The Golden Book of Christian Matrimony, Chapter 3
¶ The thyrd Chapter.
¶ The declaracion of wedloke thus described.
NOwe wyll we playnely open eueryevery parcel of the sayd descripcion from article to article, & (wt testimony of the scriptures) proue and establysh the same, where nede is.
Fyrst that wedlocke is the couplyng togithe… Onemā an… one woman.of one man and one woman, not of one man & m… women, or of one woman and mo men, the Lorde himselfe affyrmeth it Math. xix. and so is it wtytten also in the seconde of Genesis. Nowe where as some of the holy fathers had more wyues than one, those were but the Actes of certen priuate men, and not such general examples, as are thorowly to be followed.
Agayne, the priuate dede of some, or of many men, make no common lawe. The Lorde in the fore rehearsed place of Mathewe, dyd alleadge & renew y• olde law of mariage agayne. Therfore he that nowe wyll bryng in the multitude of wi ues, shall follow more the rule of Mahumet, th… of Christ.
Moreouer by yokynge, ioynyng, or couplyng do I vnderstande not only an outwarde dwellynge togyther, but also an vniforme agremen… of mynd, & a comon participacion of bodye and goodes, for asmuch as the Lord sayth playnely: And they two, shall be into one flesh, that is, one body. But of this we shall speake further afterward, whā we come to treat of the consentyng.
Furthermore, wedlocke must not onelyonly be a couplyng togyther, but it must also be such a cou plynge togither as commeth of God, and is not contrary to hys worde and wyll. For where as certayne men do alleadge out of the holy gospell (what God hath cowpled togyther, let not man separate) & conclude theron, that whan two parsonnes come once togyther, & the one hath taken the other, it must nedes be fast, & no man maye breake ye band. Such mē hauehave not so good respect to the wordes of the Lorde, as they shoulde. For the Lord sayd not▪ what so euer is coupled togyther, ought not or maye not be separated. But thus he sayd: What God hath coupled togither Let not man separate y• God hathe coupled togi ther.let not man separate. Therfore must it be considered not only whether two parsons come togyther, but muche rather whether it be done wt God or no. That thyng is wyth God, which is not done agaynst his commaundemēt & worde.
There be many whome God coupled not to gyther, but carnal lust, mony, good, flattery, drō kennes, a fleshely arme and frendeshyppe, where God is not thought vponupon, & therfore synne they the more agaynst hym. It is wrytten in y• syxte Chapter of Genesis: The sonnes of God sawe the doughters of men, that they were fayre, and toke vntounto them wyues such as lyked thē. Wherby eueryevery man maye perceaue, that ther was louelove & lust, a consent & couplyng togyther, but therfore plesed it not God. The same maner of …oo ynge dothe the Lorde recyte also in the. xxiiii. of Mathew, and sayth: As they were in the dayes afore the floude, they dyd eate, they dyd dryncke, they marryed & were maryed, euē vntyl the day that Nohe entered into the Arke, & they regarded it not, tyll the floud came and toke them all awaye. Thus also shall the cōmyng of the sonne of man be.
There is no man nowe so dull, as to thyncke that it is synne to marry. Therfore was not that reprehended as thoughe it were a synfull & vnright thyng to marry, but because they came … togyther after the worde of the Lorde, yea rather they followed theyr owne tētacions as I sayde afore. Wherfore Esdras dyd separate diuers mariages, yea euē of those that bore a good affecciō y• one to the other, & were coupled togyther. Diuor…For it was not God, but theyr owne tenta cions that ioyned thē. Esdras ye. x. chap. The yo kyng thā of maryed folkes togyther must be fra med ryght accordyng to the word & wyll of god.