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Article XXIII: Of the Marriage of Priests
There has been common complaint concerning the examples of priests who were not chaste. 2] For that reason also Pope Pius is reported to have said that there were certain causes why marriage was taken away from priests, but that there were far weightier ones why it ought to be given back; for so Platina writes. 3] Since, therefore, our priests were desirous to avoid these open scandals, they married wives, and taught that it was lawful for them to contract matrimony. First, because 4] Paul says, 1 Cor. 7:2,9: To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife. Also: It is better to marry than to burn. Secondly…
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Sexual Abuse and Marriage
I am a new “convert” to the LCMS because of my marriage. I was raised Baptist, in a very strict home. My parents seemed intent on keeping ALL things sexual in nature from our home. Not a mention of it, not in movies, music, nothing. I rebelled a ton as a teenager and wound up being sexually abused by a couple of men, one of whom was double my age, when I was only 15. My husband, likewise, had several one night stands during a short phase in college. We never realized how these things affected our marriage until recently. Neither of us feels any palpable jealousy or upset over…
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Domestic Violence and Marriage
By Sandra Ostapowich “Everyone around me thinks my husband is a really good guy. He’s active in church and everyone likes him. I don’t think anyone would believe me if I told them that he isn’t charming and nice at home, and that when he’s really angry at me he hits me. How can I honor my marriage and my husband when it’s so far from the picture painted in church? Where can I go for help when it seems like everyone would be on his side?” I believe you. And I understand the seemingly impossible position you’re in. There isn’t much information to go by in this brief note,…
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Marital Advice From the Sisters
→By the Sisters of Katie Luther Marriage is a blessing– a dear one, at that. It’s a beautiful part of God’s plan for His creation– two become one. Sometimes things are harder than we anticipate, and we need loving advice from sisters who have been there, done that. Sometimes we need to seek pastoral care, or counseling. If advice is all you need, we’ve got you covered with some things we’ve all learned over the years. In no particular order, here’s what the writers said about marriage: Dates don’t have to be expensive, or even out of the house. Sometimes we just put the kids to bed and watch…
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Smalcald Articles- Part III, Article XI. Of the Marriage of Priests
1] To prohibit marriage, and to burden the divine order of priests with perpetual celibacy, they have had neither authority nor right [they have done out of malice, without any honest reason], but have acted like antichristian, tyrannical, desperate scoundrels [have performed the work of antichrist, of tyrants and the worst knaves], and have thereby caused all kinds of horrible, abominable, innumerable sins of unchastity [depraved lusts], in which they still wallow. 2] Now, as little as we or they have been given the power to make a woman out of a man or a man out of a woman, or to nullify either sex, so little have they had…
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Graduation and Life Long Vocation
By Elisabeth Urtel The unsolicited question to college graduates, to which there is no single correct response: “What do you see yourself doing in the future? Where do you plan on going with that?” On frequent occasions – encounters with old friends, family reunions, meeting new members at church – I find myself struggling to answer that question gracefully, and with Christian love. I hold a B.A. in music and am working toward receiving a master’s degree in church music plus a master’s in theology – at the same time. Growing up in some unconventional church situations, including my family worshipping in our living room with cassette tapes, I…
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Confession and Shame
Dear Sisters, I’m not sure where to ask this but I’ve seen that you run posts without naming the asker so I thought I’d try. I’m married and we have a new baby. I love my husband and my son but there’s something wrong. Something really, really wrong, and I am ashamed. I haven’t talked to my pastor because I’m worried I’ll make him think I’m horrible. I’m attracted to other women. I’ve never actually typed that out before, but I need help. Do you have any advice for me? -A hurting sister. Dear Sister in Christ, First, I want to tell you my heart hurts for you. I…
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The Images in My Mind
By Anonymous (Editor’s note– because of the incredibly personal and sensitive nature of this post, I’m going to be watching comments closely. Please be loving with our sister.) Pornography harms women. It devalues them and transforms them into tools for man’s desire and lust. It strips women of their dignity and teaches men to manipulate, control, and then throw away, rather than love, protect, and care for them. This is all true, but this only scratches the surface of the harm pornography inflicts upon women. We seem to be blind to those women who bear the pain and scars — not from being offended by the material or from enduring…
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The Wedding
By Pam Thompson It was a destination beach wedding. Our extended family was enjoying ourselves after our sister’s beach wedding, and we observed several more nuptials as the day went on. This one, the last one of the day, was so very similar to all of the others. . . . But then something was different. Something was off. After the requisite photos had been taken, the bride and groom were not returning to the wedding party. They were stalling, a lot. We observers on the beach commented on how “very rude” the couple was being. As we witnessed staff person after staff person walking back and forth between the…
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Biblical Submission
By Sandra Ostapowich When you hear about submission do you think of Law statements such as, “You better submit!” or perhaps of military formations with everyone standing in specific order, all lined up just so, in their proper places? Some people think that submitting is simply about gritting your teeth and assuming the position (literally!?) in the order of all things, because that’s just the way God set it up and who are we to argue with God’s ways? But what if I told you that submitting is also (and perhaps more importantly) a joyful response of faith in what Christ has done for us and who we are in…
