Debunking ‘The Debunking of Biblical Marriage’

Recently, a fellow American Baptist wrote a  challenging article concerning marriage in the Bible. After reading it, I decided to respond by debunking, “Debunking ‘Biblical marriage’: Why the Bible can’t dictate today’s sexual morals” by Jennifer Wright Knust. Knust recently posted a column for the Washington Post’s On Faith blog where she basically throws out many key understandings of marriage and sexuality in the Bible.

Much has already been said about the fading of marriage in this country and around the world. Many Christians have sought to understand where Christian marriage fits in today’s culture.  Is it an outdated institution?

Jennifer Wright Knust is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University and an ordained American Baptist. She is bright and logical, but her conclusions on biblical marriage are not faithful to understanding scripture. She says:

Lately biblical interpretation has become the frontline in a heated battle to determine what God really thinks about sex and marriage. As a biblical scholar, historian and Baptist pastor, however, I find this debate to be misguided and destructive. The Bible is simply too complicated and too contradictory to serve as a guide to sexual morals. Treating the Bible as a rulebook impoverishes the biblical witness and short-circuits our ability to speak honestly about sex. Since the Bible never offers anything like a straightforward set of teachings about marriage, desire, or God’s perspective on the human body, the only way to pretend that it does is to refuse to read it.

To really understand this post, you must read her whole article. There are several reasons why Knust misses the boat on understanding sexuality and marriage in the Bible. Though carefully thought through, her piece forgets several essential underlying principles to biblical interpretation.

First, do not take the descriptive as prescriptive in the Bible. Solomon had thousands of wives, but that does not mean God ordained it. Other patriarchs had many wives but God never explicitly permitted this behavior. In both the Old and New Testament marriage is meant to be monogamous. David was rebuked because of his affair and it was specifically seen as a moral failure.

Second, some biblical truths are explicit and some are implicit. The word “Trinity” is never mentioned in the Bible, but Christians still believe in the triune God because God is revealed in this way. Just because there is not an unifying display of faithful marriage in the Bible, it is implicitly understood through story and law what marriage is. The Bible is the story of God’s people struggling to live faithfully. Sometimes, they didn’t get it right but God made clear guidelines.

Third, genre. Understanding passages about marriage and love in Song of Solomon as opposed to Exodus is critical. The people of God had very clear laws regarding marriage. Let us not mistake the areas of the Bible were God is silent about martial infidelity as God changing his mind about marriage. Paul was a champion of celibacy and marriage. He wrote specifically to single and marriage Christians. He does not oppose marriage nor celibacy, rather wants to uplift Christians who find themselves in either situation.

In order to make sense of what the Bible “says” about marriage we must remember to be faithful to how it is meant to be read. Seeing the Bible as “only” a rule book leads to misinterpreting what God desires for us. Keeping these three key concepts in mind when reading the Bible aids the reader to a fruitful discovery of God’s intended abundant life for us.