SHALL CHRISTIANS CONTRACT MARRIAGES WITH THE UNCONVERTED?
By Albert Stone
If there are some subjects of revealed truth that do not receive due attention from religious teachers, parents, and guardians, is it not possible that the subject indicated by the above heading may be one of them? Perhaps the delicacy of the subject and the fear of being thought too officious, may have been the occasion of putting this subject too much under the ban of silence. Such a feeling, though proper in itself, should not be carried to such an extent as to make ourselves chargeable with the neglect of an important duty, by withholding from others much-needed instruction and counsel. If we have reached the bottom of reform on all those subjects which our important mission obliges us to carry out, of course nothing need be said on this subject. But as no one will prefer such a claim, it may not be improper for me to invite attention to the matter in question, in the hope that abler pens may be induced to step into the gap, to make up the hedge, which the most casual inspection shows to be sadly out of repair. The institution of marriage, and the Sabbath, had their origin in paradise, before the fall of man. Inspired directions are given for their proper observance since the fall. They were designed to operate in the machinery of creation as regulators of human conduct, and, in the very nature of things, would have great bearing on human destiny, both as to this world and the next. It is difficult to say which of them have been most abused. The history of the past shows that the hedge for their preservation has been in great measure torn away, and these protectors of man's choicest interests have been well-nigh nullified. It would seem from Gen. 6:1, 2, and other scriptures, that the righteous descendants of Seth, and the unrighteous descendants of Cain, had, by divine direction, kept themselves distinct for some fifteen hundred years from the creation. But when men had greatly multiplied on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, a general defection became manifest in those who had been distinguished as the sons of God, and they took to them, from the opposite class, wives of all which they chose. The worshipers of God were induced by unworthy motives to contract marriages, which made way for a rapid increase of wickedness, and an almost universal apostasy. These women were called the daughters of men, as being the descendants of Adam, and inheriting his fallen nature and his sin, but not his repentance. The cause of the flood is plainly traceable to these forbidden marriages; as the fruit of them was the development of a race of gigantic sinners in the earth. All the circumstances of the case were opposed to the religious education and proper training of children. The evil example of the ungodly party prevailed to corrupt the other, and family religion found no place in those households. The children were trained up according to the maxims of the ungodly parent, and wickedness became great in the earth. Thus the flood became a necessity to wipe out the stain of those unseemly marriages. In view, then, of the fact that such connections were forbidden, as they evidently were, and of the terrible effects of disobedience, as manifested by the flood, would it not be rash to conclude that what God cursed under that dispensation, will meet with his favor at a later period? The important question for us to decide is, whether the same prohibitions and reasons exist now that existed before the flood. If we were to accept the verdict practically rendered by most professed Christians, we should at once conclude that the safeguards of former times are no longer required to be observed; that, either God is willing to accept a lower standard of piety, or that the unconverted have become so friendly to religion that it would be suitable to confide to them the religious training of our children, whom God requires to be trained up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If the united efforts of both parents often prove insufficient to accomplish the desired end, how shall one accomplish it alone? Of the mixed multitude that went up with the children of Israel out of Egypt, many, if not most of them, were the offspring of forbidden inter-marriages of the Israelites and the idolatrous Egyptians. These professed to believe the teachings of Moses, and to forsake idolatry. But they were the first to murmur against Moses and against God in the wilderness, and through their example the people were led astray. They thus became the occasion of great afflictions and severe judgments upon the camp of Israel. The Israelites during the captivity took strange wives from among the Babylonians. Even the priests and their chief men, in large numbers, joined in this, contrary to the express command of God. At the end of the captivity, when Ezra, by permission of the king of Persia, went up to Jerusalem to superintend the rebuilding of the wall and temple, those marriages, with their numerous offspring, presented almost insuperable barriers to their re-establishment in their own land. They were guilty of a breach of moral principle. All these wrongs had to be repented of, and as far as possible forsaken; and as the beginning was transgression, the end was sorrow and tears. The prohibition of marriages with idolaters was given to prevent temptations to idolatry. Does the gross idolatry of heathen nations possess worse features than the more refined idolatry of church-going sinners, if the Scriptures decide the question? Baptized idolatry is idolatry still; and Christianized sin is sugar-coated bitterness. The Lord looketh upon the heart. Every age has felt the evil effects of neglecting the precepts of Scripture in this matter. It should be remembered that the world, though called Christian, still “lieth in wickedness,” and is full of evils which we must abhor. If everything in the Christian's conduct were regulated with reference to his communion with God, he would be likely to seek, as a life companion, one who would be a help meet for such a purpose. The limitation of the apostle is, “Only in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 7 : 39.