SCB Family Marriage

Family: Meaning and Importance
Functionalist Sociologist George Peter Murdock used the following definition of the family as a
starting point in his classic cross national study of families in more than 250 societies.
‘A social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It
includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual
relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults’
(Murdock, 1949).
Today, many Sociologists criticise the above definition of the family as being too narrow because
(both today and historically) too many groups of people who regard themselves as a family would
not be included in the above definition, such as reconstituted or step-families and same sex
families.
One way around the problem of defining a family is to distinguish carefully between different
‘family arrangements’ when we talk about them. Some of the most common family types in
modern Britain include.
The Nuclear Family – two parents with biological children living in one household
The reconstituted family – two partners living in one household sharing parental duties for one
or more children, but only one of them is the biological parent.
The single parent family – one adult with one or more children living in one household
The extended family – where relatives such as uncles/ aunts or grandparents reside permanently
in the same household as those making up the nuclear family
Because of the diversity within family life in contemporary Britain, post-modern thinkers suggest
that it is better to use a broader definition of ‘the family’, which includes a range of family types
– one suggested definition of the family is ‘a group of people who are related by either
blood or marriage/ similar form of committed relationship’
Because of the problems of defining the family it is often easier to analyse families in terms
of households (NB – The module you’re all studying is called families and households, we just
tend to abbreviate it to the ‘families’ module)
A household is much easier to define than a family – A household is simply a group of people
who share a residence in common and share such things as meals, bills, facilities or chores,
or one person living alone. Of course, families can spread themselves across many households!
What is marriage?
Consider two competing views:
Conjugal View: Marriage is the union of a man and a woman who make a permanent and exclusive
commitment to each other of the type that is naturally (inherently) fulfilled by bearing and rearing
children together. The spouses seal (consummate) and renew their union by conjugal acts acts that
constitute the behavioral part of the process of reproduction, thus uniting them as a reproductive
unit. Marriage is valuable in itself, but its inherent orientation to the bearing and rearing of children
contributes to its distinctive structure, including norms of monogamy and fidelity. This link to the
welfare of children also helps explain why marriage is important to the common good and why the
state should recognize and regulate it.
Revisionist View: Marriage is the union of two people (whether of the same sex or of opposite
sexes) who commit to romantically loving and caring for each other and to sharing the burdens
and benefits of domestic life. It is essentially a union of hearts and minds, enhanced by whatever
forms of sexual intimacy both partners find agreeable. The state should recognize and regulate
marriage because it has an interest in stable romantic partnerships and in the concrete needs of
spouses and any children they may choose to rear.
Biblical Purpose of Marriage
The purpose of marriage is ultimately to glorify God since he tells us he made us for his glory
(Isaiah 43:7). Marriage is the covenant union of a man and a woman for the purpose of committing
to each other in companionship, provision of food and shelter, sexual privileges, children, and
protection. A lot of people think marriage is merely for companionship and love; but when self-
serving reasons are the basis of marriage, those often fail to be a proper support for lasting
marriage. Instead, the Bible tells us a lot about marriage; and when we submit to God's plan for
it, we not only bring glory to God but we also develop healthy, good, and loving relationships
within marriage.
Following is a list of topics with Scriptures that tell us what the reasons for marriage are per the
Bible.
1. To populate the world

a. Genesis 1:28, "And God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and
multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
b. Genesis 9:1, "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth."
2. To provide companionship
a. Genesis 2:24, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
b. Matt. 19:4-6, "And He answered and said, “Have you not read, that He who created
them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this cause a
man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall
become one flesh’? 6 “Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What
therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
3. To provide proper sexual union
a. Exodus 20:14, "You shall not commit adultery."
b. 1 Corinthians 7:2-3, "But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife,
and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband fulfill his duty to his
wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband."
c. Hebrews 13:4, "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed
be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge."
4. To provide protection for the woman
a. Malachi 2:15, " . . . Take heed then, to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously
against the wife of your youth."
b. Eph. 5:28-29, "So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church."
5. To provide children
a. Psalm 127:3, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a
reward."
b. Psalm 128:3, "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, within your house, your
children like olive plants around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be
blessed."
6. To avoid sexual immorality
a. Exodus 20:14, "You shall not commit adultery."
b. Proverbs 5:15-19, "Drink water from your own cistern, And fresh water from your
own well. 16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the
streets? 17 Let them be yours alone, And not for strangers with you. 18 Let your
fountain be blessed…
7. To be blessed from the Lord

a. Proverbs 12:4, "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames
him is as rottenness in his bones."
b. Proverbs 18:22, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from
the Lord."
c. Proverbs 31:10, "An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above
jewels."
8. To actualize the roles of husband and wife in God's covenant
a. Malachi 2:14, "Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a
witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt
treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant."
9. To complete man in the formation of the marriage union of male and female
a. Genesis 2:23, "And the man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh. She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"
10. To publicly testify of mutual commitment and exclusion of others in that family unit
a. Genesis 2:24, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
11. To establish order in the family
a. 1 Corinthians 11:3, "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every
man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ."
b. Ephesians 5:23, "For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head
of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body."
12. To represent our union with Christ
a. Ephesians 5:23-25, "For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the
head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church
is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself up for her."

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Family: Meaning and Importance

Biblical Purpose of Marriage

1. To populate the world

7. To be blessed from the Lord

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