Civil Marriages VS. Church Marriage?

Question

If aprox 60% of people get civil marriages and those people don't get married by the Catholic church then are all those people living in sin?

Are all those marriages invalid?

What constitutes a marriage?

Is it how you are living as a married couple or the Church you were married in?

How many of you have had civil marriages?

Do you concider them valid regaurdless of what the church says?

Do you hate it when people tell you that you can't get married by your terms as if you had no free will at all?

I want to get married in the Church, but they tell me I can't until I go through annulments, confermation and all that will take aprox 2-3 years, until then I guess I'll get married in a civil setting...

What do you think of civil marriages VS. Church Marriages?

What do you think is your right as a person, do you have the right to choose or are you told what to do?

Answer 1

I've married my husband twice in civil ceremonies, and three times in Islamic ceremonies (both Shia and Sunni).

No church weddings.

I don't believe it would be possible to care any less about how the church views our marriage. It's legal, it's on paper, and we have kids. It's real enough for us.

Answer 2

What a lot of questions!
1. 60%...living in sin?
Answer: To Catholics, yes, they are living in sin. To the rest of the world. No. They are not Catholics to begin with.

2. Marriages invalid?
Answer: To Catholics, yes. To everyone else, no.

3. What's a marriage?
Answer: A legal contract drawn up for a specific purpose. Just like a home loan.

4. Civil marriages.
Answer: I don't know how many have been married by a judge.

5. Civil marriages valid?
Answer: Yes. They are legal marriages.

6. Hate it....no free will....
Answer: Yes. You might try a different church. Different priests have different rules.

7. Married in the Church.
Answer: Try a different church with a different priest. Otherwise, you'll have to follow their rules. There is nothing wrong with getting a civil marriage now and a religious one later.

8. Civil vs Church marriages.
Answer: The law will only uphold your rights to a civil marriage. The Church marriage makes you feel better with your god.

9. Personal rights.
Answer: Depends on how much you want what the other guy wants. If you want what they have, you have to do what they say or try to negotiate a deal to get it.

Answer 3

1. My marriage is quite valid, thank you.

2. Two people making a publicly announced committment with a ceremony, and legal papers connecting them together in the eyes of the law. There's more to it but thats the basics.

3. Living as a married couple.

4. I did.

5. Of course. The church can bite my big fat hiney.

6. I don't particularly care. I think those people are idiots. I don't associate with idiots.

7. The church is a bunch of idiots. Forget about them and do your own thing.

8. The church is just a building. And, obviously, since I'm married in a civil ceremony, I'm fine with a civil marriage.

9. The right to choose.

Answer 4

Personally, I think a lot of what the Catholic Church requires to marry people is not only not biblical but unnecessary. And the fact is that the bible says that once you lay down with someone you become one flesh in the sight of God. That is why, in part, fornication is a sin. You become married in the spirit (one flesh) in the sight of God. So, for those who have "slept around" in the sight of God they have defiled the marriage bed by bringing so many people into it. But to answer the question specifically, I'd say that if you have never been married before, civic or otherwise, or have been married and have gotten a divorce then it's OK to marry. If the Catholic Church will not marry you then try another denomination of Christianity to marry you.

Answer 5

The difference is that if you get married by church it would be harder for you to get a divorce if you decided to later. The purpose for all those classes and things is to show you that this is a lifelong commitment your making and not something you jump into and then jump out of when money's tight, when one of you get sick, or when you just don't feel like working on it anymore. I think that if you want to get married, the way you do so is up to you and not your religion. Morally, you have an obligation to stay with the man you chose no matter what. Divorce shouldn't be an option unless he's hurting you or he cheats on you. If in your mind u have that made up that your gonna stick it out through good and bad then i say go ahead and get your civil marriage on! good luck

Answer 6

Only about 22% of people living in the USA are Roman Catholic.

So if the 78% got married in a church, which is NOT Roman Catholic, why would that mean they are living in sin?

Are you saying that all the marriages performed in Lutheran or Methodist or Baptist churches are not valid?

Pastor Art

PS to Nathan: If marriages in the LDS Temple are for time and eternity and not til death do you part, why is the LDS divorce rate so high? In fact its just as high as the average person who does not go to church at all?

Answer 7

Oddly enough, from scripture they consumation of the marital act was sufficient in Biblical times to validate a marriage. Some people are married to ALOT of people....
A piece of paper from your local court house makes your marriage legal and valid in the eyes of the government.
Vows taken in the Catholic Church according to all of their dogma makes it valid in the Catholic Church.
Living in a marital arrangement makes you married in the eyes of God (this is of course MY opinion and my understanding) since consumation (the marital bed so to speak) of the union makes you married or bound to the other person.

Answer 8

Civil marriages are the same as church marriages.

Answer 9

I had a civil marraige. I believe God honors my marriage and expects me to do the same. I don't think the building has anything to do with it. Getting married is getting married. It's a civil contract with the goverment and a spiritual contract with God .. not to mention the heart contract with your spouse.

Answer 10

Marriage is, and always has been a Sacrament between a man and a woman. The Church OR the State may WITNESS that joining, but that's ALL they can do.