another topic for discussion

[Ezra]

Do you think that God recognizes a common law marriage?

How can a comman law relationship be a "marriage" since there is no serious commitment, and either party could walk out on the other one in a heartbeat?  So "common law marriage" is a misnomer.  Since it takes very little to make a relationship legally and morally binding, "common law" means  simply shacking up (according to Free Dictionary "To live together and have sexual relations without being married").

[Ezra]

I would say what makes a marriage valid is being joined together by covenant and recognized by the community as a married couple.

That sums it up nicely.

[Guest LadyC]

John 4

15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

 

 

now i don't know what the custom was back then for the samarians (isn't that where she was from?), but Jesus clearly recognized that she had had multiple husbands, and also recognized that the man she was living with was NOT married to her....

 

so i would say the answer to whether God recognizes common law marriages is probably "no".

[missmuffet]

What the Bible says about common law marriage.

 

http://www.gotquestions.org/common-law-marriage.html

[gdemoss]

God is God.

God recognizes covenants between people who enter into them as both valid and binding. Two are married when they agree to be so. A marriage is consumed through sexual union.

[Guest LadyC]

What the Bible says about common law marriage.

 

http://www.gotquestions.org/common-law-marriage.html

 

why ask people what they think if you see gotquestions.org as the final authority on a subject? let me ask another question. among those who have common law marriages, what percentage of those do you think are of couples who have made such a covenant with each other and God regarding the permanency and sanctity of their relationship? most people i know who have entered a "common law marriage" never made any covenant at all. they just moved in together, stayed that way long enough for the state to determine it to be legitimate. there are exceptions, of course.

[missmuffet]

 

What the Bible says about common law marriage.

 

http://www.gotquestions.org/common-law-marriage.html

 

why ask people what they think if you see gotquestions.org as the final authority on a subject? let me ask another question. among those who have common law marriages, what percentage of those do you think are of couples who have made such a covenant with each other and God regarding the permanency and sanctity of their relationship? most people i know who have entered a "common law marriage" never made any covenant at all. they just moved in together, stayed that way long enough for the state to determine it to be legitimate. there are exceptions, of course.

 

Because I always like to see others opinions.I trust Got Questions for their Biblical answers.There are always exceptions to the rule...yes?Have a nice day Lady.

[other one]

We have no way of knowing that. The only three common marriages I personally know we didn't know about until they broke up. It was assumed that they were married. My point is that we most likely are not aware of many of those still together...

Concerning my wife and I, I do not think it would matter one way or the other. While we were married in a church, it was God's presence that made it matter..... and if he had decided not to come, I still would never harm my wife.

[missmuffet]

We have no way of knowing that. The only three common marriages I personally know we didn't know about until they broke up. It was assumed that they were married. My point is that we most likely are not aware of many of those still together...

Concerning my wife and I, I do not think it would matter one way or the other. While we were married in a church, it was God's presence that made it matter..... and if he had decided not to come, I still would never harm my wife.

Do you think a marriage has to take place in a Church?God is all around us.Don't you think that God can be present on the beach or on a mountain side?

[Guest LadyC]

 

 

What the Bible says about common law marriage.

 

http://www.gotquestions.org/common-law-marriage.html

 

why ask people what they think if you see gotquestions.org as the final authority on a subject? let me ask another question. among those who have common law marriages, what percentage of those do you think are of couples who have made such a covenant with each other and God regarding the permanency and sanctity of their relationship? most people i know who have entered a "common law marriage" never made any covenant at all. they just moved in together, stayed that way long enough for the state to determine it to be legitimate. there are exceptions, of course.

 

Because I always like to see others opinions.I trust Got Questions for their Biblical answers.There are always exceptions to the rule...yes?Have a nice day Lady.

 

 

bopeep, you have no cause to be so dismissive. i asked the question because it is insulting to people when you ask their opinion and then come back with "but gotquestions says". so you've been dismissive to me twice in one thread. and it IS offensive. 

 

and i say that because i respect you and enjoy communicating with you, not because i just want to attack you.

 

for the record, i trust gotquestions most of the time too. and i also reference them. but they are NOT, and should never be, a final answer on anything. they are just a tool. i've found more than once that their answers are not completely in line with scripture. not terribly far off, but not entirely accurate, either. bottom line, THEIR answers are written by human beings, just like you and me, and are just as fallible as you and i. 

 

the only final authority should be scripture. i responded to your question WITH scripture. Jesus Himself told the woman at the well that He knew she'd had 5 husbands, and that she was not married to the person she was currently living with. i realize that's open to interpretation. but it's every bit as valid a point as the opinions expressed on gotquestions, and it is a point they failed to address.