The Law and incest.....

[angels4u]

I appreciate the concerns that the OP shared because it's definitely a valid question in light of how things are going in our society.  In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I am married to my first cousin and have been for 20 years.  We have two delightful children, 17 and 18 years old, who are in perfect health and exceptionally bright.  I am also an evangelical Christian and while I'm no Charles Spurgeon, I am probably more familiar with God's Bible than a few others.

 

In the Genesis account, we see several instances of cousin marriage, as we should expect.  It's probably obvious to anyone who reads the account of Noah that his grandsons would have had to marry his granddaughters (cousins but probably not siblings).  The most famous Genesis cousin marriage was Jacob who married both of his uncle's daughters (his first cousins).  Of course, his grandfather, Abraham, married his own half-sister, something that would later be prohibited when Moses received the Law (Leviticus), so we cannot conclude from Jacob's account or these others that we are still permitted to marry cousins.  For that, we must look toward the Law handed down to Moses.

 

It is true that the Bible admonishes us to avoid incestuous relationships and with great penalty, depending on the degree of consanguinity (loosely, shared blood).  It's important to note that immediately after God commanded Moses that no one is to approach anyone "close of kin", He then defined for Moses exactly what that meant.  He specifically mentioned ancestor/descendant relations (i.e., father/daughter, mother/son, grandparent/grandchild).  He also mentioned step-parent/step-child (something some of our states actually permit, provided both are consenting adults) and aunt/nephew relations (also permitted in some jurisdictions).  What is not mentioned in the Levitical prohibition is cousin marriage in any degree (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on).  This is important because we're talking about instructions of what to do and not to do that came from the same God who gave very detailed instructions, right down to the finest detail, of how to build the tabernacle and its furnishings.  Cousin marriage isn't just some accidental omission that's wrapped up in the first line ("close of kin") with the rest being only for example's sake.  What followed, as described above, were very detailed prohibitions.

 

When we fast-forward to Numbers 36, written as an account of events that occurred long after Moses received the Law, we see that God specifically ordained the marriage of several women to their male cousins with the idea being the preservation of inheritance.  Clearly, God had no problem with cousin marriage 40 years after giving the Moses the Law.  Those are the easy examples but if you read through the many genealogies that follow, you'll notice that there are others.  

 

You'll also notice that even when Paul expands on the definition of sinful relations in Romans to include female homosexual acts which are not mentioned in Leviticus, that he did not also include cousin marriage.  In other words, there is no added New Testament prohibition.  Indeed, one could argue that the New Testament concept of "Christian Liberty" opens a lot of doors where the Law is concerned.

 

So, that begs the question: why is it so common in Christian circles for us to hold such a strong repulsion toward cousin marriage?  To answer that, we must look to it in two parts.  First, we must look at Church history.  Cousin marriage was quite common and not a consideration until several hundred years after the New Testament Church was formed at the Pentacost.  What changed?  The Roman Catholic Church (or at the time, The Church) had fallen prey to the secular philosophies of the period as well as to the power struggles common of any large Earthly organization that is run by people.

 

The influence of secular philosophies of the period caused the Church to view the material as fallen and sinful but the soul as a separate and inherently "good" nature.  This led to a belief that one must deny all of the material (that which God created) except for the bare minimum necessary for providing a vessel for the more pure soul, which added a great many sexual prohibitions, eliminating marriage from the priesthood and proscribing abstinence even in marriage.  Indeed, married couples were told on what days of the week or month that they should abstain from sexual relations and these prohibitions grew to six or more days a week.

 

Combine this with the reach for power.  As Christianity spread, it found that toppling existing structures of government in favor of a Church-ordained government was difficult because most communities tended to operate in "clannish" ways, much like you will find if you visit present-day Pakistan.  The Church leaders of the day saw this as an impediment to the Church's ability to extend its influence so it added to Canon Law (separate of Biblical Law) a prohibition of marriage to the 7th degree of consanguinity (3rd or 4th cousins, depending on interpretation).  Over the following centuries, this was rolled back gradually, with the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) removing prohibition of second cousins in my lifetime and permitting first cousin marriage with appropriate dispensation.

 

The Reformation brought us great thinkers, like John Calvin, who believed that each person should be educated sufficiently to be able to read and interpret the Scriptures without the need of a priest.  The Scriptures were translated into local languages; under the RCC, they were translated from their original Greek and Hebrew into Latin, the language of the specially educated, making them inaccessible to the common man, even if he could read and write in his own language.  In time, many Protestant communities adopted marriage laws and traditions that reflected what they found in the Scriptures.  This is why some states have laws that permit cousin marriage.

 

Now, fast-forward once again to the age of Charles Darwin and the subsequent Eugenics movement.  Darwin, ironically married to his own first cousin and the product himself of cousin marriage, came to believe that cousin marriage was harmful.  Using what would later be debunked as dubious and erroneous science, the Eugenicists implored states to adopt more restrictive laws, believing that children born of cousin marriage were "feeble minded" and worse.  They believed what they were doing was for the greater good of a superior society and many of their laws, including prohibitions on interracial marriage, were stricken from the books.  Only laws prohibiting cousin marriage remain.

