Marriage According to Eastern Orthodox

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Marriage According to Eastern Orthodox

Christianity has several branches with the largest one being the Roman Catholic Church, which has approximately 1,100,000,000 followers. The second largest is the Orthodox Church with 225,000,000 followers. Eastern Orthodoxy became a distinct branch after the 11th century when they realized that there were too many technical differences in belief between the eastern and western sides. Following all of Christianity, Eastern Orthodoxy relies greatly on doctrine. They follow the Bible, believe that there is only one God, and must go by other “laws” of their religion. A subject of importance to them is marriage, which has specific laws of its own.

According to oca.org, marriage is the most perfect natural expression of God’s love for men. In order for the love of a man and woman to be that which God has: perfectly created it to be, it must be unique, indestructible, unending and divine. In the sacrament of marriage, a man and a woman become one spirit and one flesh in a way which no human love can provide by itself. Marriage is seen as one of the biggest deals for Eastern Orthodoxy. There are rules that must be followed and if broken it is a huge sin.

There are certain things that are forbidden until a couple is married. One of the biggest rules is sex. A couple is not allowed to have sex before they are married. Temporary “living together” and sexual relations are seen as sins to Orthodox Christians. As Sebastian Dabovich mentions in his book, “It is so little understood and honored virginity, that virginity, forever bereft of marriage, was to it an object of lamentation”. Virginity is a sacred thing and one is meant to stay a virgin so that they can be pure and share that pureness with th...

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...he biggest ones. Something so sacred and special should not be taken as lightly as it is today. Kids just go out and get married without thinking of what it truly means or what they are doing. They do not understand what marriage means in the long haul. The sacred promise between a man and a woman and God is perhaps one of the most difficult yet fulfilling promises to keep. Eastern Orthodoxy, like many other religions, puts marriage on a pedestal. That is exactly where it belongs because that is exactly where God intended it to be.

Works Cited

“The Sacraments of Marriage”, Orthodox Church in America. Web.

Dabovich, Sebastian. The Holy Orthodox Church : or, The ritual, services and sacraments of the Eastern apostolic (Greek-Russian) church. Wilkesbarre, PA., 1898. P. 77 Print.

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