Lesson video

Hello, my young scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marx, and I'm going to be your Religious Education teacher today.

Today, we're going to be looking at religious attitudes to marriage, particularly within Christianity.

We'll be using the discipline of theology and looking at lots of sources of authority in those different Christian groups.

So, when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain Christian teachings on marriage, Christian marriage ceremonies, and different Christian views on marriage.

So, let's start with our key terms then.

Cohabitation, living together as partners and having a sexual relationship without being married.

Marriage, the legally and religiously recognised union of two people as partners in a personal relationship.

Sacrament, an outward sign of an invisible and inward blessing by God; for example: Baptism, the Eucharist.

Sanctity, something that is holy or sacred.

Vow, a promise made during a marriage ceremony.

So, look out for those in today's lesson.

So our lesson today will have three sections.

Christian teachings on marriage, Christian marriage ceremonies, and Christian views on marriage.

So, let's start with our first section: Christian teachings on marriage.

So marriage is an important part of Christianity for many Christians, and here we got an example of a couple having a Christian wedding ceremony in a church.

For many Christians, one purpose of life is to marry.

It's a sacrament that humans are expected to fulfil.

Christian sources of authority guide Christians as to its significance and purpose.

So, it might be seen as a sacrament for some Christians, sacrament being that very important event that happens, which is a sign of an inward, inner blessing, but there's an outer sign of that.

And here, we even got the priest is holding up some bread wafer, which you might know is connected to the sacrament of the Eucharist.

So, here we've got that as a sacrament, but then also, some people may view marriage as a sacrament.

So, let's look to some sources of authority in Christianity to help us understand this then.

And one really important source of authority we're going to go to is the Bible.

And here, we've got this quotation that's used a lot to do with what the purpose and importance of marriage is.

And it's from the Book of Mark, which is one of the gospels written in the New Testament.

And Jesus says in the Book of Mark: "But at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate." So it's a really useful quote for things to do with marriage and also I think you could see where you might want to used it in discussions around divorce.

And Mark, here in the New Testament, is drawing on the Old Testament, the very beginning of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis in the Torah, where Mark is drawing on this idea after Adam and Eve were made and then they were going to be united to have children.

This phrase is there from the very beginning: "That man will leave his mother and father and be united with his wife." So, there's this idea of the physical connection that comes after marriage.

So this could be interpreted to mean that God made humans with that intention for them to marry.

You know, because in the beginning, God made them, and then they'll be united as man and wife.

So, it really seems to link to the purpose of why humans are even made in the first place.

And so some Christians interpret this to mean that marriage is for heterosexual couples, so between a man and his wife, because that's what it says in the text here: "A man will leave his mother and father and be united with his wife." Not all Christians interpret it in that way, though.

And that last line is often used in wedding ceremonies: "Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate." Because it seems to emphasise the sanctity of marriage, that kind of importance of this moment.

If you're doing the ceremony religiously and sort of under the eyes of God and within religious community, then that can no longer be separated because something has happened which cannot be taken apart.

And that links the idea of being sacred and also to the idea of it being a sacrament.

But not all Christians interpret that in the same way, either.

So, let's do a quick check.

Fill in the missing word.

The Bible says that when a man joins his wife to be married, they become one what? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Flesh was the correct word.

Well done.

So, if that part of the Bible said that this is why people get married, is in order to become one flesh, really, this is talking about having sex.

And it could be linked to ideas in Christianity about whether sex before marriage is allowed or not.

And so, one of the purposes of marriage is to have that committed relationship in which people can have sex.

So if that passage about Adam and Eve being joined together as one flesh is speaking to us about the idea of premarital sex being wrong and you should wait until you got married to have sex, then maybe we can look to other passages in the Bible to help support this view.

So, one purpose of marriage could be to have sex within a committed relationship of marriage.

The Bible also says in the New Testament, in the Book of Corinthians: But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

So, here we have this idea that sex is there between that married couple, no adultery.

So, not with anyone else's husband or wife, and not premarital sex or sex without that kind of commitment if someone's being promiscuous.

And most Christians believe, however, that you don't get married just to have sex.

It's one of the purposes.

So, this seems to suggest I could be one purpose of marriage is to have sexual relations with each other so there isn't sexual immorality.

So, if you're having sex with your husband or wife, that is seen as moral and right according to this passage.

