Changes

'''Marriage''' is the divinely ordained [[covenant]]<ref>Marriage between the sexes is a covenant, not a [[contract]]. Since time immemorial, some men disposed of a wife (woman) after her childbearing years to pursue a younger female consort. God, being a defender of women, ordained marriage by his perfect will to protect women's rights and not allow a man (male) to abandon them to homelessness and poverty with no marketable job skills other than homemaking or child rearing. This , however, is not the only reason the covenant of marriage evolved between the sexes.</ref> between one man and one woman, and is intended to be for life. (Genesis 2:24)<ref>See also [[Perfect will of God]] vs [[Permissive will of God]].</ref> This is recognized by the majority of churches.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm Article 7, "The sacrament of matrimony"]</ref><ref>[http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp "Basic Beliefs," Southern Baptist Convention]</ref><ref>[http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/topics/relations_04_marriage.cfm "Marriage"]</ref><ref>[http://www.studylight.org/com/bnb/view.cgi?bk=39&ch=19 [[Albert Barnes]], Matthew 19]</ref><ref>[http://live.e-sword.net/app/ [[Matthew Henry]], Matthew 19]</ref>

Marriage has been practised practiced as such in most cultures across geography and time.<ref>"Because there is a natural complementarity between men and women - sexual, emotional, temperamental, spiritual - marriage allows for a wholeness and a completeness that cannot be won in any other way. ([[Bill Bennett]], ''The Broken Hearth'', Page 197)</ref>

{{cquote|Now concerning the things whereof ye about which you wrote unto me: It , it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornicationBut because of immoralities, let every each man is to have his own wife, and let every each woman is to have her own husband.Let the The husband render unto the must fulfill his duty to his wife due benevolence: , and likewise also the wife unto the to her husband.The wife hath does not power of have authority over her own body, but the husband: does; and likewise also the husband hath does not power of have authority over his own body, but the wifedoes. Defraud ye not Stop depriving one the otheranother, except it be with consent by agreement for a time, so that ye you may give devote yourselves to fasting and prayer; , and come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you not for because of your incontinencylack of self-control. But I speak this I say by permissionway of concession, and not of commandmentcommand.For Yet I would wish that all men were even as I myself. But every am However, each man hath has his proper own gift of from God, one after in this manner, and another after in that.But I say therefore to the unmarried and to widows, that it is good for them if they abide remain even as I.But if they cannot containdo not have self-control, let them marry: ; for it is better to marry than to burnwith passion. And unto But to the married I commandgive instructions, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not that the wife depart from should not leave her husband: But and (but if she departdoes leave, let her she must remain unmarried , or else be reconciled to her husband: ), and let not that the husband put away should not divorce his wife. But to the rest speak Isay, not the Lord: If , that if any brother hath has a wife that believeth notwho is an unbeliever, and she be pleased consents to dwell live with him, let him he must not put divorce her away. And the a woman which hath who has an unbelieving husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased consents to dwell live with her, let she must not send her not leave himhusband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the through her believing husband: else were ; for otherwise your children are unclean; , but now they are they holy. But Yet if the unbelieving departone leaves, let him depart. A leave; the brother or a the sister is not under bondage in such cases: , but God hath has called us to peace. For what knowest thouhow do you know, O wife, whether thou shalt you will save thy your husband? or Or how knowest thoudo you know, O manhusband, whether thou shalt you will save thy your wife?}}

*1724 - — blacks, with permission of their slave owner, given the right to marry (formerly, under [[British]] law, only whites could legally marry)*1769 - — women no longer considered property of their husbands*1899 - — polygamy outlawed in the US*1967 - — interracial marriage legalized in all states*1981 - — rise of community property laws as men no longer seen as the sole owner of all marital assets*2015 - — same-sex "marriage " legalized