The Development of Marriage

The Development of Marriage

Marriage has gone through many changes throughout its history. It's earliest forms date back to the story of creation. It has developed a great deal since then. It is a simple fact that men and women can not survive without each other. Marriage is part of the created natural order, we were meant to be together.

God intended for us to be united with the opposite sex since the beginning of time. The book of Genesis tells us: "God created man in his image, He created him in the image of God, man and woman, He created them. God saw what he had done and said, "This is good, it is not good that man should be alone."(McLachlan 5). Marriage is inherently good and pleasing to God. It was part of God's original plan for mankind. It is also shown that Jesus held marriage in great esteem, for it was at a wedding where he performed his first public miracle. Furthermore, it is Jesus who raises Marriage to a Sacrament of the New Law. Our Lord is also the one who told us that divorce was wrong. He says, "What God has joined together, no human being must separate."(Matrimony 1).

Although what we were told by God, in many primitive civilizations marriage was primarily industrial. During early times husband and wife were not much together; they did not even eat together very often.(The Marriage Institution 1). Their marriages were always planned by their parents and in some cases brides were bought. Polygamy was also frequent in the early history of marriage. Although, as civilization progressed monogamy became the idealistic goal of human sex evolution.(The Marriage Institution 6). In addition, as civilization advanced, marriage became more seriously regarded and the wedding ceremony became recurrent. The marriage ceremony grew out of the fact that marriage was originally a community affair and also primitive man had no records, so the marriage had to be witnessed by many people.

The Catholic marriage is set apart from all other relationships because Catholic marriages are a sacramental path to sanctity. Paul wrote that marriage is a true sacrament and the sign of the conjugal union of Christ and his Bride, the Church.(Matrimony 2). At Lateran Council II in 1139, it was first defined as infallibly true that matrimony is as true a sacrament as Eucharist and baptism and at The Council of Lyons II in 1274, it was included among the list of seven sacraments.