But if it's with anyone else, then it's not moral or right.

So, those teachings on marriage seem quite clear in the Bible, but there are modern issues in today's world, which is different to how the world was when the Bible was written down, that church leaders need to address and help Christian communities to navigate.

And some of these questions are: Should divorcees be able to remarry in church? If someone's married and then they get divorced, can they get remarried in a church or not? Should that be allowed or not? Why would divorcees being able to remarry in a church, this means people who been married and got divorced, why would them being allowed to remarry in church be an issue, do you think? Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, for some Christians, the passage where Jesus says, "What God has joined together, let no man separate," means that they may not be accepting of divorce, and they may see if someone remarries as almost like they're committing adultery to their first husband or wife because they won't accept that that first marriage broke and had a divorce, because the passage says once you've been joined together by God in a marriage, you cannot be separated.

So, this has become one of the issues that different church leaders have had to face.

Secondly, should same-sex marriages be carried out in a church? Why could that be an issue, do you think, that needs to be discussed? Pause the video and have a think, and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, this could be an issue because those passages that Christians may draw on to understand the purpose of marriage and what marriage is talk about a man and his wife or a woman and her husband.

So, it seems to support this idea of a heterosexual marriage because all the examples that are given, "This is why a man will leave his mother and father and join his wife." So, this seems to support the idea of heterosexual marriages.

So, can those teachings, therefore, be used to support same-sex marriages in a church? And finally, should a couple that are not Christian be able to marry in a church? Why could this be a discussion that church leaders are having? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well, we know from census data that there's an increasing number of people who are not religious, and the number of people who are Christian in the country has been declining.

But we have got churches that could fulfil that role of welcoming people in to have marriages.

But should people who don't believe in God have a marriage which is seen as being under the eyes of God, and with God's blessing, and within a Christian community? So, this is another question the church leaders are having to address.

One of these is called the General Synod, and it's a national assembly of Church of England leaders.

So, they gather to discuss modern issues and what, as a church, they want their response to be.

So, the General Synod will meet as a little bit like Parliament might be, to discuss what's happening in the world, how things are changing, the different issues that are facing Christian communities.

And they meet together to discuss this and take votes on what they think should be the position of the Church of England.

So, it's a good source of authority to go to to understand what the teachings are within the Church of England.

They gather to consider these modern issues, including marriage, and recent decisions have included: They have, in 2002, allowed individual church leaders to decide if they're willing to marry divorcees.

So, before then, if you had been married and then divorced, and then you met someone else or wanted to remarry, you could not have that marriage in a Church of England church or an Anglican church.

So, in 2002, that changed, and church leaders could decide for themselves, kind of based on their own conscience, whether they felt they could remarry them or not.

And then, more recently, in 2024, the General Synod, the national assembly of Church of England leaders, gave an agreement in principle to take forward general proposals for the use of prayers in church services asking for God's blessing for same-sex couples.

So, they haven't quite gone as far as saying they will do same-sex marriages, but they are considering having prayers for blessing same-sex couples within the churches.

So, the General Synod is an assembly for the Church of England denomination of Christianity.

Other denominations have sources of authority they draw unto to understand these biblical teachings around marriage.

And the Roman Catholic Church, you've got the Catechism, and this provides teachings on issues regarding marriage.

And it says: The matrimonial covenant, so that agreement in marriage, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.

So, here we got this idea of that commitment and a partnership between two people.

This also shows that it's for opposite-sex couples and it's for life.

It's a covenant.

And the Roman Catholic Church does not allow divorce.

We said earlier from that passage: "What God has joined together, let no man separate." So, that really informs this idea that it's for the whole of life.

And then, it also says the idea of it being a man and a woman establishing this partnership, which shows that it's opposite-sex couples that's being supported rather than same-sex.

So, the Catholic Church does not allow divorce but does not also marry same-sex couples.

And then, it also says: Married couples should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and educate their children.

So, this is showing that one purpose of marriage is to have children and to look after them, to procreate and have children is an important purpose of marriage, and then to look after them, and educate them, and raise them in the faith.

So, let's do another check.

Sexual relations are important for Christian marriage.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

It's true.

But why? Well, the Bible says that sexual relations are for married couples to stop sexual immorality, and churches teach the importance of having children.

It's not necessarily the only purpose, but it's one important purpose.

