Mixed Faith Marriages

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?--2 Corinthians 6:14

A recent article in the local paper by Melissa Dutton of the Associated Press addressed the issue of what to do when the bride and groom come from different religious traditions.  Americans seem to be marrying outside of their faiths with increasing regularity as 25% of Americans households were mixed faith in 2006, up from 15 per cent in 1988.  This is disturbing for the Kingdom on a number of fronts because it means that we are not passing on the faith and its doctrines to those who come after us.

I found myself agreeing with much of the article as it seemed to emphasize that the couples have a no holds barred discussion before getting married about how they will practice their faiths,  which holidays they will celebrate, etc.  Rabbi Stuart E. Davis of Overland Park Kansas is quoted saying that both individuals should think hard about what is important in their own religions.  Well, duh?   Various other considerations that should be explored  were mentioned in the rest of the article, the most important being, in which faith tradition will the children be raised.

It seems to me, that for Christians, this is a no brainer.  Don't date outside the faith and then one will not marry outside the faith.  I am not enough of a theologian to know whether or not 2 Corinthians 6:14 is a command or a warning, but in either case, it is sound advice.  The one issue that causes most divorces is the issue of money, but religious disagreements would have to rank near the top.   The article even offered the sound advice that interfaith marriages are not for everyone and that it would be much better to part company if there are insurmountable differences.  I would say that they are not for anyone who takes their faith seriously and wishes their marriage to survive, because there are going to be differences that will be impossible to resolve in my  view.

The one thing that stunned me was the statement by Ed Case, CEO of InterfaithFamily.com that, "It takes a very mature couple that can be freely open and have a willingness to believe and respect that no religion is more right than another."  Say what?  This is post-modern relativism, the denial that there is an absolute truth plainly stated. 

Truth  by its very nature is exclusive.  Why would someone be a Jew, Hindu, Muslim or Christian if they did not believe that their belief system was true?  This is especially applicable to Christians, as Christ said in the book of John that his very purpose in coming was to bear witness to the truth and He claimed to be the truth.

Every other religion denies the deity of Christ, His atoning death and His bodily resurrection. The law of non-contradiction says that two opposing truth claims cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense.  For someone who claimed to be a Christian to deny the claims of Christ and yield to the proposition that it is no more true than the claims of another religion, would be to deny his or her faith.  That individual would not be a Christian in any meaningful sense of the word.