One Bride, the Church.

Not brides. Not one Bride and some concubines.

One Bride, the Church.

One Bridegroom, Christ.

And the two become one Flesh.

And that is also one of the best arguments against Gay marriage that the Church can proclaim.

Except those making the argument against gay marriage, but who also argue in favour of artificial contraception, are rightly perceived as hypocrites.

Or at the least, extremely inconsistent in their thinking.

You are very kind. I think I will just stick with calling them hypocrites. They want to tell me that marriage is a sacred covenant instituted by God, and then also tell me that the State has the authority to sever that sacred covenant by issuing a divorce certificate. They are hypocrites who worship a god whose power and authority does not exceed that of the State. Same with contraception. They want to tell me that marriage is instituted for procreation, and then they want to tell me that they are free to withhold their pro from the procreation.

Well, we do have a Political Forum here, so I am not going to get into the politics of the whole thing. Christians need to understand their own marriages in light of the marriage of the Bride and Bridegroom. God decreed divorce from the nation of Israel because that marriage was never consummated. The marriage of the Bride and Bridegroom, on the other hand, will be consummated, at which point divorce is impossible. From the Bridegroom to the Bride will then flow an infinite fecundity -- a fecundity that no natural or artificial thing can stop or impede.

I've been involved in this debate with some others in the UM Church. There are some who say the Church must hold to biblical marriage, but the state (being separate from the Church) should be free to make marriage whatever it wants it to be.
Hogwash!

A state is obligated in its laws to reflect natural law, the law God has built into creation itself.
Suppose a state decided it was ok to murder under certain circumstances....oh, I forgot, they already did that.

Oh, well, not trying to hijack your thread on the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.

But, get ready to suffer. The Roman Empire is returning.