Well done.

So, let's do a practise task now to see what we've learned.

Laura has been asked to answer this question on the purpose of marriage, and she's written two points, but she needs to develop them.

Develop them for her by including a Christian teaching.

So, she started the answer, but we're going to finish it for her.

So, the question is: Explain two different religious beliefs about the purpose of marriage.

And her points are: Some Christians believe that one purpose of marriage is sexual relations.

And her second point is: Some Christians believe that one purpose of marriage is to bring a man and a woman together.

So, you're going to develop that including Christian teaching, which could be a source of authority or it could be a Christian idea about marriage.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, some great thinking there.

So, your answer might look something like this.

The question was: Explain two different religious beliefs about the purpose of marriage.

And the first point Laura gave was: Some Christians believe the purpose of marriage is sexual relations.

And we could have said: The Bible says that "each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband," showing that marriage is important for this reason.

Secondly, some Christians believe that the purpose of marriage is to bring a man and a woman together.

And the Bible says "they're no longer two but one flesh," which shows that marriage unites two people.

And what I really like about both of those answers is we've given the source and we've said it's from the Bible.

Well done.

So, now onto our second section: Christian marriage ceremonies So, here we have our Christian denominations tree, which reminds us that there are different branches within Christianity, different groups that might interpret those sources of authority in slightly different ways.

And today, we're thinking about how that might relate to the idea of marriage.

And we're gonna think about different Christian marriage ceremonies.

And a Christian marriage ceremony will vary depending on things such as: the Christian denomination, local cultural traditions, the timing of the wedding.

And this means there'll be many different ways that a wedding can be performed.

So, there will be some things that are similar across different Christian marriage ceremonies, but there may be lots of differences too.

So, many Christian wedding ceremonies will take place in a church in God's presence and with other Christians there as the Body of Christ, as the living church.

Secondly, they'll often be led by a church leader who witnesses and officiates the sacrament.

So not all Christian denominations see marriage as a sacrament, but many do, and they will have a church leader who can perform and officiate that sacrament for the couple.

But even if they don't, then they will have a church leader often there who's leading the wedding.

And a very common symbol of weddings, not only in Christian weddings, is the wearing of a wedding ring after someone's been married.

So, in the marriage ceremony, you have the exchanging of rings as a symbol of commitment and love between the couple.

Let's do a quick check: Which one of these is not a common feature of a Christian wedding ceremony? A church building, exchanging rings, a church leader, and the bride singing to the groom.

Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, the bride singing to the groom may happen in some weddings, but it's not necessarily a common feature of Christian wedding ceremonies.

Well done.

So, an important part of a Church of England wedding, or an Anglican wedding, is the saying of vows to each other, and vows are the solemn promises that the couple makes to one another, and the ring is then a sign of that commitment and that promise that has been made.

So, I wonder if you know what some of those vows might be in a Christian wedding that happens in a Church of England church? Pause the video and have a think.

And you can maybe write down a few.

What vows, what promises, do you think that the couple make to one another that the ring then becomes a symbol of? Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've written down in a moment.

Well, here's what the Church of England wedding vows say, and I wonder how many of these you got: "I, name, take you, name, to be my wife or husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy law.

In the presence of God I make this vow." So, I wonder how many of those you already had? So what promises are there in here in the vows? What are the promises that this couple are making to each other then? Have a think about that.

How many can you find, the different promises that they're making to one another? Pause the video and have a think.

You can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, we've got lots of promises in this middle section.

"From this day forward," so, from now on.

"For better, for worse," so, even if things are good or things that aren't so good in our life, we'll still be together.

If we're rich or if we're poor.

If we are ill or if we're healthy.

And then this idea of loving and cherishing each other until death do us part.

So, sort of whatever happens, whatever may come to us in our life together, we're going to stay together, and I'm going to cherish you and love you.

And then, once these vows are made, the ring is a symbol of that.

We've got the vows of looking after each other no matter what happens, to love and value each other, and to stay married until they die.

Maybe you can link that to the passage we had earlier in the book of Mark about when God has joined something together, no one can separate it.

So, these vows are being said as part of the Church of England wedding ceremony, which is the Anglican Church.

So, this is happening as part of a Christian wedding ceremony.

