The Golden Book of Christian Matrimony, Chapter 1 – Chapter 2
¶ The begynnynge & fyrste originall of holy wedlocke, whan, wher, how, and by whome it was ordined and instituted. ¶ The fyrst Chapter.
WHā our Lord Iesus Christ in the r…r. of Mathewe, was spoken to in …ertayne poyntes concernynge wedlocke, he hadde a respecte behynde hym in to the olde Testament, & gaue answere oute of Moses, that he sayd, howe that wedlocke at the beginynge was ordyned of God himselfe. For as muche therfore as I nowe also am myn ded to speake of the begynnynge and fyrst originall of holy wedlocke, I …owe no better, thā in lyke manner to stablysh the same out of ye ryght excellēt Prophet of God Moses, who writeth & testifieth in the secōd Chapter of his fyrst boke, yt God made the mā Adā altogyther perfect, set h… in the Paradise or garden of pleasure, and after ward sayd immediately: It is not good that mā should be alone. I wyll make hym a fellowe helper to stand nexte by hym. For whan the Lorde The p…ate Gen. ii. Playnelye …edhad shapen man oute of the earth, he brought vn to hym all maner of beastes, that he myght giuegive eueryevery one his right name, howe it should be called, & that he might looke vponupon thē. But among thē al found he none apte to be ioyned vntounto him selfe, none that he could set his harte vponupon, none lyke hym selfe, none that he myghte dwell by as by an helper and conforter. And vponupon this sayd God: It is not good, that man should be alone. And therfore determined he withe hym selfe, to make an helpe and conforte vntounto man. In the whiche processe we perceaue alreadye, where holy Wed locke was instituted of God … …aradyse.wedlocke was instituted, namely in the Paradise and garden of pleasure: yea and whan it was ordined, euen in the begynnyng of ye world before the fall of mā in all prosperite. Of whom also it was instituted euen of no Aungel or mā but of God hymselfe, doubtles to mannes great conforte and healpe. For in as much as god him selfe sayth: It is not good for man to be alone: It followeth, that it is good for man to hauehave his owne lawfull mate. As for that cu…l which some tyme is sene and sound among maried parsons, it commeth not chefely of holy wedlocke, but of the misusyng therof, and because men do not as God commaundeth and as they shulde do.
Nowe wyll we farther consyther, howe God dyd institute holy wedlocke, & he hymselfe made a companion for man, and brought him a wife. It followe the thus in Moses: Then the Lorde God cast a slomber on Adā, and he slepte. And The creaci… of the wom…he toke out one of his rybbes, and in stede therof hefylle… vp the place wyth flesh: And thus oydde God make the woman, out of the rybbe that he had taken from Adam. Of this maner dyd god make for man a companion, lyke vntounto hymselfe, and mete for hym. Here nowe ought we to consi der the occasion, why GOD made the woman out of the slepynge man, and not whyle he was awake. Of the rybbe, & not as well of the earthe, as he had made the man to fore. For all this ser ueth to the declaracion of our purpose.
Fyrst in the slepe of Adam, dyd he set forthe y• death of Christ, out of the which (vntounto the same Lorde Christ) there is prepared a pure and holy spouse in the Fountayne of water thorowe the worde, as Paule sayth to the Ephesians y• fyfte Chapter Of suche health and grace of GOD should marryed folkes also hauehave vnderstādynge and knowledge. Moreouer his mynde is to signifye vntounto vsus that in takyng holy wedlocke in hand, all tētacions should slepe. The ordinaūce regard, and feare of God, ought to ioyne them togither, that are disposed to marry. The woman was taken from and out of the syde of mā and not from the earthe, least ony man shoulde thyncke that he had gotten his wyfe oute of the myer: but to considre, that the wife is ye husbondes flesh and bone, and therfore to louelove her. yet was she not made of the head. For the husbond is the head and master of the wyfe. Nether was she made of the feete (as thoughe thou mighteste spurne her away frō the, & nothyng regard her) but euen out of thy syde, as one that is set next vntounto man, to be his helpe & companion. And as the bone of the flesh is strong, so ought the husband to be the strengthe, healpe & conforte of the wyfe. Therfore was she also taken and created oute of the ryb or bone, and not out of the fleshe.
But in the circumstaūce that followeth, shal eueryevery thing be more playne afterward. For now it followeth howe God gaue the woman vntounto man, and how that he receaued and toke her.
God brought the woman vntounto Adam, and as it is euident in the fyrst Chapter) he blyssed them and sayde vntounto them, growe and multiplye, and Adā & Eu… were maried togither.fyll the earth. Out of the which wordes we may perceaue clerely, that God was the fyrst causer of wedlocke, and fyrst dyd knyt them togyther, & blyssed them. Nowe as soone as the womā was brought vntounto Adam, & gyuen vntounto him, he sayd immediately: this is once bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Afore dyd Adam beholde & considre all beastes and lyuynge creatures here vpō earth, and gaue eueryevery one his peculiare name ac cordyng to his kynde, but among all thynges lyuynge he found none, to whome he myght beare an harte and mynde, namely to dwell by it, to louelove it, and of it to procreate one lyke vntounto him selfe. And therfore is it reason, that wythe fyre they be punyshed vntounto death, which agaynst all kynde and nature of man, hauehave to do with beastes, and not only with women.
As soone now as the woman was set before Adā, he knowledged immmediatly, that she was Occasion of louelove and con sent into ma riage.for his purpose, that he lyked her well, & that he could fynde in his harte to louelove her, as one that was of his owne kynde, of his owne bloud, flesh of his fleshe, and bone of his bone. For thoughe he slepte, and the woman was created out of his rybbe, yet sawe he well that she was lyke hym & suche one as he hytherto had not found amonge all other lyuynge creatures. God also had plāted thē the kynde, the louelove, the harte, the inclinacion & naturall affeccion that it besemeth the one to hauehave towarde the other. Lyke as Adā nowe had …yuen all other beastes theyr names according to the fyrst originall & operacion of theyr kynd, so gyueth he nowe a name also vntounto the wyfe, & calleth her Ischa, that is to say, of man, because she was taken out of the man.
