What do the wedding vows actually mean?

Question

I need it for my religeous studies course and I can't find any understandable information to what they actually mean.

Answer 1

Nothing people get divorced all the time

Answer 2

If you think of a wedding as a contract, this might help. The vow's are a promise: you promise or vow to another what they should expect in this marriage. Love, staying true, in sickness and in health......this is the item you want in the contract (like buying a car) The ring exchange is the down payment, showing that you have all the good intentions of keeping this contract. The pronouncement is the signing of the contract, the marriage is completed.
Therefore, in order for a marriage to be completed, promises or vows must be made. Check out Early Church History, pretty interesting! Chaplain Debby

Answer 3

Vows are promises you make to care, love, and understand eachother for the rest of their lives, through sickness, health, good, and bad times. They are meant to be kept, no matter how hard it gets that's what they mean. People now a days don't even try even more to understand their spouses so that's why there are so many divorses now. Anyways, it's what that person means to you.

Answer 4

There are many different vows. Each has a little different meaning. You need to look at how god wanted marriage means. The vows should mean that the bride and groom are committed to each other and showing god and there family and friends there committed. and you should not get married till you are willing to spend the rest of your life together. Look at the bible to see what god wanted in the spirit of a marriage.

Answer 5

try searching for wedding vow meanings there is quite a bit of easy to understand information out there.

Also look up the definition of the words Vow, Covenant, Promise and Commitment.

I think you just want use to do your homework for you.

Answer 6

its a promise. you are entering into a mutual agreement.
love = to love your partner obviously
honour = honour their decisions, support and respect.
obey = i think that a religious term derived from the bible. it means god is the creator therefore man has to answer and obey to god, women have to answer and obey their husband, its like a pecking order!

its all self explanatory, but there is an array of information in the bible with regards to the vows. you have to know where to look though, and its like a minefield.
in religious terms i think the woman has the raw deal. i doubt my answer has helped but good luck anyway.

EDIT actually i just had a quick look for some sites. go to ask jeeves.com, type in 'marriage vow meaning' and a whole host of sites appear that may answer your question. they were too many to mention.

Answer 7

can you be a little more specific??? most wedding vows are spoken in clear, understandable language, and should be pretty straight-forward, so I am not sure what you are asking...
"til death do us part" means I vow to do whatever I just said, until one of us dies...
It is not meant to be mysterious or hard to understand...

Answer 8

They are the words that are said during a wedding service stating that the bond, that the couple would like between them, is for life... forever.

Answer 9

In a religious sense, they are usually promises (or covenants) made between, you, your spouse, and God. You are promising each other and God faithfulness.

If this is a Catholic course, remember that wedding is considered a sacrament... very important.

Answer 10

Think about what each person says, it is a solemn declaration that you promise to be there for each other, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad times and a promise to stay faithful (physically and emotionally)

Answer 11

basically you are declaring your loyalty to your partner,and follow all the rules of marriage,looking after each other in sickness for starters.