And which bit of this really links to the idea of God and making a promise with God? Can you find the section in here that's to do with God that could really show us that this is a religious and, perhaps, a Christian wedding ceremony? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Yes, it's this bit at the end: "In the presence of God, I make this vow." So, "according to God's holy law," so this idea that this is what God has set out for marriage, and then it's, "in the presence of God, I make this vow." So, this is happening in a church and in the presence of God in the terms of being in a physical church, also being with other Christians, as the Body of Christ.

So, the vows are made in front of God.

This is because it's done in a church building and with a church leader as a witness in front of God.

And this emphasises the sanctity of marriage, emphasises how sacred and important it is, and why, for some Christians, this is seen as a sacrament.

So, let's hear from another Christian denomination now, which is the Orthodox Christian denomination.

And Alexia is telling us: "The Orthodox wedding ceremony emphasises the importance of having children in marriage." And the priest says, "Unite them in one mind; wed them into one flesh, granting to them the fruit of the body and the procreation of fair children." So, here we've got this idea of being united and connected, and then also that link to procreation and having children as part of the marriage.

Secondly, "Graciously grant that they may see their children's children." So, this idea of an extended family, too.

Not just their own children, but their children's children.

So, part of that larger extended family.

So, here, this text from a Christian wedding ceremony from the Orthodox denomination is really focusing on that role the marriage has in procreation.

And I love this idea of people seeing their children and their children's children.

So, let's do another check.

Which one of the following is not a Christian wedding vow? For better, for worse.

Till death do us part.

In sickness and in health.

Through thick and thin.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, it's D, through thick and thin.

Even though that's kind of the idea, that it's about sticking together no matter what, that's not the phrasing that's used in those Christian wedding vows.

Well done.

So, time for another practise task to see what we've learned then.

You're gonna complete this table using a quotation from a source of authority to support each point.

And our points are: The Church of England teaches that a married couple should support each other.

Christian wedding vows are made in the presence of God.

Christian teachings say that a couple should stay together for the whole of their lives.

The Orthodox marriage ceremony emphasises the couple having children.

What sources of authority could be used to support each point? We've had lots of sources of authority so far in this lesson.

Pause the video and have a go, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

For each point on the table, I asked you to find a source of authority that could support it, and we have lots of different sources of authority in our lesson so far.

The Church of England teaches that a married couple should support each other, and you could've used the wedding vows saying "for better, for worse." Christian wedding vows are made in the presence of God, and you could have used the Church of England wedding vows saying, "In the presence of God, I make this vow." Christian teachings say that a couple should stay together for the whole of their lives.

The Church of England wedding vows say, "Till death us do part." And the Orthodox marriage ceremony emphasises the couple having children, and the priest says, "granting to them the procreation of fair children." Well done.

So, onto the third section of our lesson then, Christian views on marriage.

So, within Christian denominations, and we had our denomination tree earlier to remind us there are different groups within Christianity, there are different views on who can marry in a church, related to whether people are both from that denomination or not.

So, if you are both Church of England Christians who go to that Church of England church, you can marry in that church, but could you marry, say, a Roman Catholic Christian, a Greek Orthodox Christian, or someone who is not Christian at all? And these mixed marriages or interfaith marriages are those where there's a member of a specific denomination with a partner who is not part of that denomination.

So, it could be that they're Christian but are part of a different type of church.

Or it could be that they're not Christian at all, and that's seen as a mixed marriage.

And different churches have different statements on whether that is allowed or not.

So, first of all we've got in the Orthodox Christian communities, people can marry another Christian in an Orthodox church as long as they are baptised.

So, as long as they've gone through the sacrament of baptism, either infant baptism or adult baptism, then they can marry in that church.

But they need to be Christian.

They can't be someone who's not a Christian.

In the Roman Catholic Church, a Roman Catholic can marry a non-Catholic if there is special permission from the church and as long as they bring up their children to follow Catholicism.

So, as long as they're going to fulfil that duty of procreating and then raising children within Catholicism, then they can have permission to marry in that church.

And other Christians.

Some denominations discourage these mixed marriages, citing the Bible where it says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers." So, when you are yoked together, you're combined and connected.

And the idea is that you shouldn't necessarily be connected to someone who's from that different denomination.

If, in your group, you don't view those other denominations as Christians in the same sense that you are, then you might not want to marry.

So, those churches might discourage those kind of interfaith or intra-faith marriages from happening.

