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Marriage – The
Mystery of Christ & The Church
The Covenant-Bond in Scripture
and History.
(Revised Edition, 1998)
David J.Engelsma. Reformed Free Publishing Association. 239p.
Review by Ray Hoekzema
The author is a minister of the Word in the Presbyterian Reformed
Churches in America and professor of dogmatics and Old Testament studies
in the Protestant Reformed Seminary, Michigan, USA. His theme and
emphasis is on the insolubleness of the marriage bond. Even in the case
of adultery, when separation may take place, Engelsma says that there is
no case for remarriage, neither for the guilty nor the not-guilty party.
God has joined partners together and having become one flesh, the
imposition is clear that man is not to put it asunder. It is a bond that
only God can and may dissolve, and He does this through death.
The book in its revised edition is made up of two parts. Firstly, the
Biblical gospel of marriage, a collection of sermons. The author takes
the reader through an interpretation of all the classic texts regarding
marriage and divorce (particularly 1Cor.7 & 11 and Eph.5). Secondly, the
author provides a brief history of the Church’s doctrine of marriage.
Engelsma says that when marriage portrays what it is meant to be, then
it has mystery, depths that we cannot plumb. It pictures the marriage of
Christ the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. In drawing attention
to the fact that wives are the weaker vessels, Engelsma says that
husbands are also vessels only, creatures of clay, not the Potter. Sin
has affected creation so that some men are weaker than some women, not
only mentally and emotionally but also physically. Adam and Eve, once
perfect, separated themselves from God and also became estranged from
each other. The author concludes that fallen Eve was willing to ruin her
husband and hence tempted him to sin and that fallen Adam was willing to
have his wife destroyed and hence laid the blame for the Fall upon her.
The author builds a strong case for the covenant-bond and deals with the
regular issues of sex, children, and the unequally yoked. In dealing
with his central subject, divorce, he emphasises that Moses did not
approve of divorce for the Israelites but only suffered it because of
the hardness of their hearts. Jesus in His words in Matthew 19 does not
blame Moses but Israel and harks back to the Genesis account. Even when
an unbeliever leaves, that is not a case for remarriage. Matthew 19:9’s
emphasis is on divorce, not on remarriage. In the case of adultery, the
marriage is lacerated but not fully separated, only a living apart.
Engelsma says that much has to do with the refusal to suffer hardship.
The ruling is not intended to oppress or grieve but impress on saints
the lofty calling in marriage – to reflect the mystery of Christ and the
Church.
In the second part, the author takes us along a historic journey of the
doctrine and of some prominent men whose to-and-froing leaves one with
some confusion. He refers to some pronouncements by the Reformed
Ecumenical Synods in 1953 and 1958. The latter synod received a Report
that defined marriage as “a divinely ordained relationship which God
intends to be an exclusive (monogamous), permanent (life-long) and
cohabitive (sexual) fellowship of love” and that “the marriage bond is
in its essence unbreakable.”
Engelsma infers that the Reformers broke with the Catholic consensus and
violated their own canon. He says that the traditional Reformed view
i.e. “remarriage of the innocent party” was entered into by its father,
John Calvin. Martin Luther agreed with Calvin in this respect.
Interestingly, our three best known Reformed Confessions make no
pronouncements but the Presbyterian Westminster Confession does. The
well-known John Murray, though he deplores the abuse of the “Pauline
privilege”, did conclude from his studies of the phrase “not bound under
such circumstances” (1Cor 7:15) that there is much to be said in favour
of the view that the text contemplates the dissolution of the bond of
marriage.
In his closing chapter “Contemporary Lawlessness”, Engelsma looks at
today’s standards and interpretation and levels the charge that “the
doctrine and practice of divorce and remarriage in much of today’s
evangelicalism and in many Reformed and Presbyterian churches are
lawless.” He says that the churches take refuge in a gospel that is
antinomian.
The text explanation of Ephesians 6:5 in my NIV Study Bible says, “Both
the OT and the NT included regulations for societal situations such as
slavery and divorce, which were the results of the hardness of hearts.
Such regulations did not encourage or condone such situations but were
divinely-given, practical ways of dealing with the realities of the
day.” Our Reformed Churches of Australia have adopted some Principles of
Agreement, forming the basis of our Church’s approach to the matter of
marriage, divorce and remarriage. A workbook titled “Leave & Cleave”,
embodying these principles is available from the CRCA Resource Centre.
Engelsma’s book is strongly idealistic and compared with the extant
variety of views and interpretations available, even among Christians,
it is consistent even relentless in its theme. However, there is much to
be learned from this book for it touches upon much where the rubber hits
the road in marriage. The chapters “The Christian Man as Husband” and
“The Christian Woman as Wife” serve as excellent mirrors and may also
serve the reader to discover where he or she fails in honouring the
special God-designed role in marriage.
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