THE MARRIAGE LAW

Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1920, Page 5

THE MARRIAGE LAW

COMMITTEE MEETS NEXT WEEP LITTLE EVIDENCE DESipi) , By Tulejrauli.—Prea« Aisooktlop, - * Wellington, Last Nifhb The committee to whom the House'"6l, Representatives referred the Mairiago Amendment Bill, passed bjr the Ledsr Jativo Council, met this morning, 3m came to the following resolution: "That, in view of the evidence already ttktPt nnd the full public discussion that xa4 taken place by means ol pamphlets otherwise, they do not consider it secef* my to open up the whole question again, but if any persons specially in» tereeted have not yet been heard, or if tiny points bearing on the Bill have sot yet been sufficiently elucidated, they are pvepared to hear evidence orieflj elated, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, at the Pat* liament Buildings at 10.30 ftJn." Th< committer also decided that the pftK ceedings would not ba open $M Press. , " i",'' REV. W. MATTY'S VIEWS. A statement in regard to the znarriigi law controversy was made on Mand&jj by the Rev. W. Beatty, vicar of Si. Mark's Auglican Church, Remuera, "I do not desire," said Mr. Beatty, "to engage in religious controversy, occupation which is by no tuning con* genial to me, but to attempt- to afford some relief to the minds of married persona who may be perplexed pained by doubts "as to the validity pt their union and the legitimacy of theli; offspring. It is quite clear from reasoit, Scripture and history that the sanctity nnd binding nature of marriage in Ho wise depends upon any religious cere» mony. The religious rites which are properly associated with it by Jews and Christians do not constitute the aaac* tity of the relation, but only recognitor it. The writer of the article on mar* rage in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible | says: 'lt may be said to havs been ordained by God Insofar as man's nature was ordained by Him) but it* formal appointment was the work of man, and it has ever been in tts essence a natural and civil institution, though ■ admitting of the infusion of a religious element into it. It is God and not the person officiating, whether lay or cleTictli I that joins man and wife together. He Bible regards aa valid and binding Ml t marriages, jsven of heathens, that ware i celebrated according to the laws and [ customs of the country.' , ''To quote again the same writer: The ' 1 conditions of legal marriage are deeidtd I by the prohibitions which the law of ally country imposes on its citizens.' Agaitt he says: 'We come now to the wedding | itself, and in this the most obserfabW point is that there were no definite religious ceremonies connected with it? The Jewish custom in biblical times WM for the bridegroom with his friends to go to the bride's house and escort her and her maiden friends to his oW home, when a feast was celebrated, which often lasted seven or even fourteen days. Hi the New Testament there is not the slightest hint given by Our Lord or His apostles that it Was obligatory to have a religious ceremony performed by a minister of the Church.' However, even admitting for the sake of argument the claim of the Church of Rome that marriage is a sacrament, that does not make it indispensable that a priest should officiate. That the in urgent eases permits a layman, or even a nurse, to baptise an infant, and since baptism is the divinely-.ordained means of admitting a person into the risible Church, it is difficult to see why a layman should be competent to administer this rite and incompetent to join together those who desire to enter into the marriage relation. "Again," continued Mr. Beatty, "I have it.on the authority of Mr. E. Blackwood Wright, barrister-at-law, And author of legal works, that until the Council of Trent, held in the sixteenth century, even in canon law it was not necessary for its validity that marriage should be performed by a person in holy orders. Its sacramental character, according to the old canon lawyer's view, was not affected by its having been celebrated without a priest. The Church of 'Rome may he quite justified in re- c quiring as a matter of order its meu< hers to be married by a priest, and in administering censure and discipline to those who fail to obey the rule, but any* one who denies the validity of a marriage celebrated otherwise fe a 9 much at variance with Holy Scripture, reason and history as he is with Christian charity." (