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Marriage "License"
Here's the real and only marriage "license":
Exodus 22:1-7 And if a man entice
a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the
dowry of virgins.
----- Forwarded by Dan Johns/BC2/AEPIN on 06/25/02 07:21 AM -----
from Mary R. in Penna.
5 Reasons Why Christians Should Not Obtain a State
Marriage License
by Pastor Matt Trewhella
[Emphasis and Bible Verses Added by Webmaster]
Every year thousands of Christians amble down to their
local county courthouse and obtain a marriage license from
the State in order to marry their future spouse. They do
this unquestioningly. They do it because their pastor has
told them to go get one, and besides, "everybody else gets
one." This pamphlet attempts to answer the question - why
should we not get one?
1. The definition of a "license" demands that we not
obtain one to marry. Black's Law Dictionary defines
"license" as, "The permission by competent authority to do
an act which without such permission, would be illegal."
We need to ask ourselves- why should it be illegal to
marry without the State's permission? More importantly,
why should we need the State's permission to participate
in something which God instituted (Gen. 2:18-24)? We
should not need the State's permission to marry nor should
we grovel before state officials to seek it. What if you
apply and the State says "no"? You must understand that
the authority to license implies the power to prohibit. A
license by definition "confers a right" to do something.
The State cannot grant the right to marry. It is a
God-given right.
2. When you marry with a marriage license, you grant the
State jurisdiction over your marriage. When you marry with
a marriage license, your marriage is a creature of the
State. It is a corporation of the State! Therefore, they
have jurisdiction over your marriage including the fruit
of your marriage. What is the fruit of your marriage? Your
children and every piece of property you own. There is
plenty of case law in American jurisprudence which
declares this to be true.
In 1993, parents were upset here in Wisconsin because a
test was being administered to their children in the
government schools which was very invasive of the family's
privacy. When parents complained, they were shocked by the
school bureaucrats who informed them that their children
were required to take the test by law and that they would
have to take the test because they (the government school)
had jurisdiction over their children. When parents asked
the bureaucrats what gave them jurisdiction, the
bureaucrats answered, "your marriage license and their
birth certificates." Judicially, and in increasing
fashion, practically, your state marriage license has
far-reaching implications.
3. When you marry with a marriage license, you place
yourself under a body of law which is immoral. By
obtaining a marriage license, you place yourself under the
jurisdiction of Family Court which is governed by
unbiblical and immoral laws. Under these laws, you can
divorce for any reason. Often, the courts side with the
spouse who is in rebellion to God, and castigates the
spouse who remains faithful by ordering him or her not to
speak about the Bible or other matters of faith when
present with the children.
As a minister, I cannot in good conscience perform a
marriage which would place people under this immoral body
of laws. I also cannot marry someone with a marriage
license because to do so I have to act as an agent of the
State! I would have to sign the marriage license, and I
would have to mail it into the State. Given the State's
demand to usurp the place of God and family regarding
marriage, and given it's unbiblical, immoral laws to
govern marriage, it would be an act of treason for me to
do so.
4. The marriage license invades and removes God-given
parental authority. When you read the Bible, you see that
God intended for children to have their father's blessing
regarding whom they married. Daughters were to be given in
marriage by their fathers (Dt. 22:16; Ex. 22:17; I Cor.
7:38). We have a vestige of this in our culture today in
that the father takes his daughter to the front of the
altar and the minister asks, "Who gives this woman to be
married to this man?"
Historically, there was no requirement to obtain a
marriage license in colonial America. When you read the
laws of the colonies and then the states, you see only two
requirements for marriage. First, you had to obtain your
parents permission to marry, and second, you had to post
public notice of the marriage 5-15 days before the
ceremony.
Notice you had to obtain your parents permission. Back
then you saw godly government displayed in that the State
recognized the parents authority by demanding that the
parents permission be obtained. Today, the
all-encompassing ungodly State demands that their
permission be obtained to marry.
By issuing marriage licenses, the State is saying, "You
don't need your parents permission, you need our
permission." If parents are opposed to their child's
marrying a certain person and refuse to give their
permission, the child can do an end run around the parents
authority by obtaining the State's permission, and marry
anyway. This is an invasion and removal of God-given
parental authority by the State.
5. When you marry with a marriage license, you are like a
polygamist. From the State's point of view, when you marry
with a marriage license, you are not just marrying your
spouse, but you are also marrying the State.
The most blatant declaration of this fact that I have ever
found is a brochure entitled "With This Ring I Thee Wed."
It is found in county courthouses across Ohio where people
go to obtain their marriage licenses. It is published by
the Ohio State Bar Association. The opening paragraph
under the subtitle "Marriage Vows" states, "Actually, when
you repeat your marriage vows you enter into a legal
contract. There are three parties to that contract. 1.You;
2. Your husband or wife, as the case may be; and 3. the
State of Ohio."
