Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband, at the same time.
At the start of a chapter that is most germane to the current times, the Confession sets forth a definition of marriage. The divine institution of marriage has a set composition by sex (a man and a woman; other combinations are not permitted) and number (one man and one woman; no polyandry or polygamy despite what sometimes took place in the history of Israel--see below).
There are several biblical texts to which one may go for insight into God's prescription for marriage. Genesis 2:18-25 and Matthew 19:3-9 provide positive examples. Genesis 4:19-24 gives us a negative example of one who departed from God's ordination of marriage, characteristic of a greater departure from God and his ways. Our contemporary culture likewise strives to loose its moorings from traditional definitions of marriage because it long since abandoned the ways of God. Paul's warnings in Romans 1 sound like the tolling of a bell now.
Some who look for loopholes appeal to behavior recorded in the Old Testament regarding polygamy practiced by the patriarchs without evident reproof by God and allowances for divorce under the Mosaic law. But see what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees as recorded in Matthew 19.
Tomorrow: The purposes of marriage.
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