Concerning the Marriage of Priests – part 43
Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
Scripture Text: Proverbs 31:10
Series: Lessons in the Lutheran Confessions
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From the Confessions: The Defense of the Augsburg Confession
This is how God pays back those who prohibit marriage, disdaining his gift and ordinance. But since it is customary to change other laws if the common good advises it, why is the same not done with respect to this law for which so many grave reasons concur about changing it, especially in these last times? Nature is gradually growing older and weaker, and vices are increasing, so divine remedies should have been employed.
Pulling It Together: Those who prohibit marriage, enforcing celibacy as a necessary good work, have become a laughingstock. Even their own dare to laugh when others make sport or even scorn their ways. For these ways are not God’s ways; perpetual celibacy is a human invention. This rule does not work now, as it did not work in the time of the Reformers. It is past time for the religious to seek God’s remedy instead. His answer is more valuable than great wealth, for which most men will never give up their pursuit. Moreover, this treasure is itself a gift from the Lord. Find a woman who fears the Lord (Proverbs 31:30) and who will love you, and you will have found God’s precious answer: a wife.
Prayer: Give us loving, respectful spouses, Lord, who fear, love, and trust you. Amen
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Rev. Dr. Mark E. Ryman has served as Pastor for St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury, NC, since 2021. Previously, Pastor Ryman served congregations in North Carolina and Ohio, as well as a call to specialized ministry with Sola Publishing.
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