See, the State and the lawyers know that when you marry
with a marriage license, you are not just marrying your
spouse, you are marrying the State! You are like a
polygamist! You are not just making a vow to your spouse,
but you are making a vow to the State and your spouse.
You are also giving undue jurisdiction to the State.
When Does the State Have Jurisdiction Over a Marriage?
God intended the State to have jurisdiction over a
marriage for two reasons - 1). in the case of divorce, and
2). when crimes are committed i.e., adultery, bigamy. etc.
Unfortunately, the State now allows divorce for any
reason, and it does not prosecute for adultery.
In either case, divorce or crime, a marriage license is
not necessary for the courts to determine whether a
marriage existed or not. What is needed are witnesses.
This is why you have a best man and a maid of honor. They
should sign the marriage certificate in your family Bible,
and the wedding day guest book should be kept.
Marriage was instituted by God, therefore it is a
God-given right. According to Scripture, it is to be
governed by the family, and the State only has
jurisdiction in the cases of divorce or crime.
History of Marriage Licenses in
America
George Washington was married without a marriage license.
Abraham Lincoln was married without a marriage license.
So, how did we come to this place in America where
marriage licenses are issued?
Historically, all the states in America had laws outlawing
the marriage of blacks and whites. In the mid-1800's,
certain states began allowing interracial marriages or
miscegenation as long as those marrying received a license
from the state. In other words they had to receive
permission to do an act which without such permission
would have been illegal.
Blacks Law Dictionary points to this historical fact when
it defines "marriage license" as, "A license or permission
granted by public authority to persons who intend to
intermarry." "Intermarry" is defined in Black's Law
Dictionary as, "Miscegenation; mixed or interracial
marriages."
Give the State an inch and they will take a 100 miles (or
as one elderly woman once said to me "10,000 miles.") Not
long after these licenses were issued, some states began
requiring all people who marry to obtain a marriage
license. In 1923, the Federal Government established the
Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act (they later
established the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act). By
1929, every state in the Union had adopted marriage
license laws.
What Should We Do?
Christian couples should not be marrying with State
marriage licenses, nor should ministers be marrying people
with State marriage licenses. Some have said to me, "If
someone is married without a marriage license, then they
aren't really married." Given the fact that states may
soon legalize same-sex marriages, we need to ask
ourselves, "If a man and a man marry with a State marriage
license, and a man and woman marry without a State
marriage license - who's really married? Is it the two men
with a marriage license, or the man and woman without a
marriage license? In reality, this contention that people
are not really married unless they obtain a marriage
license simply reveals how Statist we are in our thinking.
We need to think biblically.
You should not have to obtain a license from the State to
marry someone anymore than you should have to obtain a
license from the State to be a parent, which some in
academic and legislative circles are currently pushing to
be made law.
When I marry a couple, I always buy them a Family Bible
which contains birth and death records, and a marriage
certificate. We record the marriage in the Family Bible.
What's recorded in a Family Bible will stand up as legal
evidence in any court of law in America. Both George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln were married without a
marriage license. They simply recorded their marriages in
their Family Bibles. So should we.
(Pastor Trewhella has been marrying couples without
marriage licenses for ten years. Many other pastors also
refuse to marry couples with State marriage licenses.)
This pamphlet is not comprehensive in scope. Rather, the
purpose of this pamphlet is to make you think and give you
a starting point to do further study of your own. If you
would like an audio sermon regarding this matter, just
send a gift of at least five dollars in cash to: Mercy
Seat Christian Church 10240 W. National Ave. PMB #129
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53227.
Original text at
(http://www.mercyseat.net)
This pamphlet is available in print form. Click here to
order.
Bible Verses
Genesis 2:18 - 24
18. And YHWH God said, [It is] not good that the man should
be alone;
I will make him an help meet for him. {meet...: Heb. as before
him}
19 And out of the ground YHWH God formed every beast
of the field,
and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] to Adam to see what
he
would call them: and whatever Adam called every living creature,
that
[was] its name. {Adam: or, the man}
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the
fowls of the air,
and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found
an
help meet for him. {gave: Heb. called}
21. And YHWH God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept:
and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its
place;
22 And the rib, which YHWH God had taken from man, he
made a woman,
and brought her to the man. {made: Heb. built}
23 And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and
flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Man.
{Woman: Heb. Isha} {Man: Heb. Ish}
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall
cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Deuteronomy 22:16
16 And the damsel's father shall say to the elders, I
gave my
daughter to this man for a wife, and he hateth her;
Exodus 22:17
17 If her father shall utterly refuse to give her to
him, he shall
pay money according to the dowry of virgins. {pay: Heb. weigh}
1st Corinthians 7:38
38 So then he that giveth [her] in marriage doeth
well; but he that
giveth [her] not in marriage doeth better.
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