Thē foloweth it farther in Moses. For this cause shall a mā leaue his father and mother, & cleaue vntounto his wyfe, & they two shalbe into one flesh. These wordes doth Adam (or t…s Moses) The knotte & coueuaunt of mariage.speake yet out of the mouth of God, & therby de clarethe the dewty knot and couenaūt of maried folkes, namely that the hyghest louelove, bonde and vnite among them, should be this, that no man separate them asunder, but only deathe. This de clareth he with two speciall poyntes. Fyrst, the… is no mā (nexte vntounto God) derer vntounto vsus by all reason, thē is our father and mother. But whā they wyll make discorde betwene maried folkes, God commaūdeth a man in that behalfe to forsake father & mother, & to kepe hym to his wyfe. The louelove therfore in mariage ought to be nexte vntounto God) aboue all loues. The seconde: They two, saythe he, shall be into one fleshe, that is to saye, one body. Nowe lyke as the greatest louelove, the moost excellent and vnpayneful seruyce, diligence and earnest labour, is in the partes of a mās body, one doyng for another, one louynge, defendyng, helpyng & forbearynge another, suffe rynge, also lyke ioye & lyke payne one with another. Euen so ought it to be betwene man & wo man in wedlocke. And lyke as the partes of a mans body seperate not thē selues one frō another afore death, euē so must wedlocke be a knot vnlooseable. And lyke as the partes of a mans body, whan they are sundred one from another conceaue an exceadynge great anguysh, dolour and payne, euen so ought it to he an exceadynge grefe for marryed folkes to be seperated.
And thus Moses, ouer & besydes that he declareth ye fyrst originall of holy wedlocke, layeth also the foundacion of lawes matrimonyal, out of the which all other statutes are taken. After the fall of Adā & Eue, there was nothyng added further vntounto wedlocke, neyther altered in those thynges that were ordyned, sauyng that, by reason of the faull and synne, there was sorow and payne layd vponupon thē both, and vponupon vsus all. For vntounto man it was sayd: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. &c. And vntounto the womā sayde God: I wyll surelye encreace thy sorowe whan thou art with chylde, & wythe payne shal… thou be delyuered, and to ye husbande shalt thou hauehave respecte, and vponupon his pleasure depende. Neuertheles thorowe thy vnfayned fayth in Iesus Chryst, all these & other grefes are minished in them that beleue, and therby vnperfectenesse is helped, in so muche that they come to a verye prosperous olde age many tymes.
Thus much thought I to shew out of Moses that excellēt seruaūte of God, whā, where, how, of whom, & partly for what intent, holy wedlock was instituted namely, how that God himselfe in Paradyse, at y• begynnyng of the world (euē in the tyme of mās innocēcy & prosperite) ordeyned thus for the welth of mā, that one mā & one womā ioyned togither shulde be one bodye, one to louelove the other aboue al thinges next vntounto god the one to be coupled to the other without separacion, one to helpe & socour y• other, and in the f…are of God to bring vp theyr childrē, And this is in a maner the whole summe of the one parte of this boke.
The seconde Chapter.
What wedlocke is.
FOr vponupon the sayde foundacyon will I laye … set forth all my worke folowynge. And fyrst wyll I shewe what wedlocke is. Thā whan I hauehave descrybed the same, I shall open & declare the articles therof particularly.
That we call wedlock, is in the Germaynes Wedlock…tonge called Ee, which as it is a very old word, so is it somtyme taken for a law or statute, som tyme for a bonde or couenaūte. Thus is the old testamente called the law or the olde couenaunt, the new Testament, the newe law or ye newe co uenaunt: because that ther in consisteth not one lye the lawe that god gaue to the olde and newe people, but also the couenaunte whiche he made with them bothe. The latinistes cal it Coniugi urn, a ioyninge or yokinge together, like as whā two oren are coupled vnderunder one yoke, they beare or drawe together like burthen and wayghte.
Therfore is wedlocke a couenaunte, a couplinge Ayo kyng together.or yokynge together. Nowe yf wedlocke be not the couplynge or yokynge together of one thing, thē must it be excepted, from other knyttinges, and we must geue vntounto it the owne nature & propertie pertayninge to it selfe. Namclye that it is a ryghte knotte vntounto god acceptable ayokinge together of one manne and one womā withe the good cōsente of them bothe. Here vntounto also must we adde, why & wherfore they shoulde and must be yoked together. Euen to the intent that they maye lyue honestlye and frendlye the one with the other, that they maye auoyde vnclennesse, that they maye brynge vp children in the feare of god, that the one maye helpe and cō forte the tother.
Out of thys maye we comprehende a shorte What wed lacke is.descryption of wedlocke, and saye. Wedlocke is a lawefull knotte and vntounto God an acceptable yokynge together of one man and one woman with the good consent of them both, to the intēte that they two maye dwell together in frendeshyppe & honestye, one helping and confortynge the tother, eschuynge vnclennesse, & bryngynge vp chyldren in the feare of god Or els set it after this maner folowyng: Wedlocke is the yokynge together of one man & one woman, whome god hath coupled accordynge to his worde, with the consente of thē both, from thence forthe to dwell together, and to spend theyre lyfe in the equall pertakynge of all suche thinges as god sendeth, to the intent that they maye bring forth childrē in the feare of hym, that they maye auoyde whor dome, and that (accordynge to Gods good pleasure (the one maye helpe and conforte the other,