 

How does this pass down over time?  Well, consider the story of the newlywed woman who wanted to make a roast for her young groom.  She had never made one before so she called her mother.  Her mother told her to get a roasting pan, cut off the ends of the roast and put it in the pan.  The daughter asked, "why would I cut off the ends?"  The mother answered, "well, that's how your grandma taught me to make a roast."  The daughter pressed, "but why would she do that?"  The mother replied, "well, I don't know.  Let's get her on a 3-way call and ask her.  The granddaughter called her grandmother and asked, "Grandma, Mom is on the phone with me and she's helping me make a roast.  She told me to cut the ends off and I just wondered why."  The grandmother replied, "well, I don't know why you do it, but when I married your grandfather, we didn't have a roasting pan big enough, so I cut of the ends to make it fit!"

 

The moral of the story is, of course, that we often adopt what we learn without even realizing why we believe what we do.  So, in light of the centuries of Church prohibition and the Eugenics movement, it's easy to see why we find such a strong revulsion to cousin marriage, even in Reformed churches.  We were simply raised that way.

How does this pass down over time?  Well, consider the story of the newlywed woman who wanted to make a roast for her young groom.  She had never made one before so she called her mother.  Her mother told her to get a roasting pan, cut off the ends of the roast and put it in the pan.  The daughter asked, "why would I cut off the ends?"  The mother answered, "well, that's how your grandma taught me to make a roast."  The daughter pressed, "but why would she do that?"  The mother replied, "well, I don't know.  Let's get her on a 3-way call and ask her.  The granddaughter called her grandmother and asked, "Grandma, Mom is on the phone with me and she's helping me make a roast.  She told me to cut the ends off and I just wondered why."  The grandmother replied, "well, I don't know why you do it, but when I married your grandfather, we didn't have a roasting pan big enough, so I cut of the ends to make it fit!"

 

The moral of the story is, of course, that we often adopt what we learn without even realizing why we believe what we do.  So, in light of the centuries of Church prohibition and the Eugenics movement, it's easy to see why we find such a strong revulsion to cousin marriage, even in Reformed churches.  We were simply raised that way.

 

We do a lot of things out of traditons,you mentione  some good points!

[Aldebaran]

I come bearing an olive branch...and hoping to mend a few fences if at all possible at this point...

I am a work in progress as are we all, i don't pretend to know everything, if i gave that impression then i'm truely sorry ..... nor am i so foolish as to not know that life is a  constant learning process.....

 

Thanks to your willingness to share your opinions with me... i now know that cousin to cousin relationships in GODS eyes aren't considered "incest"....

I have been very blessed to have loving,kind,wise ,and truthful, honest counsel there for me.

 

IN trying not to cause hard feeling's..perhaps trying to hard,,it would appear that, thats exactly what i've done.....for this I do sincerely apologise .

 

So now i'm going to be blunt....no more beating around the bush.....

 

I'm NOT going to apologise for my upbringing ,that would be a slap in the faces of my family.

I didn't make a personal attack on anybody here. and  wouldn't.

My concern's are valid and real..not a mask for bias and judgement, I don't play pathetic games.

I'm nothing if not honest,perhaps too honest for  my own good at times.

I wouldn't make a very good diplomat , i speak plainly and simply and from my heart.

I heard a phase long ago that goes like this"So you want to be great,then learn how to heal people, to hurt people is easy" to me this makes alot of sense. and is how i live my life.

 

TO Aldeberan...I Thank you so much for the  time you took to go out of you're way to explain your thought's to me!

 

 one more thing, just to make it crystal clear, i'm not interested in the "to be great part" of that phrase, it's the rest of it that i live my life by....

Matt:22:v 37.....

GOD BLESS YOU EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!

 

MissPlaced_56,

 

Thank you so much for sharing your honest and heartfelt thoughts.  For what it's worth, I don't take what you said at any point as being hurtful and I sincerely hope others feel the same way.  You've been open and you've not been hateful - this means more to me than I can say.  It shows the moral courage and faith we Christians should pray to have as often as possible.

 

Your opening post brought to light something that is seldom discussed with any honesty or seriousness AND provided an opportunity for many to go search the Scriptures for Truth.  People may certainly debate the medical science or their personal "ick" factor and the degree to which we should use these to control the risks others take in procreation but the Scriptures are sound.

 

One thing that doesn't change overnight, even when we're confronted with Scripture, laws, or medical facts, is how we feel about something that's been ingrained for many years.  You're right that you should not dishonor your parents and grandparents - they raised you with the facts as they knew them and as far as they could know, they had good reason for doing so.

 

May we all be healed and made more in His image daily.

 

God Bless,

 

Aldebaran

[CAP73]

Well, I view family reunions a lot differently now.

[Guest LadyC]

Well, I view family reunions a lot differently now.

LOL

[KC02]

Well, I view family reunions a lot differently now.

Haha . You're a funny guy. :-D