to the Egyptians, who used the image of a snake eating its tail to represent eternity. Alexander the Great borrowed the tradition. The Romans took it from him and added elaborate jewels- conspicuous consumption- and the church, like with too. Many other things are borrowed from culture.

Puritans, you might know, wanted nothing to do with anything Catholic looking and conspicuous- so they would often swap that out with a thimble- it’s more practical and could be used as a token on Monopoly games. In the West, men wearing rings wasn’t common until the 2nd World War when quick marriages became a thing, and men would wear the rings to remember their wives at home.  In the Celtic tradition, there wasn’t a ring, but a cloth that would be knotted, binding the hands of man and wife. You literally “tied the knot.”

The wedding rite so commonly used today comes to us from the English Reformation and Thomas Cranmer. The Latin church had a rite from the 11th century- the Sarum rite- which called for the wedding ceremony to be held in the language of those present- because it was a religious but also legal affair. Cranmer, in the Book of Common Prayer, used some language that would become common- such as beginning with “dearly beloved”  and “we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of his congregacion, to joyne together this man and this woman in holy matrimony”- and then the “better or worse” “sickness and health”- all of this is language from Cranmer and the book of common prayer. So perhaps it's fair to say that while modern romantic marriages are new, our liturgy for the event (and for some, the only liturgical service of their life) goes back to the English Reformation.

And while marriage- being a tricky religious and civil affair can be used in culture wars and can be treated as an idol, it’s probably fair to remember that neither Jesus nor Paul married- so apparently, one can be a good Christian without being married.

Thanks, James in Tacoma, Washington- you can send me your questions at danv@1517.org.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Matthew 22- a timely word on church/state relations:

24 After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

25 “Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?”

26 “From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. 27 “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 14th of August 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who knows Tacoma as the City of Destiny and home to the Museum of Glass- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man a little concerned with the ratio of serial killers to non-serial killers from Tacoma… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.