The office of population censuses and surveys : "a co-resident man and woman, living together within a sexual union, without having been formalised by legal marriage"
"Jesus answered, "Surely you have read in the Scriptures: when God made the world, 'he made them male and female'. And God said, 'so a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.' So there are not two, but one. God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them."
This continues to talk about divorce - "The old reason for a man to divorce his wife is if his wife has sexual relations with another man"
"…it is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman. But because sexual sin is a danger, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband…"
"Now for those who are not married and for the widows I say this: it is good for them to stay unmarried as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry. It is better to marry than burn with sexual desire."
"So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. God blessed them and said, "Have many Children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be it's master…"
"The Lord God said, "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him."
"So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two shall become one body."
"…the Lord sees how you treated the wife you married when you were young. You broke your promise to her, even though she was your partner and you had an agreement with her…" (apparently this is speaking of a "covenant" - a legal agreement)
"…the Lord God of Israel says, "I hate divorce…"
"…but I tell you that if anyone looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, in his mind he has already done that sin with the woman."
"…if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…"
Copyright 1998-2004 Nigel Coates