Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)
1968-06-01 / 2. szám
HC3? «AL JOty%ee al Number l9od No 2 (07790)- 86 -ample of Christian a living in harmonious marriages the paradigmatic ministry of the Church can contact the world and exercise a missionary funotiono In this case, the facts of life rather than the words convey the necessary message» "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife ie sanctified by the husband" (l Cor 7; 14). In the sane manner, the paradigm cf the believers1 marriage, the acceptance of this example, misfit sanctity the marriage of the non-believers* This, however, does not mean that the marriage of the "believers" by itself would be of a higher value than the marriage of the non-believers, the farmer being ipso facto perfect« Yet the marriage of the believers, by virtue of its indissoluble nature, might become an example for every marriage* B/ Marriage and Children It is on the basis on God’s Nord that the Church wants to contact the world» This means that the Church does not want to lay down rules and dictates, but, in obedience to her Lord, she searches for the opportunities to become a blessing by her contribution to the solution of the problems cf society, thus serving the glory of God* a) The Teaching of the Bible on Procreation The question of fruitfulness is a part of the family ethic for the child is a fruit of the marriage union, and it is the arrival of the first child that transforms a marriage into a family. Seeking the Biblical roots of the problem, we have to go be.a . to the Creation narrative. The Bible teaches that all things were created by God and are upheld by his providence. It is far this reason that the Bible so often speaks cf God’s blessing and portrays the blessing of God as the sustaining foundation cf the whole creation« The words cf God’s blessing bestowed upon the first pair of human beings are those: "Ee fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth". These wards have the meaning that marriage and its fruit, the child, closely bei.mg together« By disregarding the inseparableness of the two and by lifting th_s text out of its context we would, arrive at the false conclusion tint the end of the marriage tie is the child. However, according to -the Biblical narrative God’s purpose with the creation of women was not to ensure the fertility of the human race, neither is sex merely the instrument of procreation) According to the teaching cf the Bible Gcd created the woman because He had seen that "it is not good that the man should be alone"» The difference cf the sexes, the fact that the "helpmate" God gave man was not another man but a woman reveal God’s purpose to create and maintain fellowship. Woman is therefore man’s partner who ends his loneliness ard. with whom "the twain shall be one flesh"* The bodily and spiritual fell os whip of man and weman also reflects their being created in the image of God, after his likeness, and this fa.ct is