Let's do a quick check.

Give one condition of a mixed marriage being allowed in the Catholic Church.

What was one of the conditions that was given for why you could marry, if you were Catholic, someone who was not Catholic in that church? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

You could have said: getting special permission from the church, and also the couple agreeing to bring their children up to follow Catholicism.

Well done.

So now, we're gonna hear from Brandon, who is a Humanist, and Danielle, who is a Roman Catholic Christian, and they're discussing the importance of marriage.

What do you think they're gonna say about marriage and why it's important? Pause the video and have a think before we look at their views.

Well, Brandon here, who's a Humanist, says: "I don't think you have to get married for a relationship to be committed.

You can cohabit with your partner and show your commitment in other ways.

Marriage is one way to show a commitment if you both choose to do it." So, he's not saying he's against the idea of marriage; he's just saying that could be one way of showing commitment, but there could be other ways of showing that too.

Danielle says, "I don't agree because marriage is a sacrament.

It's not just a commitment to your spouse but to God.

The marriage ceremony includes, 'What God has joined together,' which shows that God is an important part of that marriage." So, it's not just these two people that are marrying and making this kinda commitment to each other.

For Danielle, they're making this commitment to each other, but this is in the eyes of God, and God is joining those two people together as a sacrament.

I wonder if those were the things you thought Brandon and Danielle were going to say.

So now, we're gonna hear from Zoe, who's an atheist, and Fergus, who's an Anglican Christian.

They're going to discuss if marriage is important in society today.

What do you think they're going to say? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well, Zoe, who's an atheist, says, "Marriage is not as important as it used to be.

Data shows that the proportion of people getting married has decreased.

I cohabit with my partner without needing marriage." So, less and less people are getting married, so therefore, it's not as important as it used to be.

And Fergus says, "I think marriage is an important part of society.

My church leaders are now thinking about how marriage can be inclusive.

The Bible was written for its time, but we need to think about how society works today." So, Fergus, who's an Anglican Christian, thinks that marriage is important, but maybe the way that Christian leaders think about it needs to adapt to be more inclusive to be better working for today's society.

And I wonder which of these two you think has the most convincing argument and why? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

So, time for another check now.

Is this true or false? Marriage is important to everyone in society today.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is false because some people believe you can have a committed relationship without being married.

And we heard that from Brandon and Zoe, the Humanist and the atheist, earlier.

So, time for another task now to see what we've learned.

Here is a full evaluation question using a statement about marriage.

"Everyone should get married." And what you're going to do is write a paragraph that supports the statement using Christian religious arguments.

So, drawing on some of those Christian views that we've seen, the different Christian teachings we've looked at throughout the whole of the lesson, why would someone argue that everyone should get married? You're going to write a paragraph.

Pause the video and off you go.

We'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, your answer might have included the following: Some Christians would agree with this because they believe the Bible was emphasising the sanctity of marriage when it says that God created men and women to marry each other and that married couples become "one flesh." Marriage is thus important to Christians because they believe that God has told them they should get married.

Some Christians also agree with this because they believe marriage is the correct place for sexual relations, as the Bible says that this stops sexual immorality.

Marriage is therefore important to them, as sex should only take place in the "right" kinda relationship.

Some Christians also believe they should be married to have children.

The Catholic Catechism, in particular, says that having children is important, so getting married is essential to do this.

Marriage is thus important for their faith.

So here, I've brought three different ideas in that are religious and Christian that support that statement that everyone should get married.

And each time, I stated where the source is from.

The first passage is in the Bible, where men and women become one flesh after marriage.

And then the second section we have from the Bible, the idea that marriage stops sexual immorality, so therefore, is important.

And in the third one we've used the source of the Catholic Catechism, saying that marriage is important because of having children.

So, well done there.

So let's summarise everything we've learned today, then.

Religious attitudes to marriage.

Marriage is important to Christians in many ways, including in allowing them to have children, to become "one flesh" and have sexual relations.

Christian wedding ceremonies reflect the importance of marriage, such as in the vows.

Church leaders nowadays seek to address modern issues about marriage that the Bible may not reference.

There are different Christian views regarding mixed or interfaith marriages.

And there are debates as to whether marriage is still an important part of society today, although most Christians believe that it is.

So, well done for your hard work today, and I'll see you again soon.

Bye-bye.